Delivering Life-Saving Information to All Residents, Regardless of Nationality or Language
Minowa Town, Nagano Prefecture
Why Minowa Town Chose Yaraku Translation for Multilingual Communication
Minowa Town, located in southern Nagano Prefecture, has a population of about 24,000. The number of residents from overseas— which had once declined due to the collapse of Japan’s asset price bubble in the early 1990s, the 2008 global financial crisis, and the impact of COVID-19—has recently begun to rise again.
In addition to the increase in numbers, residents now come from a more diverse range of countries than in the past. Promoting multicultural coexistence, the town has implemented various initiatives, including Japanese language classes for residents from overseas. Against this backdrop, Minowa Town adopted the translation support tool “Yaraku Translation.” We spoke with those involved about the background and objectives of this decision.
Interviewee
Mr. Odagiri, Division Manager and Office Director
Multicultural Coexistence and Gender Equality Promotion Office
Life Safety and Security Division, Minowa Town
Challenges
・Some residents from overseas still do not know how to call an ambulance, even after living in Japan for many years.
・Life-critical information is not effectively reaching these residents.
・The diversity of national backgrounds is expanding, with residents from the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, and other countries.
・There is a growing need for multilingual communication.
Expectations
・Ability to communicate in multiple languages, not just Portuguese and English.
・User-friendly enough to operate without special training.
Strong security to ensure no risk of personal information leakage.
・Low implementation cost.
A Sense of Crisis During the COVID-19 Pandemic
During the COVID-19 outbreak, consultations from residents from overseas who had lost their jobs increased sharply. The traditional Japanese-language-centric support system could not keep up with this demand. At that time, the town did not have an adequate translation framework, and the need for translation tools became painfully clear.
It also became evident that some residents who had lived in the town for over 20 years did not know how to call an ambulance or where designated evacuation centers were during natural disasters. Seeing that such essential, life-saving information was not reaching all residents gave the town a strong sense of urgency.
“It’s Not Acceptable to Say ‘It Can’t Be Helped if They Don’t Understand’”
Residents from overseas are tax-paying members of the community. Yet, in reality, crucial information on disasters, medical care, and other life-saving matters has not always reached them. This led to a heightened awareness of the town’s “responsibility to communicate.”
It is not a matter of saying, “It can’t be helped if they don’t understand because they are from abroad.” Rather, the question is how seriously the local government is prepared to make the effort to communicate. Around that time, the Act on the Promotion of Japanese Language Education was enacted, requiring municipalities to strengthen their initiatives to support residents from overseas. In addition, a new system replacing Japan’s Technical Intern Training Program—a government scheme for bringing in workers from abroad—was introduced, which is expected to help more people settle in local communities.
For Minowa Town, strengthening multilingual support had become an unavoidable challenge in order to become a community “chosen” by residents from overseas.
Encounter with Yaraku Translation and the Decision to Adopt It
The town first learned about Yaraku Translation when its multicultural coexistence coordinator mentioned it during a training session. From the perspectives of cost, translation accuracy, and security, Yaraku Translation met the requirements for on-site use.
Even if it turned out not to be the right choice after implementation, the annual cost—just over 100,000 yen—made it worth trying. During the pre-implementation briefing, all concerns were addressed carefully, giving the team confidence to proceed. Yaraku Translation was officially introduced in April 2025.
Combining Human Ingenuity with the Power of Translation Tools
Foreign resident consultation staff and municipal office employees are the main users of Yaraku Translation. It is proving useful in day-to-day situations that require multilingual support, such as preparing notices for residents, event flyers, and annual academic and event schedules for municipal schools.
However, direct machine translation from Japanese can sometimes produce unclear results. To address this, the town uses a “two-step translation process”: first, a human translates the Japanese text into Portuguese, and then Yaraku Translation is used to expand it into other languages. This approach has achieved both accuracy and speed.
While this may appear to be additional work at first glance, it actually makes it easier to check for accuracy—using back-translation and other verification methods—leading to improved overall efficiency.
Consultants as the “Hub” of Multilingual Communication
At the core of Yaraku Translation operations are the town’s “Foreign Resident Lifestyle Consultants,” currently working as a team of two. They handle translation requests from various departments within the town, starting with Portuguese and then expanding into other languages.
“Before using Yaraku Translation, I had to look things up and translate everything one by one, which took a lot of time. Now, I can output multiple languages at once, which is a huge help.”
— Lifestyle Consultant (Native Portuguese Speaker)
Accuracy checks also involve back-translation and comparisons with other tools to ensure the meaning is correct.
Meeting Everyday Translation Needs—from Waste Disposal to Community Events
Translation needs arise in many aspects of daily life. Examples include translating flyers on local waste sorting and disposal rules into Indonesian, and translating community disaster preparedness festival flyers into Vietnamese.
Preparing for Disasters with Information in Five Languages
Previously, disaster hazard maps—community maps showing evacuation routes and high-risk areas—were available only in Japanese. The town is now working to produce versions in five languages (Portuguese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Indonesian, and Chinese), aiming for completion within the fiscal year.
Life-saving information is meaningless unless it reaches all residents. By providing it in languages that cover 90% of residents from overseas, the town is strengthening its preparedness.
Eliminating Information Gaps and Ensuring Equality
Residents from overseas work and pay taxes just like any other members of the community. Therefore, it is only fair that information from the local government be delivered in a form they can understand. Saying “It can’t be helped if the message doesn’t get through” is an excuse and a form of neglect.
If people are required to pay taxes but are not given access to essential information, it undermines the principle of equality enshrined in the Constitution. To prevent this, local governments must change their approach.
“The Hurdle for Implementation Is Not High”
Compared to other products, Yaraku Translation offers significantly lower running costs and strong protection for personal information. Most importantly, an operational framework in which experienced staff act as “hubs” for translation has been smoothly integrated into the municipal office, supporting the town’s success.
“There’s no reason not to implement it. That’s what I believe.”
Editor’s Note: A Future Where “Support Norms” Are Shared Nationwide
Minowa Town’s initiative represents a first step toward making “access to understandable information” the norm for everyone. One can only hope that tools like Yaraku Translation will be adopted by municipalities across Japan.