To make it easier for foreign tourists and people with hearing impairments to use transportation, special displays that translate what is said and display it in text have been installed at the counters of Toei subway stations.
The display was installed from the 29th at the counter of Tochomae Station on the Toei Oedo Line.
The display is transparent so that passengers and station staff can see each other's faces, and what is said is recognized by the tablet at hand and displayed in text.
In addition to Japanese, it supports 12 languages including English, Chinese, Korean, French, and Spanish, and the translated characters are displayed.
The display can also display characters entered on the tablet's keyboard.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation plans to proceed with the installation of systems at other stations in anticipation of the large number of foreigners and hearing-impaired people who will visit Tokyo next year for the World Athletics Championships and the Deaflympics.
Masanori Sato, a section manager at the Metropolitan Transportation Bureau, said, ``I think it will make it easier for many people to use the subway, so I hope they will take advantage of it.''