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Are you prepared if a disaster strikes? Do you have enough water stored to keep your family healthy and comfortable? If your answer is "No" or "Maybe," you need to read this article and get one of these products ASAP!
Our editors searched Japanese e-commerce sites such as Amazon, Rakuten, and Yahoo! Shopping for the best emergency water rations available online. We then picked out the most popular products and tested them.
In our evaluations, we focused on 3 things:
We then ranked the products and put what we learned into a buying guide to help you choose the best Japanese emergency water rations available online.
mybest US' editing team consists of experienced members who have backgrounds in writing, editing, translation, and more. We are dedicated to researching what makes a product or service the best to users in the US in order to create top-quality articles. From skincare, to kitchen appliances, and to DIY supplies, our mission is to find the best ones for you.
Table of Contents
We tested some brands of regular bottled water, like the kind you'd find in a grocery store or vending machine. But most of the ones we tested were specially prepared to be stockpiled for emergency use.
They have shelf lives anywhere from 5 to 15 years, whereas regular bottled water should be consumed within 2 years if unopened. However, these so-called "preserved" waters don't actually contain any preservatives.
The reason they can last so long is that they are sterilized with high heat, and bottled under extremely strict hygienic conditions, so bacteria don't contaminate the product. Most regular bottled waters are only filtered for impurities, but not sterilized, which is why they have shorter shelf lives.
We recommend considering three points before you buy water for your emergency supplies.
You might think that water has no flavor and they all taste the same. However, this is untrue. If you've ever traveled you'll know that it takes time to get used to the taste of the local water in a new place. The main reason for this is the hardness of the water.
The World Health Organization sets the following standard based on the amount of dissolved calcium and magnesium in water:
Most of the water in Japan is soft, so if you live here, you're probably used to the taste of soft water. If you can remember to change your emergency supplies frequently, your safest choice for taste is probably to buy regular bottled water.
Waters that last longer are more expensive initially. So it's important to consider your lifestyle when choosing the right one for your household.
Some people prefer to buy water and consume it for everyday uses, replenishing their supply as they go. This is a kind of rolling stockpile technique. It's likely these products will get used up before they expire, so you can safely choose ones with shorter expiration dates. But always remember to watch out for forgotten bottles hiding in the back of the cabinet!
Others are looking to buy water just for emergency use. In this case, you should be looking at the "preserved" waters with the long shelf lives. Even though they cost more at first, you'll spend less in the long run by not needing to replace them as often as with the rolling stock method.
Water is important not just for hydration, but to replenish the body's supply of necessary minerals. In the event of a disaster, food choices may be limited, so it's even more important to have water that is healthy so you don't become deficient in minerals.
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare identifies 13 minerals essential for dietary intake: sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, iodine, selenium, chromium, and molybdenum. the first four should be listed on the ingredient label of the water.
Products | Image | Click to purchase | Price | Key features | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | KFG Pure Natural Alkaline Long-Lasting Water | $29.50 Mid | mybest's Top Choice! Our Favorite Emergency Water | ||
2 | Unique Disaster Prevention DSW Premium 12 Years | $29.02 Mid | Recommended for People Who Want to Buy It Once and Forget About It! | ||
3 | Suntory Southern Alps Natural Water | $30.34 Mid | The Best-tasting Bottled Water We Tried | ||
4 | Japan Mineral Kamuiwakka Reisui | $52.40 High | You'll Save a Lot of Money in the Long Run! | ||
5 | Fuji Sansui Mount Fuji Foothills Long-Lasting Water | $27.45 Mid | Recommended for the Rich Mineral Content | ||
6 | Kirin Beverages Alkaline Ion Water | $13.80 Low | Recommended for a Mild Taste |
The mineral content of this water is outstanding! At 23.2mg, it's a valuable source of nutrition for use in emergencies. The shelf life of over 7 years means you won't have to go out and buy it often.
It tastes fine - pretty much like normal drinking water. We think this would be easy for anyone to get used to no matter what kind of water you drink regularly.
Especially based on the high mineral content, we can safely say, this is our top recommendation for emergency water!
The shelf life of this water is an amazing 12 years! If you're the kind of person who forgets to replenish their emergency supplies, you'll rest easy with this one in your cabinet. So even though it seems expensive, it's well-priced when you consider how long it will keep.
Although some tasters thought it was slightly bitter, most of us enjoyed drinking it. The mineral content is also very good at 19.8mg. You'll be prepared to stay healthy even in an emergency if you choose this water.
Everyone loved the taste of this water, which maybe isn't surprising, since it's widely available at convenience stores and supermarkets. So if you're picky about how your water tastes, this is your best choice.
On the other hand, as an emergency supply, it got low scores for price-performance. While it isn't necessarily expensive to begin with, since you'll need to replace it every year, it's not a good option for forgetful people or for saving money in the long run.
This was the only product we tested that we thought was worthy of an A+ grade for value. If you want the cheapest long-term choice for your emergency supplies, this is it. Also, you won't have to restock it for an incredible 15 years!
The taste if quite good and it's suitable for anyone. The biggest drawback we found was that the mineral content is low (7.6mg per half liter.) If you're not concerned with minerals, and just want hydration, it's still a good choice.
This contains a good balance of sodium, calcium, magnesium and potassium for a total of 17.7mg of minerals. The cost is competitive, but the shelf life is just 5 and a half years.
The cost compared to expiration date puts it in line with other products that last 7 years. But if you're looking for a great balance of minerals, choose this one.
If you like neutral, mild-tasting water, this is a good choice. In fact, some of our tasters thought it was too bland. It has a shelf life of 2 years, so it's fine if you are diligent about checking and replacing your supplies. However, this short life also means it didn't score too well in our price performance evaluation.
We considered 3 points for evaluating the water rations.
10 staff members at mybest taste-tested all of the waters and decided if they liked them or not. We considered if it is something you'd be able to drink long-term (since you never know how long the water supply will be off in a disaster.)
Perhaps not surprisingly, water that was just regular bottled water was more popular with our tasters than the "preserved" waters. If you want something that has a long shelf life, you may have to sacrifice drinkablilty somewhat; but you can always get used to the taste little by little.
Next, we calculated how much each water cost versus how long it would last, and determined whether it was a good bargain or not. We based our results on the recommended amount per adult per week (21 liters.) We converted each product to a cost per year, and then applied the following formula:
(price per 500ml) x 42 / (number of years before expiration)
Finally, we analyzed the amount of minerals each water contained. We checked the labels for essential minerals such as sodium, magnesium, potassium, and calcium and then converted each to the amount per 500 ml.
We found that there was actually a huge difference from the product with the most minerals to the one with the fewest, so you should choose based on how much nutrition you want from your emergency water.
Additionally, you need to plan an extra liter for each person for hygienic non-drinking uses, like washing your hands and brushing your teeth.
It's recommended to stockpile 3 liters for each adult for one week, so a total of 21 liters per person should always be in your emergency supply kit.
Water will just be one of the issues you face in a natural disaster. Be as prepared as possible with the best of the best.
Writing: Ayumi Sato/Translation: Susan Lucier-Ogawa/Photos: Yuki Kawashima, Yoshio Yoshida, Koichi Miura
No. 1: KFG|Pure Natural Alkaline Long-Lasting Water
No. 2: Unique Disaster Prevention|DSW Premium 12 Years
No. 3: Suntory|Southern Alps Natural Water
No. 4: Japan Mineral|Kamuiwakka Reisui
No. 5: Fuji Sansui|Mount Fuji Foothills Long-Lasting Water
View Full RankingThe descriptions of each product are referenced from content available on manufacturer, brand, and e-commerce sites.
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