More than 200 foreign residents are members of volunteer fire corps in Japan, a survey has found, providing a much-needed boost as overall membership dwindles due to the aging population and low birthrate.
While participation of foreign residents helps fire corps offer services in multiple languages, challenges remain due to a government policy that requires public servants, including fire corps volunteers, to be Japanese citizens in principle.
Among 1,613 municipal governments surveyed, 147, or 9 percent, said they have foreign fire corps volunteers, bringing the number of such volunteers to 203.