Areas where we translate (1)

“We want to relay community information to foreign residents so they can participate as local citizens of the community!”

There is a tendency to think information that is regularly available on mediums such as television news programs is easily understood by everyone in society. However, the reality is that there are many multi-ethnic residents who cannot understand much of this information owing to modest Japanese language ability.

• Planning, creation and translating of living guides and webpages into multiple languages.
• Translating and web-posting (the creation and ordering) of monthly community announcements by local governments.
• Sending of community information and event notifications direct to mobile phones.
• Translation of free cancer screening coupons.
• The rapid translation of announcements regarding changes to supplementary income benefits.
• Translation of instructions on how to pay taxes in Japan.
• Translation of instructions on child-raising and healthcare information for mothers and children.
• Translation of various local government policy outlines on websites into languages other than Japanese.
• Creation of pamphlets explaining the rules regarding garbage separation and collection.

“We want to send a letter to our sister-city!”

We have staff that can communicate in multiple foreign languages in a casual setting, but I’m worried about what kind of language to use in official settings.

• Translation of written invitations for goodwill delegations.
• Translation of written encouragement towards sister-cities.
• Translation of event banners and partnership documents.

“We want to hear the opinions of residents with foreign nationalities by conducting a survey with multi-ethnic residents as the subject!”

We want to conduct various public opinion surveys see if our policy measures are working. However because of language barriers between us and the ethnic minority residents we are unable to find a way of approaching these residents. In the end all of our surveys end up only collecting the opinions of the Japanese residents.

• Translation of questionnaires aimed at elementary school children regarding influenza.
• Translation of questionnaires aimed at parents and guardians of children attending kindergartens and nurseries.
• Translation of questionnaires for a range of educational agencies.
• Translation of questionnaires for disaster affected areas.

“Weren’t those tourists from overseas…?
No, wait a second. Migrants who reside in Japan also travel domestically!”

When we think of how to entice tourists in languages other than Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean languages naturally come to mind. But can you think other languages to which to make your town more appealing?

• Translating tourist guides.
• Translating tourist maps.
• Translating tourist advertisement in written form.
• Creation and translation of billboards and signage explaining the location of various facilities.

“We want to help foreign and ethnic minority residents who find themselves caught up in natural disasters by creating a system of community support and providing them regular emergency information.”

Even though they can speak in Japanese, they can’t read. Also there are many foreign residents who don’t know about the kinds of natural disasters that occur in Japan.

• The creation and translation of disaster prevention notices and evacuation maps.
• The planning, creation and translation of disaster prevention and evacuation cards.
• The planning, creation and translating of verbal communication tools for relaying information in multiple languages during times of disaster.