The following are recommendations based on the Hackerfarm emergency checklist we are using:
General
- Non-perishable food
- Slowly stocking up, ~2 weeks of reserve ideally. Our goal is mainly to reduce the number of trips to the grocery store to once per week
- Bottled water
- It’s unlikely that water will get shut off but our experience is bottled water is always a desired emergency item
- Coffee or tea
- Good if you need a morning caffeine fix, especially if you’re working from home
- Required or prescription medication
- 60-90 days. It may be difficult to make general doctor visits so get those prescriptions while you can
- Cash
- Cash is king in Japan and not all places accept credit cards. We recommend enough cash for one month’s spending. Having a cash stash helps prevent sudden or unexpected trips to the ATM
- Documents
- Keep all of your essential documents, ie: passports, drivers license, ID, etc in a central, easily reachable location, ideally in a bag or container
- Contacts
- Gather the phone numbers and emails of anyone you may need to contact in an emergency
- Access
- Make sure you know the URLs and passwords of any critical accounts, ie: bank accounts, credit card accounts, etc. This is especially important if you have shared accounts and your partner suddenly gets sick.
- Pet Food
- If you have any pets, make sure they have food to eat too.
Hygiene
- Disinfection supplies
- These would be bleach, alcohol, and/or hydrogen peroxide. As of this writing, bleach and 99.9% isopropyl alcohol can still be purchased via Amazon Japan
- Spray bottles
- These are useful for diluting the bleach or alcohol and also dispensing it for cleaning
- Hand soap
- Frequent hand washing may mean you go through soap faster than normal
- Paper towels
- For cleaning surfaces and handles
- Toilet paper, tissues
- Buy it if you can find it
- Toothpaste
- Trash bags
Health
- Aspirin
- We are also stocking ibuprofen but there is some debate regarding ibuprofen and Covid-19. Many doctors are recommending aspirin.
- Thermometer
- So you can take your temperature daily to check if you may have gotten sick
- Cough/cold medication
- In case you get sick
- First-aid kit
- Generally good practice for any emergency
Entertainment
- Hobby supplies
- Yarn, wood, any supplies you need for your hobbies
- Board games
- We recommend Pandemic Classic if you can find it
- Books
- Here are some nice book lists. eBooks are useful as well.
- Reliable computer + internet connection
- Will be your best friend for a while
- Headset + microphone
- For social interaction and participation