Feb 20, 2020 (NHK) - Authorities in some prefectures where people are confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus are providing multilingual information services for foreigners visiting or living in Japan.
Okinawa Prefecture has set up a round-the-clock hotline serviced by medical professionals who provide information on medical institutions that can handle foreign languages. The service is available in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese and Thai. The phone number is 0570-050-235.
Osaka Prefecture is offering telephone services in 10 languages including English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Thai, Indonesian and Nepalese. The Osaka Foundation of International Exchange is providing a hotline on weekdays and on the second and fourth Sundays. The phone number is 06-6941-2297.
The Osaka International House Foundation is also offering telephone services in English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Tagalog. The phone number is 06-6773-6533.
And the Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau has a hotline exclusively in Chinese. The phone numbers are 080-1460-7627 and 080-1463-3489.
Kyoto Prefecture is offering the telephone support services in English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Portuguese and Spanish. The service is provided by the Kyoto Prefectural International Center every day, except for the second and fourth Tuesdays and holidays. The phone number is 075-343-9666.
Wakayama Prefecture is providing information in English, Chinese and Tagalog through the Wakayama International Exchange Center. Tagalog is available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. English and Chinese are available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Wednesday. The phone number is 073-435-5240.
Aichi Prefecture is offering support through its Multilingual Call Center. The call center can be accessed using a smartphone, by first visiting the prefecture's official tourism site Aichi Now, where there is a link to the call center page. A call can be made by pressing the button on the page.
The service is available in 9 languages: English, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Portuguese, Spanish and French, for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Mie Prefecture is offering telephone information in 10 languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Nepalese, Indonesian and Thai.
The service is provided by the Mie Consultation Center for Foreign Residents on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The phone number is 080-3300-8077.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is offering a hotline for speakers of English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish and Thai and can refer people to relevant public health centers as necessary. The service is provided by the Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Medical Information Center "Himawari" from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day including weekends and holidays. The phone number is 03-5285-8181.
In Saitama Prefecture, the Saitama Information & Support is offering telephone support services in 10 languages: English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Nepalese.
The service is available on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The phone number is 048-833-3296.
Hokkaido Prefecture is also providing an information hotline in English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Thai, Russian, Nepalese, Indonesian and Burmese. The service is provided by the Hokkaido Foreign Resident Support Center. The phone number is 011-200-9595.
