21/12/2025
【Age 60 is Just a New Beginning. Redefining Japan’s Firefighting Diving with Wisdom from the Field.】
I dove into the world of firefighting at 18. For 42 years, I have stood on the front lines of rescue, felt the weight of command, and dedicated myself to training the next generation at the Fire Academy. My life has been an unrelenting commitment to the "front lines of life-saving."
Now, as I reach my 60th birthday—the milestone of Kanreki—I am launching the greatest challenge of my life. The project is called "Project SmokeDiver."
It began with a sense of urgency. Amidst increasingly severe water disasters and rapidly advancing diving technology, the firefighting diving scene in Japan still relies too often on outdated manuals and individual "intuition and experience."
"I want to send every one of my former students back to their families without fail."
Driven by this singular mission, I have developed the "Firefighting Diving Standards 2025," a fusion of rational safety theories from recreational diving and the raw, practical experience of the firefighting field.
However, my goal isn't just to produce a single manual. I am aiming to build a new system: a "Firefighting Diving DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization)."
A standard that isn't "bought" with a budget, but "polished" by wisdom from the field.
A system that aggregates near-miss incidents nationwide and "automatically" updates annually.
A collaborative framework that uses the power of DX to fill the "blind spots in fire prevention" in areas the fire department cannot reach.
For the past 10 years, I have operated the "Japan Firefighting Diving Federation" as a non-profit, with all officers serving without compensation. This was never about profit. I simply wanted to create what the field truly needs, without compromise.
To my fellow firefighting professionals: Please lend us your "wisdom from the field" from your cities and your units.
To the general public: Will you join us in gathering and updating disaster prevention information for areas that fall outside the reach of official services?
To diving industry businesses: Let’s work together to build a new category of diving operational management.
"Age 60 is nothing more than a turning point." With that smile, I want to rebuild the standards of safety in Japan alongside my former students.
If you feel even a spark of "heat" from this challenge, your support through shares or comments would be a tremendous source of strength. Let’s change history together.
Masaharu Yasuda Founder, Japan Firefighting Diving Federation
