Quake-proof Adhesive Squares: Great for Small Furniture

    This year, one of the big end-of-year cleaning projects in my house was organizing the living room bookcase structure and in this case that also included adding a small doored cabinet the top of one of the bookcases. Sectional pieces like this are available at most DIY shops and small furniture stores around Japan.

    The construction itself wasn't too complicated and could easily be accomplished by following directions given by a couple of sheets of paper found folded inside the box with the rest of the product. Without bothering to read any of the words on the instructions, only following the pictures indicated, I managed to complete assembly of the cabinet fairly easily one afternoon. I don't remember it taking more than an hour.

    Adding small parts of structures like this to a console or entertainment unit back home wouldn't be a big deal. There would be no reason to tie it down or stick it more firmly to any surface because there wouldn't be earthquakes to worry about. Living in Japan means living in an earthquake-prone area. Even if you're in a one story home, things should still be secured just in case. When you're in an apartment on any floor above the first, when quakes happen, there will be more significant shaking than people might feel closer to the ground and the need to secure your furniture is even greater.

Easy application. Quick and safe.

    While I will admit that we haven't secured every bookshelf to the walls or anything similar to that yet, we have used these great sticky squares under every major appliance including the TV and additional storage shelving in the kitchen. While the shelving is less structurally sound than the more expensive versions my in-laws had gifted us when we moved in, I had no problem installing it myself last year to make more space for our appliances. Unfortunately, I had yet to learn about these sticky squares and the first major quake of 2021 nearly knocked it and everything it was carrying right onto the floor. The only reason it didn't was that I stood directly in front if it and blocked its path. to avoid such a risky maneuver next time, I put the sticky squares in place when I was cleaning up from that quake and saw a marked improvement when the next Magnitude 7 quake struck the next month.

You can find these for a reasonably price at 100 yen shops and DIY shops all over Japan.

    That's why I use these sticky squares. They act like adhesive covered shock absorbers, keeping items in place even when shaking is occurring. While I've never seen little bookshelves like ours get totaled in a quake (larger ones are more likely to fall in the shaking), I also don't think anyone is going to want to catch a large wooden box during the next big shake.

    So if your cleaning involves building or moving large things to new places, remember to secure them. It might save you from having to make the same shelf again, or it might save a life.