Public Service Announcement for Yokohama City

2nd September 2026

This week’s edition is on ‘public information in multiple languages’.　

1) Multilingual webpages.

Yokohama City has published multilingual webpages aimed at foreign residents that provide information needed for daily life, such as rubbish disposal methods, and insurance and childrearing information. It is posted in four languages: English, Chinese (simplified), Korean and "simple Japanese" (Japanese that is easy to understand even for people who are just starting to learn Japanese).

2) Machine Translation

Yokohama City webpages use a machine translation function.

There are 131 target languages, including “simple Japanese”

3) “Koho Yokohama”.

As well as the main articles in the city’s newsletter, “Koho Yokohama”, being rewritten in “simple Japanese” and posted on the website, “Catalog Pocket”, the newsletter viewing app, allows users to read them in 9 languages (English, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese).

For details on ① - ③, please click ‘Language’ on the top page of the Yokohama City website.

4) Pointing sheets

At the wards’ general information counters and family register sections, a ‘pointing sheet’ is available to make it easier for foreigners to tell staff what they need.  The sheet is written in English, Chinese (simplified), and Korean, as well as “simple Japanese”, and it has easy-to-understand illustrations too.