SAKIGAKE管理人 SAKIGAKE JAPAN was selected for the “Global South GX Promotion Project” implemented by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Environment Public Corporation, and conducted its first on-site survey in the Republic of Indonesia from December 16 to 24, 2025.
Indonesia is one of the world’s largest archipelagic states, consisting of approximately 17,000 islands, and the development status of power, logistics, and refrigeration infrastructure varies significantly by region. While economic growth continues, multiple social issues exist, such as preserving the freshness of agricultural and marine products, reducing food loss, improving logistical efficiency in rural areas, and storing supplies during disasters. During this trip, focusing on off-grid cold storage, we assessed the possibilities for demonstration and implementation in the fields of GX/decarbonization, disaster prevention, and agri-food logistics. For SAKIGAKE JAPAN, this survey marked an important first step toward expanding advanced disaster prevention and environmental adaptation technologies from Japan into the Global South.
Thinking About Decarbonization and Resilience Simultaneously
This program aims to expand GX-related technologies and services possessed by companies based in Tokyo to Global South countries, simultaneously promoting local decarbonization and the resolution of social issues.
The term GX is often discussed in the context of CO2 reduction and the introduction of renewable energy. However, in a country like Indonesia, where geographical conditions are complex and the risk of natural disasters is high, a perspective that enhances “regional resilience” alongside decarbonization is indispensable. In particular, the cold chain, which stores and transports food, medicines, and relief supplies at appropriate temperatures, is a critical infrastructure directly linked not only to economic activities during peacetime but also to resilience during disasters. We believe that in areas where power supply is unstable or when existing infrastructure is halted due to a disaster, off-grid refrigeration and freezing systems utilizing independent power sources and energy-saving technologies will play a major role.
Technology Expansion Driven by Local Issues
On-site, we first engaged in an exchange of opinions with “Green Welfare Indonesia,” an NGO specializing in sustainability, to confirm the social issues and needs in the GX and disaster prevention fields in Indonesia.
Through this, we felt once again that simply bringing Japanese technology overseas as-is will not lead to sufficient social implementation. While the performance and advantages of the technology are certainly important, it is even more necessary to design how to operate it in accordance with the actual conditions of the local living environment, power situation, logistics network, and regional communities. In other words, in the overseas expansion of GX technology, “who uses it, who maintains it, and how it takes root in the region” is just as important as “what to introduce”. In this survey, we confirmed the feasibility of implementation on-site one by one while keeping this perspective in mind.
Intersection with the ASEAN Disaster Prevention System
Next, with the cooperation of officials from the Embassy of Japan in Indonesia and the Mission of Japan to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, we visited the “AHA Centre” in Jakarta. The AHA Centre serves as the coordinating hub for disaster management and humanitarian assistance in the ASEAN region.
Indonesia faces various natural disaster risks, including earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and volcanic eruptions. During a disaster, information, supplies, power, communications, and logistics are complexly affected. Therefore, GX technology can also be positioned not merely as a decarbonization technology, but as an infrastructure that enhances disaster response capabilities. Off-grid cold storage has the potential to support food distribution and local industries during peacetime, and function as a storage base for food, medicines, and relief supplies during disasters. This concept of “serving both during peacetime and emergencies” aligns with our policy on expanding disaster prevention technology, which our company highly values.
Needs Visible from the Frontlines of Agri-Food Logistics
In parallel with the disaster prevention perspective, this survey also examined the frontlines of agri-food logistics. In Jakarta, we visited the Japanese food market “PAPAYA” and the Japanese food wholesaler “MASUYA” to conduct interviews on local food distribution, temperature control, and logistical challenges.
Under a hot and humid climate, stable temperature control is directly linked to maintaining food quality. The shortage of refrigeration and freezing infrastructure leads to increased food loss, lost sales opportunities, and difficulties in ensuring a stable supply to consumers. These challenges affect not only commercial flows in urban areas but are also related to improving the value added to agricultural and marine products in rural areas. In this domain, off-grid cold storage has the potential to contribute to reducing food loss and improving logistical efficiency. Furthermore, by distributing them across regions, there is also room to utilize them as food supply bases during disasters.
Implementation Possibilities through Public-Private Partnerships
On the other hand, implementing such technologies locally has its limits through the efforts of a single company alone. Collaboration with multiple stakeholders, including local systems, government agencies, international cooperation organizations, private companies, and regional communities, is indispensable.
At the JICA Indonesia Office, we exchanged opinions on past relevant cases in Indonesia, current trends in the GX, disaster prevention, and agri-food logistics sectors, as well as future market expansion and the potential for public-private partnerships. Through these dialogues, the points to be considered going forward became clear, such as selecting demonstration candidate sites, dividing roles among local partners, installation costs, operational structures, revenue models, and connections with public support systems. Businesses related to GX and disaster prevention require the creation of frameworks that take root in the region, rather than mere equipment sales.
Possibility of Demonstration in Cirebon
On the final day of the survey, we also visited the Cirebon region in West Java Province as one of the demonstration candidate sites. At the “Cirebon Coal-Fired Power Plant” and the surrounding port and fishing-related areas, we were able to confirm the necessity of refrigeration and freezing infrastructure in the region.
Refrigeration and freezing infrastructure in fishing communities is directly linked to “preserving the freshness of catches,” “reducing waste loss,” and “increasing unit sales prices”. Establishing an environment where appropriate temperature control can be managed immediately after harvesting also leads to higher local incomes and a strengthened food supply chain. Moreover, cold storage installed in communities can not only support peacetime economic activities but also potentially be utilized as storage bases for food and supplies during disasters. We will further deepen our considerations going forward as a model that simultaneously achieves the strengthening of regional industries and the improvement of disaster prevention capabilities.
Expansion into Food Assistance and Community Welfare
Furthermore, in Jakarta, we visited a “Free Meal” kitchen involved in food assistance. On the frontlines of food assistance and community welfare, temperature control and hygiene management are important at each stage of cooking, storage, and delivery.
Off-grid cold storage can be used in diverse ways, such as temporary storage of ingredients, maintaining the quality of cooked food, and serving as food assistance bases during disasters. Especially in areas with constraints on power and logistics, highly independent refrigeration and freezing facilities can become an entity that supports local living infrastructure. In this way, GX technology does not solely aim for CO2 emission reductions. By considering it integrally with food safety, community welfare, disaster prevention, and the resilience of living infrastructure, it can generate greater social value.
Toward the Next Demonstration Phase
During this trip to Indonesia, we were able to confirm local needs for off-grid cold storage across multiple domains: agri-food logistics, disaster prevention, and community welfare. Additionally, establishing initial contacts for future demonstrations with stakeholders including Green Welfare Indonesia, the AHA Centre, the JICA Indonesia Office, PAPAYA, MASUYA, and the Cirebon region is a significant achievement.
However, this survey is merely the first step. In order to connect the positive responses obtained on-site to actual demonstrations, it is necessary to further embody the narrowing down of candidate sites, the review of equipment specifications to be introduced, role sharing with local partners, operational and maintenance structures, and business profitability. SAKIGAKE JAPAN will expand Japan’s advanced disaster prevention and environmental adaptation technologies in a way that stands close to local social issues. We then aim to build a business model that can contribute to decarbonization and resilience improvement in the Global South.
We will continue to share updates on the progress of this project in due course.
