Company in Japan makes a disaster drill like a play

A company in Japan has made a new kind of disaster drill^*1. It uses ideas from theater and escape games^*2. The company is called Playing, and it is in Sakai, a city in Osaka in western Japan. It announced the plan on April 30, 2026.

The company said it would test the drill on May 20 at Grand Green Osaka. This is a place with a park and buildings in Umeda, a busy part of the city of Osaka.

In the drill, people start as shoppers. Then an emergency alert^*3 sounds, and they are suddenly in the middle of a disaster^*4. Actors around them shout and talk in a confused way.

The people in the drill have to make hard choices. Should they go back to get their smartphone? How should they help a pregnant^*5 woman or a visitor from another country? These questions have no right answer.

The people also say lines^*6, like actors in a play. They really walk from the park into a building.

In many drills, people only do what they are told. The company wants people to decide for themselves.

The company plans to work with local governments^*7, shopping centers and schools. It plans to hold the drill in many parts of Japan.

1. *1 disaster drill: a time when people practice what to do if something very bad happens, like an earthquake or a big fire
2. *2 escape games: games where players answer questions and find things so they can get out of a room
3. *3 emergency alert: a loud sound from phones that tells people about danger
4. *4 disaster: something very bad that happens suddenly, like an earthquake or a flood
5. *5 pregnant: going to have a baby
6. *6 lines: the words that an actor says in a play
7. *7 local governments: the groups that run cities and towns