News room
Tsutomu Kasai, Technical Director of ITOKI's Equipment Business Division, appointed as a director of the NPO Japan Nuclear Shelter Association
The company is the fourth member of the association and the first special door company to be appointed as a director. It is working to popularize shelters that meet certain standards, such as formulating policies for the performance and specifications required for underground shelters in preparation for disasters and emergencies.
ITOKI CORPORATION (Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Koji Minato) is pleased to announce that Tsutomu Kasai, Technical Director of the Equipment Business Division, has been appointed as a director of the NPO Japan Nuclear Shelter Association, effective January 1, 2026. Kasai is the fourth member company of the association and the first from a special door-related company to be appointed as a director.
Since our founding, we have been developing our safe technology and have been working on special doors since 1966, delivering approximately 3,000 special doors to advanced medical and research facilities in Japan. Applying this technology, in 2024 we developed "BOUNCEBACK," a multi-purpose disaster prevention shelter door equipped with disaster prevention and defense functions such as impact resistance, airtightness and watertightness, and radiation shielding, which plays a role in protecting human lives and social infrastructure in the event of an emergency or disaster.
Kasai has been involved in the design, development and technical guidance of approximately 2,000 special doors (explosion-proof doors, watertight doors, etc.), including "BOUNCEBACK" and the world's heaviest radiation shielding door, weighing 720 tons, certified by Guinness World Records and delivered to a research facility.
Tsutomu Kasai, Equipment Business Division
Switzerland, a leading country in underground shelter development, has an underground shelter penetration rate of over 100%, while Finland has an underground shelter penetration rate of over 80%, and other Nordic countries have systems in place to protect their citizens.Underground shelters are also highly important in Japan, a country prone to disasters, and the "Parliamentary League for the Promotion of Shelters (Strong Evacuation Facilities) and Underground Use" was launched in December 2022 to ensure evacuation shelters in emergencies, stimulating discussions to promote their widespread use.
Furthermore, the Council for Resilience Japan, a general incorporated association, has established a working group that brings together industry, academia, government, and the private sector to consider the performance and specifications required for underground shelters in preparation for emergencies in Japan, a disaster-prone country, and our company was selected as the only company committee member related to special doors. We are participating in the drafting of the ideal performance and specifications for shelters in Japan, and have obtained the Resilience Certification, the only certification body for which the Council for Resilience Japan, a general incorporated association, is the only certification body.
Based on the technology and quality cultivated through our track record of supplying advanced medical and research facilities in Japan, we will contribute to realizing safer, more secure and more prosperous lives by protecting human lives and data devices that form the foundation of social life from various threats such as natural disasters and emergencies.
Comment from Technical Director Tsutomu Kasai
By evolving and combining the knowledge and experience we have cultivated over many years in the special doors required for advanced medical and research facilities, we hope to help realize the "world standard x 100% domestic production" that Japan's disaster prevention shelters aim for. Because disaster victims can be the operators of disaster prevention shelters, we will contribute to the spread of shelters in Japan and the realization of a richer life through design and manufacturing that is tailored to each individual environment and role, with the primary focus being on ensuring that anyone can operate them safely, securely, and reliably, while maintaining the performance and quality of the special doors.
Career
After graduating from the Department of Architecture at Shibaura Institute of Technology, he joined our company in 1988 and has been involved in the design, development, and technical guidance of approximately 2,000 special doors (explosion-proof doors, watertight doors, etc.), including the Guinness-certified world's heaviest 720-ton radiation shielding door. While leading the development of the multi-purpose disaster prevention shelter door "BOUNCEBACK" since 2024, he is also participating as the only corporate committee member from the special door industry in the government proposal activity of the Resilience Japan Promotion Council, "Working Group to Examine the Performance and Specifications Required for Underground Shelters in Preparedness for Emergencies in Japan, a Disaster-Prone Nation."
Qualifications held
Professional Engineer (Construction Division, General Technical Supervision Division), First-class Architect, APEC Engineer, IPEA International Engineer, First-class Construction Management Engineer (Architecture, Electrical, Plumbing), etc. Number of patents related to special doors and equipment: Over 60 (including pending applications)
Comment from Tokihiro Ikeda, Chairman of the Japan Nuclear Shelter Association
When I first saw ITOKI's "BOUNCEBACK," I was convinced that Japanese disaster prevention technology would lead the world in the future. It is amazing that a single door combines the functions of impact resistance, airtightness, watertightness, and radiation shielding, while also being easy to operate. Explosion-proof doors and shielded doors made overseas are heavy and difficult for women and children to open and close, posing challenges to rapid evacuation in the event of an emergency. BOUNCEBACK breaks through these barriers, combining the precision and safety that only a Japanese-made product can offer.
At the forefront of disaster prevention and security, our association is promoting comprehensive efforts to improve performance standards, develop implementation guidelines, conduct demonstration projects, and develop human resources, centered on collaboration between the public, private, and academic sectors. The addition of Mr. Kasai's knowledge and ITOKI's technology will accelerate efforts to elevate Japan's resilience to the next level. His appointment as director marks a major step in spreading the "core of disaster prevention infrastructure that protects lives" throughout society.
Related Information
・ITOKI develops a special door weighing approximately 1,400 kg for underground shelters intended for disaster prevention and defense.
https://www.itoki.jp/company/news/2024/0930_shelter/
・NPO Japan Nuclear Shelter Association (Press Release)
To the members and secretariat of the Working Group on Performance and Specifications Required for Underground Shelters in Preparedness for Emergencies in Japan, a Disaster-Prone Country (dated February 9, 2024)
https://www.j-shelter.com/shelter_wg/
・Resilience Japan Promotion Council (General Incorporated Association) (Press Release)
Establishment of a working group to consider the performance and specifications required for underground shelters in preparation for emergencies in Japan, a disaster-prone country (dated February 9, 2024)
https://www.resilience-jp.biz/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/d555496228c08e5fcc8e81a915055887.pdf
About Itoki's facility equipment business
ITOKI CORPORATION was founded in 1890. With the mission statement of We Design Tomorrow. We Design WORK-Style." the company supports the creation of a variety of "spaces," "environments," and "places" with its strengths of "Tech x Design based on PEOPLE," including the manufacture and sale of office furniture, “Space," “Environment," and “Place", work style consulting, and office data analysis services, as well as furniture for working from home and studying at home, and equipment for public facilities and logistics facilities.
In the facility equipment business, we provide a wide range of system equipment that accurately meets social needs, including factory and logistics equipment (SAS) that requires safety and functionality, special doors that require high technology and reliability, and information security systems using biometric authentication and IC cards.
About the NPO Japan Nuclear Shelter Association
This non-profit organization was established in 2003. Its main goal is to popularize nuclear shelters that meet a certain standard and to establish a safe evacuation environment in Japan in preparation for disasters and emergencies. The company that founded it has had a relationship with Switzerland for over 50 years and possesses information on Switzerland, which has the highest number of nuclear shelters in the world. From 2023 onwards, the organization will participate in the Underground Shelter Working Group and work with the Parliamentary League for the Promotion of Shelters (Strong Evacuation Facilities) and Underground Use to make recommendations to the government based on the research results compiled by the research committee.
https://www.j-shelter.com/
To this release
Contact information
株式会社イトーキ
設備機器事業本部
TEL
:
03-6910-3910
press personnel
Contact information
株式会社イトーキ
コーポレートコミュニケーション本部
広報課
TEL:03-6910-3910
- The information posted is current at the time of publication. Please note that the information may differ from the latest information.