Nagano counseling center praised for offering typhoon information in 15 languages and simple Japanese www.japantimes.co.jp

Nagano Prefecture has won praise for providing foreign residents with disaster information related to powerful Typhoon Hagibis, which tore through the prefecture last month, in multiple languages and in simple Japanese.
Although it was a Sunday, staffers at the Nagano Prefectural Government’s Multicultural Counseling Center offered telephone consultation services to residents in 15 languages, including English, Chinese, Tagalog and Portuguese, on Oct. 13, the day after the 19th named storm of the year made landfall in central Japan.
The outpouring of praise “was unexpected, and we are thankful,” a representative of the prefecture’s international division said.
The prefecture also issued notices using simple Japanese before the typhoon struck the region, with the Multicultural Counseling Center calling on residents via its website to stay on alert for weather updates.
Nagano operated the 15-language consultation service and used simple Japanese for notifications about the service for the first time.