{"id":79204,"date":"2025-06-01T10:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T01:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yaraku.com\/?post_type=case_study&p=79204"},"modified":"2025-08-15T11:06:33","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T02:06:33","slug":"minowa-town","status":"publish","type":"case_study","link":"https:\/\/www.yaraku.com\/en\/case-study\/minowa-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Minowa Town, Nagano Prefecture\uff5cDelivering Life-Saving Information to All Residents, Regardless of Nationality or Language"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Delivering Life-Saving Information to All Residents, Regardless of Nationality or Language<\/strong>
Minowa Town, Nagano Prefecture<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Why Minowa Town Chose Yaraku Translation for Multilingual Communication<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Minowa Town, located in southern Nagano Prefecture, has a population of about 24,000. The number of residents from overseas\u2014 which had once declined due to the collapse of Japan\u2019s asset price bubble in the early 1990s, the 2008 global financial crisis, and the impact of COVID-19\u2014has recently begun to rise again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cYaraku Translation.\u201d We spoke with those involved about the background and objectives of this decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Interviewee<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Mr. Odagiri, Division Manager and Office Director
Multicultural Coexistence and Gender Equality Promotion Office<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Life Safety and Security Division, Minowa Town<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Challenges<\/strong>
\u30fbSome residents from overseas still do not know how to call an ambulance, even after living in Japan for many years.
\u30fbLife-critical information is not effectively reaching these residents.
\u30fbThe diversity of national backgrounds is expanding, with residents from the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, and other countries.
\u30fbThere is a growing need for multilingual communication.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Expectations
\u30fbAbility to communicate in multiple languages, not just Portuguese and English.
\u30fbUser-friendly enough to operate without special training.
Strong security to ensure no risk of personal information leakage.
\u30fbLow implementation cost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A Sense of Crisis During the COVID-19 Pandemic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Not Acceptable to Say \u2018It Can\u2019t Be Helped if They Don\u2019t Understand\u2019\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s \u201cresponsibility to communicate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not a matter of saying, \u201cIt can\u2019t be helped if they don\u2019t understand because they are from abroad.\u201d 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\u2019s Technical Intern Training Program\u2014a government scheme for bringing in workers from abroad\u2014was introduced, which is expected to help more people settle in local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Minowa Town, strengthening multilingual support had become an unavoidable challenge in order to become a community \u201cchosen\u201d by residents from overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encounter with Yaraku Translation and the Decision to Adopt It<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if it turned out not to be the right choice after implementation, the annual cost\u2014just over 100,000 yen\u2014made 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combining Human Ingenuity with the Power of Translation Tools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, direct machine translation from Japanese can sometimes produce unclear results. To address this, the town uses a \u201ctwo-step translation process\u201d: 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this may appear to be additional work at first glance, it actually makes it easier to check for accuracy\u2014using back-translation and other verification methods\u2014leading to improved overall efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consultants as the \u201cHub\u201d of Multilingual Communication<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At the core of Yaraku Translation operations are the town\u2019s \u201cForeign Resident Lifestyle Consultants,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cBefore 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.\u201d
\u2014 Lifestyle Consultant (Native Portuguese Speaker)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Accuracy checks also involve back-translation and comparisons with other tools to ensure the meaning is correct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meeting Everyday Translation Needs\u2014from Waste Disposal to Community Events<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Preparing for Disasters with Information in Five Languages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Previously, disaster hazard maps\u2014community maps showing evacuation routes and high-risk areas\u2014were 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eliminating Information Gaps and Ensuring Equality<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cIt can\u2019t be helped if the message doesn\u2019t get through\u201d is an excuse and a form of neglect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Hurdle for Implementation Is Not High\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201chubs\u201d for translation has been smoothly integrated into the municipal office, supporting the town\u2019s success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no reason not to implement it. That\u2019s what I believe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s Note: A Future Where \u201cSupport Norms\u201d Are Shared Nationwide<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Minowa Town\u2019s initiative represents a first step toward making \u201caccess to understandable information\u201d the norm for everyone. One can only hope that tools like Yaraku Translation will be adopted by municipalities across Japan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Minowa Town strengthens multilingual support with Yaraku Translation to ensure life-saving information reaches all residents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":78739,"template":"","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-79204","case_study","type-case_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nMinowa Town, Nagano Prefecture\uff5cDelivering Life-Saving Information to All Residents, Regardless of Nationality or Language - "Yaraku Translate" equipped with generative AI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yaraku.com\/en\/case-study\/minowa-town\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minowa Town, Nagano Prefecture\uff5cDelivering Life-Saving Information to All Residents, Regardless of Nationality or Language - 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