ALCARA, a disaster-response partition developed by Toyama Prefecture-based aluminum processing company, Alumi Factory, has been released. Sales have begun nationwide, drawing attention for its potential to improve conditions in evacuation centers.

In recent years, with large-scale natural disasters occurring frequently across Japan, improving the environment of evacuation centers has become a pressing issue.

When disasters strike, it can take weeks for relief supplies and cardboard beds to reach affected areas, depending on the region and circumstances. During this time, it is common to see people forced to sleep on the cold, bare floors of gymnasiums and other evacuation centers without any partitions.

The prolonged stay in evacuation centers can lead to illness and disaster-related deaths due to physical and mental strain, making preparedness especially crucial for the elderly, those with disabilities, pregnant women, and children.

ALCARA was developed to solve these problems. It is a versatile product that functions as a partition, whiteboard, and table during normal times, and can also serve as a bed in emergencies – a 4-in-1 solution. It can be easily assembled without tools, enabling rapid deployment in evacuation centers.

Alumi Factory's motivation to develop ALCARA stems from a strong desire to "improve and evolve the evacuation center conditions that have remained unchanged for 100 years." For its development, the company collaborated with the University of Toyama. They also conducted interviews with schools that house evacuation centers and with disaster victims to gain a detailed understanding of actual needs before proceeding with product design.

Since its founding in 1974, Alumi Factory has been a professional in aluminum processing for over half a century, supporting numerous industries through building materials, automotive parts, and industrial machinery.

The company possesses integrated capabilities ranging from cutting, processing, assembly, and welding of aluminum materials to 5-axis simultaneous cutting from block materials. ALCARA is their first in-house developed product, leveraging the advanced aluminum processing technology cultivated over the years.

To promote the adoption of ALCARA, the company donated the product to various municipalities within Toyama Prefecture. Products were donated to seven municipalities—Himi City, Takaoka City, Toyama City, Toyama Prefectural Crisis Management Department, Kurobe City, Oyabe City, and Imizu City—and demonstrations were conducted in actual usage environments.

The donation ceremony to the Toyama Prefectural Crisis Management Department is introduced onAlumi Factory's Official NoteIn addition to the standard ALCARA, a special Orii model featuring a beautiful blue color, utilizing the traditional coloring techniques originating from Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture, was also prepared and handed over during the donation ceremony.

ALCARA has also received high recognition at the national level. The product was awarded the "Excellence Award" at the "Japan Resilience Award 2025," which honors initiatives contributing to "National Resilience" promoted by the Cabinet Office. The award ceremony recognized it as an innovative solution for disaster response.

Following its exhibition at "Community & Local Government Week 2025" held at Tokyo Big Sight from July 2-4, 2025, ALCARA has officially begun nationwide sales. The company plans to focus on deployment for municipalities, schools, and public facilities facing disaster and disaster prevention challenges.

In addition to its robust in-house facilities, the company also leverages its network of partner companies, enabling it to provide various customer values, from short delivery times, low costs, and mass production to small-lot production and complex processing. This structure allows them to handle orders from across the country.

In Japan, a nation prone to disasters, improving evacuation center conditions is an urgent task. The challenge to change the norms of evacuation centers and transform Japan's future is spreading nationwide from Toyama.