Participation in Nakano Ward Comprehensive Disaster Drill
On the 10th of November (Sun), Association for Nakano International Communications and foreign disaster prevention leaders participated in the Comprehensive Disaster Management Drill held at Toka Elementary School.
At the booth held by Association for Nakano International Communications, volunteers explained about ‘Easy Japanese’. The Association has a volunteer group, APRG (Anic Plain Japanese Research Group), which conducts research on how to communicate in Japanese in an easy-to-understand manner to foreigners who are learning Japanese. On the day of the training, we asked the participants, ‘Do you know “Yasashii Nihongo” (Easy Japanese)?’ Most of them didn’t know or didn’t understand it, but when APRG members explained it to them, they said, ‘I’ll be careful the next time I speak with people from other countries.’ This is one of the reasons why the APRG has been able to expand the use of ‘Easy Japanese’, albeit gradually.
With the cooperation of the APRG members and the foreign disaster leaders, the ‘Rules for Evacuation Shelters (examples)’ translated into Easy Japanese and foreign languages were posted on the bulletin boards.
The foreign disaster prevention leaders also taught visitors how to use fire extinguishers, making use of the results of their training. The Mayor of Nakano Ward also mentioned the activities of the foreign disaster prevention leaders in his speech at the beginning of the training, and we felt that interest and expectations of the local foreign disaster prevention leaders were increasing.
