Multilingual support at Tokyo Metro Smartphone Railway companies strengthened in front of the Olympic para. 15:04 on October 15

Tokyo Metro will give station staff a smartphone with an app that can translate into 12 languages ​​from 15th. In preparation for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics next year, railway companies are strengthening their support for foreign tourists.

Tokyo Metro has developed a translation app in collaboration with NTT DoCoMo, and will introduce 1500 smartphones with the app to all stations to give station staff.

The app supports 12 languages ​​such as English, Chinese, Korean as well as Spanish, Thai, Russian, etc.Select the language you want to translate and speak to your smartphone's microphone, and the translated text will appear on the screen. It will be displayed and read aloud.

In addition, in the event of an accident or trouble, you can connect your smartphone to the station's on-site broadcasting facility and talk about what is happening or information about evacuation.

“There are many foreign tourists who are worried about their travel destination, so I would like to provide quick and accurate information,” says Shinichiro Nishizaki of Tokyo Metro.

At railway companies in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Odakyu Electric Railway has introduced portable translators that support multiple languages ​​at all stations, and Keio Electric Railway also has a pilot robot that can communicate in English and Chinese at major stations. Efforts to strengthen responses to foreign tourists are spreading.