To reduce skin irritation and allergic symptoms caused by long-term mask use, we produced a mask with a filter effect by laminating nanofibers on habutae silk fabric, a specialty of Japan’s Fukui Prefecture, using the electrospinning method. We investigated the filter characteristics of silk fabrics with different weave structures (habutae, flat crepe, and twill). We found that woven fabrics alone could not sufficiently block particles finer than 1 μm, even when the fabric layers were overlapped. Therefore, we had a nanofiber filter layer fabricated on the surface of habutae fabric by the electrospinning method at a weight of 1 g/m². The nanofibers removed more than 94% of 0.3 μm-particles, which are similar to the size of virus particles. However, the nanofiber layer was so dense that it caused an increase in pressure drop, so we made the nanofiber layer thinner and fabricated the filter on the surface of the habutae fabric at 0.5 g/m². A three-dimensional mask consisting of two woven fabrics, one with a nanofiber layer on the inside and the other with a normal woven fabric without a nanofiber layer on the outside, was fabricated and tested on 95 subjects. The subjects reported that the nanofiber habutae masks were more comfortable than nonwoven masks. Moreover, the silk woven masks did not cause allergic symptoms such as skin irritation.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a practical project to develop teaching materials for use in primary school home economics education, undertaken jointly by the authors and two local companies in Fukui Prefecture, Japan (Plus Jack Inc. and Technowarp Co., Ltd.). This report highlights international trends and demands in Risk Reduction and Resilience Education (from the UN’s Sendai Framework for Disaster Reduction 2015-2030 and the Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector, specifically the Comprehensive School Safety Framework 2022-2030), and how these dovetail neatly with trends and demands in Japan (from government laws and documents, including the Course of Study for home economics). These frameworks constitute the theory on which the practical project was premised and then enacted, especially in terms of (1) fostering social capital that leads to enhanced resilience, and (2) passing on the lessons learnt from previous disasters, all through close collaboration with local companies. Thus, the value of developing home economics teaching materials in collaboration with local businesses is elucidated. This paper details the process and progress of this collaborative project to create the teaching materials, including piloting them in experiments, first with university students and then with primary school students themselves. As a result of the project, the ‘yoji-yoji’ retroreflective straps and the disaster prevention whistle ‘Infinity’ were developed as teaching materials for primary school home economics lessons. Beyond that, though, both teaching materials are intended to be used on a daily basis as disaster prevention tools/resources to protect children even after the end of the study. Future research will aim to develop further primary school home economics lessons using these and other teaching materials and evaluate the effectiveness of such teaching materials through thorough ongoing practical classroom research.