1.
bucket relay; bucket brigade
A method of passing buckets of water (or other items) hand to hand along a line of people, traditionally used for firefighting or flood response.
2.
relay-style passing; chain of handoffs (figurative)
Any process where items or tasks are passed along a chain of people or stages in sequence.
A wasei-eigo compound of バケツ (bucket, from English) and リレー (relay, from English). In Japan, bucket relays are a familiar part of community disaster drills (防災訓練), where residents practice passing water buckets in a line. The concept is taught in schools and practiced in neighborhoods, making it a culturally significant term.
Common collocations
- バケツリレーで消火する: to fight a fire with a bucket relay
- バケツリレーの練習: bucket relay practice
- バケツリレー方式: bucket-relay method
- バケツリレー式に: in bucket-relay fashion
Cultural note
Bucket relays remain a standard activity in Japanese disaster preparedness drills. Schools and neighborhood associations (自治会) regularly conduct them, reinforcing community cooperation in emergencies. The practice dates back to the Edo period when wooden buildings made fire a constant threat.