Easy Japanese in focus as way to deliver information to foreign nationals

Easy Japanese is in the spotlight as a way to disseminate information to foreign nationals in Japan, especially at times of disaster, such as a recent powerful earthquake that hit Kumamoto Prefecture.

According to a survey targeting foreign nationals living in Tokyo, 41.3% said they want to read information in easy Japanese, higher than 35.9% seeking information in English.

“It’s probably because the nationalities of foreign nationals living in Japan have diversified, and fewer people are from English-speaking countries and regions,” said Nobuko Inoue of Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation Tsunagari, which conducted the survey and works to promote and raise awareness about easy Japanese.

The crux of giving out information in easy Japanese is to avoid using onomatopoeia, mimetic words, words adopted from foreign languages and ambiguous expressions, and to use short and clear sentences, according to the foundation.

For example, キャンセル (kyanseru, cancel), which derives from the English word “cancel,” can be replaced with やめる (yameru, quit) in easy Japanese. The word もらえる (moraeru, receive) can be used instead of 提供する (teikyō-suru, provide).

In Kumamoto, people from Southeast Asian countries, such as Vietnam and Indonesia, account for more than half of foreign residents.

A screenshot of the Kumamoto disaster victim support page written in easy Japanese | JIJI

“We have many people whose native languages are not English,” an official of the Kumamoto prefectural government’s international affairs division said. “We are trying to provide information in easy Japanese rather than in English.”

On July 29, the day after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake — which measured up to shindo 7, the highest level on Japan’s seismic intensity scale — WizTry, an information technology company in Kumamoto, created a website to give affected people necessary information, which includes an easy Japanese page for foreign residents.

The page for foreign nationals says, for example: 水を　くばる　場所が　あります。お金は　いりません (Mizu wo kubaru basho ga arimasu. Okane wa irimasen, There are places where water is being handed out. Money is not needed).

WizTry President Kotaro Suematsu said he hopes the company’s easy Japanese page will help foreign nationals who tend to be left out of information.