Firms develop translation app for Japan's municipal offices

Two Japanese firms are developing an instant audio translation app for use at municipal offices in a bid to overcome the language barrier between foreign residents and local officials amid an increase in workers from abroad. Toppan Printing Co. and Feat Ltd., a developer of natural language processing technologies, hope the app will help people understand each other better during administrative procedures. The app, which will be used on tablets, supports English, Chinese and Portuguese. A prototype is expected to be completed in fiscal 2019, which starts in April 2019. The team developing it is focusing on procedures foreign residents face shortly after arriving in Japan, such as registering residency status and joining the national health insurance program. The app has already been tested at municipal offices in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward and Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture.