Several prefectural governments around Japan have raised concerns about a shortage of volunteer interpreters and translators to support foreign residents and tourists during disasters, after making limited progress with addressing the problem, a new survey has shown.
The massive floods that were caused by typhoons in 2019 and other disasters in recent years have brought to light the difficulty of gathering enough language professionals to assist non-Japanese speakers at such times.
The problem has been made more urgent as Japan has been promoting inbound tourism to boost the economy, and is also seeking more foreign workers to alleviate its labor shortages.