Safety Evacuation Area Pictogram
Date
Credits
- yukio ota 12 Designer
Format
- Illustration 293
- Sign 33
- Signage 63
Type of Work
- Finished work 5482
Locations Made
- Japan 264
This pictogram was designed by Yukio Ota and has been adopted by various Japanese emergency management agencies to indicate large outdoor areas of safety, such as parks, following a natural disaster such as fire, earthquake, or tsunami.
Among a white background, the symbol consists of green pictogram of a human figure is “running slowly” towards a green oval, depicting an area of safety. The symbol is based upon Ota's ‘Running Man’ emergency exit symbol, which has been adopted as an international standard ISO 7010 E001 and is seen worldwide.
Ota was tasked by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobuo Ishihara, chairman of the Disaster Prevention Information Organization, to design the pictogram. While the symbol has been adopted by Japan, Ota complains that the “vertically divided administrative structure’ of Japan, such with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications responsible for indoor signage and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism responsible for outdoor signage, limits the government’s ability to effectively implement these designs.
