This is a day in the life
of a Japanese firefighter This is Soushi a 22 year old firefighter in Tokyo and he's just waking up to start his day This may look like a
regular Japanese apartment but it's known as 'Tanshin Taikishukusa' in Japanese which directly translated means "A single waiting dormitory" as it's provided by the fire department In an emergency situation, such as a large natural disaster, it makes it easy for
the firefighters living here to quickly gather and
help with any efforts Do all firefighters live
in this type of facility? Soushi usually eats breakfast at home making sure he fuels up before his shift I guess that chocolate spread
on his toast gets him up for the day ahead Like most Japanese salarymen he also wears a suit to work, even though his office commute is only a 10 minute walk away Soushi is in his fourth year
as a shoboshi, in English a firefighter After high school in Hiroshima he studied for the firefighter exam for one year while working
at a yakitori restaurant After passing, he relocated to Tokyo I am back with another "Day in the Life" This one is going to be special because we're doing a full 24 hours Soushi should be coming
around the corner right now let's see how he's doing this morning Good morning. Did you sleep well last night? And this is Soushi's office, the Joto Fire Station,
Tokyo Sunamachi branch In Tokyo there are a total of
303 fire stations coving the entire area with about 18,600 firefighters
at the ready Although the fire station has an elevator it's fairly standard
for Japanese firefighters to use the stairs throughout the day Soushi, what's that? In Japan, firefighters
have 10 different ranks Badges have different
numbers of stars & stripes All firefighters like Soushi
start at the 1st rank, one star and one stripe To earn a promotion to the next rank,
the department will review Soushi's performance and test results
after around four years So he's almost there! And to become a firefighter in Tokyo applicants must pass an exhaustive fire department recruitment examination that's held only once a year Which includes both
a written and physical exam Each year there are only
a limited number of positions so becoming a Japanese firefighter is highly competitive Last year only 1 out of 14 applicants, about seven percent, were able to pass the full exam Soushi, what are you doing now? Apparently every day headquarters sends documents to all the firefighters, so one of his first tasks in the morning
is to read through all of the material What are you doing now? In Japan, the firefighters
work a 24-hour shift and it officially commences at
a large meeting called 'daikotai' The previous day's shift
lines up on one side while the incoming shift
lines up on another During the meeting,
the previous team will inform the incoming shift all of the details for any incidents during their shift Such as locations, how many times they were sent out,
and any other important matters This is one of the most
critical points of the day as all of the information
must be transferred accurately In case there's an event or disaster the firefighters must always
act quickly and safely based on the information they have Right now they're doing
all of their morning checks They have to do this to make sure
all the equipment is working as well as making sure all of the vehicles are working properly Oh! Soushi's putting on his bokai AKA bunker gear As part of his own morning inspection, Soushi must fully try on his gear to ensure that every piece
is working properly Literally, his life depends on it After verifying his equipment, the team must work together
to inspect the fire truck Everything is checked,
from the lights all the way down to each
door compartment opening smoothly Because in an emergency situation,
every second counts Next the team inspects
their firefighting equipment to ensure that it's also in working order The check for each
individual piece of equipment is methodical and the entire process must be committed
to the firefighter's memory It looks like they're
finishing up right now That was a pretty comprehensive check Let's see what's next And now it looks like they're
doing their morning stretches They're all doing it all in one motion, which is pretty cool Oh look, it's Soushi leading the group After stretches
they quickly gear back up This time inspecting each other's gear After this, the team continues on with
their daily firefighting training What are you doing right now? Rolling removes all the air bubbles and folding it as such
is just the most efficient way to start before it gets extended
during the live drill Apparently the Kanji character
on the hose identifies the fire station Useful in real life fire situations as there could be
more than 10 fire trucks involved That's a lot of hose! Oh it looks like
they're just about to start Japanese firefighters are trying to get ready in under 60 seconds Full gear plus verifying the incident destination
and route on a map That's so fast! In today's drill, Soushi and his team
are simulating the rescue of a person on the second floor
of a burning building Every day the firefighters
must drill different sitations in order to be prepared for whatever future incident
or disaster may happen In Soushi's first call as a firefighter he had to help rescue a person
who fell down from a high location But being his first time his hands were shaking so badly
he couldn't perform Luckily with the support
and encouragement from his team, in addition to hard work
on these type of training drills, he was able to overcome the nervousness he had
on his first outing He now operates with confidence In an actual fire, the entire room is usually
engulfed with black smoke and likely visibility close to zero So firefighters are trained to kick their legs out
to check their surrounding Oh, they found him! Once the person is
evacuated from inside the team must get the person
down to the ground level If they are unable to
make it down on their own the team is trained to
secure them via ropes and lower them down safely Wow that was intense I could only imagine what
a real fire would be like That looks heavy How much does all of your gear weigh? Although Soushi just completed
an exhausting fire drill he and his team must be diligent and ready their gear
right after the training Again, in case they're
called out to a real fire In Japan, firefighters not only fight fires and go out
on emergency calls, but they also assist
local residents with permits and safety fire related matters This resident is here to register
for a fire safety seminar Soushi helps the resident
complete the forms but he's still relatively new
and learning the ropes So when he's unsure about something he checks with his superiors
on proper procedures Do firefighters have a
specific job in the office? It looks like Soushi's
going to be tied up for a bit So while he's doing that let's go explore this place Just behind me, it looks
like their training room They have some weights,
they have a bench, they have a pull-up bar, a dip bar, and it looks like they have
a squatting rack as well Hmm the fire truck
looks a little bit lonely I've always been curious
to see what's behind those compartment doors All right, first let's see
what's in this one Oh wow, can you see that? That's the searchlight system
Soushi was inspecting earlier, used in smoky blacked out conditions Not so interesting here. Nice more hose Plus ropes and an AED A fire hydrant pipe attachment used when the fire truck can't enter a place Extra boots Ok, that's this side Let's see the other side Cool, a foam sprayer
when water isn't enough or I guess if they're throwing a party Some extra tanks Oh, what are those orange plates? Nice, I see what they did here Damn, seems pretty organized to me Oh look behind me it says
'emergency equipment storage' Let's check what's inside Wow I didn't expect them
to have all this cool stuff in here Looks like they have
spare oxygen tanks, a whole bunch of ropes, a stretcher Oh wow even a
hydraulic powered cutter to cut through metal Looks like there's a
real fire going on right now So we had to stop All right, so they just got back Apparently there was no actual fire Let's see what happened Soushi, what happened? Interestingly the number one cause of fires in Japan is smoking and the second, arson So what now? Yay, finally lunch time! It looks like he's having yourinji fried chicken, fried rice,
chicken soup, and yogurt Soushi, do you always
buy lunch at the konbini? He used to be able to
have lunch with his colleagues, but because of COVID, everyone needs to sit apart
from each other during meals After lunch, he has a meeting to go over
the afternoon tasks and discuss other important matters Oh, that's the head of the fire station It's typical in a
traditional Japanese office for the most senior person
to sit at the head of the office like this With their desk slightly separated
from the main island of desks Nice, time to take a ride Soushi is an official driver for one of the two types
of fire trucks at the station, the Sosuisha fire truck There are several types
in Japan even larger, but because many roads
in Tokyo are narrow these trucks are sized to
maneuver safely and quickly through Tokyo streets The Sosuisha truck usually
arrives second on the scene parking next to the fire hydrant and pumping water to
the Sankosa truck arriving first and parked closest to the fire What are you doing right now? In Japanese it's called 'suiri chosa' The firefighters inspect
fire hydrants in the area 2-3 times a month to ensure
it's working properly Also, the manhole covers
sometimes get stuck due to constant car and people traffic So the inspection confirms that it's easily accessible
during an emergency Is this one working okay? Oh they're back now Soushi, what are you doing now? Firefighters must also be well-versed in life-saving techniques
during an emergency Today Soushi and his teammates are drilling CPR and AED procedures It really seems like Japanese firefighters don't waste a minute of their day Why are you using that phone? They even have
an official YouTube channel with useful videos for
first aid and fire prevention Oh he's working out now During quieter times of the day
firefighters can use the time to rest or work on
strength and conditioning Despite all the activities today Soushi and his teammates still
have enough energy to train Amazing! So what now? So what's on today's menu? In a Japanese fire station, dinner and breakfast is usually
prepared by the team So everyone can share
the same meal together Family style! And considering that
the team live and work 24-hour shifts so closely together, it's not a stretch for them
to see each other more than just a team,
but like an actual family After dinner Soushi
and the other firefighters perform another fire truck inspection focusing on all of the lights
as it's easier to do this in the evening The fire department generally rotates between three groups
for the 24 hour shifts Each group has about 12 members firefighters and paramedics included Depending on the size of the incident, the entire group
may be called to the scene Afterwards all the firefighters get together for another meeting What are you doing now? Although Soushi is on-call
during the entire shift between now and when
he takes his rest at night he has several hours of downtime In addition to studying, he also does regular chores like washing and hanging laundry Does everyone do laundry here? Soushi also makes use of his time by asking more seasoned teammates about specific firefighting
and life-saving techniques It's all part of the
Senpai Kohai relationship in Japan The evenings really allow Soushi to take in all the things
he learned throughout the day As well as focus and hone
specific firefighting skills So what was it like
to become a firefighter? Soushi takes a quick shower just before he takes his rest at night Well the day isn't done yet, but hopefully he can
get a few hours of rest Good morning y'all! It's another early morning,
but Soushi should be waking up soon Let's go check on him now Good morning! How was last night? First thing in the morning all the firefighters
clean the fire station and it's Soushi's responsibility to clean the bathroom today In Japan, it's also common for traditional Japanese companies
to have their employees clean the office instead of hiring
an outside cleaning service There are many reasons for this, but building team cooperation
and encouraging employees to respect the workplace
are some of my favorites Do you clean the truck every day? Nice, the breakfast this morning is udon Soushi's 24 hour shift is almost over and he seems a little bit more relaxed Right before the daikotai he has a meeting with the team to review what information
they need to share with the next shift All right, so that's it Soushi is switching shifts right now and that is a day in the life
of a Japanese firefighter What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments If you like this video,
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I'm afraid to watch this, and then feel like a lazy undedicated fuck head......
EDIT: Yep. My concern was validated after watching this. He wears a suit to work for christs sake. Also, wtf is up with those ladders?
God they make my department look like such a train wreck
Imagine their reaction when you tell them we drink coffee and bs from 8-10am
I wonder if they have Japanese recliners
I expected more Godzilla related emergencies.
Well time to get the popcorn...this is gonna be a great saturday night movie
When do they take their afternoon nap and before dinner nap? /s
I just watched this! Seems like they do a lot of training, and the engines are so cool.
Their badges are pretty awesome as well. Iβve always wanted to visit one of their stations. Thanks for posting this!