The Kyoto Shimbun
  • Home
  • Kyoto
  • News
  • 110 Police Emergency Number Available 12 Languages
    Kyoto Prefectural Police Starts Call Center

    13 June 2017 - Kyoto//Local topics
    Photo= Kyoto Prefectural Police mascots, Police Maron (right) and Police Miyako (left)

    Photo= Kyoto Prefectural Police mascots, Police Maron (right) and Police Miyako (left)

    On June 1, Kyoto Prefectural Police began operation of a multilingual foreigner support call center for 110 calls available 24 hours a day. The system enables three persons, who include a police officer, the caller and a nongovernmental interpreter, to talk simultaneously, covering 12 languages, including ones such as English and Chinese. In response to the increasing number of foreign visitors, the center will link a quick grasp of the situation and the initial response.

    According to the Kyoto Prefectural Police announcement, the number of 110 calls from foreigners, who can't speak Japanese reached 146 in 2016. This is 24 times the number of calls made five years ago.

    Until now, the Kyoto Prefectural Police had assigned an English-speaking staff member to the communications command center at all times. From now on, however, they have decided to outsource this service to an interpretation company, in expectation of the number of 110 calls by foreigners to further increase.

    At the discretion of the staff member receiving the 110 call, the call is connected to the interpretation company, and the staff member can understand the caller's report as stated via an interpreter. Five languages, English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, and Portuguese, can be interpreted 24 hours a day. Seven additional languages, such as Thai and Tagalog, are available from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

    An official in this section said, "As the Tokyo Olympics approach, the number of foreign tourists will increase from now on. We want to respond well to visitors so they can spend time in Kyoto without anxiety."

    (translated by Galileo, Inc.)
  • Also in Kyoto//Local topics:

    New Year Buddhist ritual held in Kyoto amid pandemic
    28 January 2021

    Kyoto Ranked World's Most Popular City for First Time
    Tokyo, Last Year's Top, Falls to Sixth
    22 January 2021

    Sunken Ships in a Naval Port Post-World War II
    Tragic "Ukishima Maru" Also Caught on U.S. Military Film
    22 January 2021

    Relic of "Great Ruler Mitsuhide"
    Fukuchiyama Castle
    22 January 2021

    Bonfires Drastically Scaled-Back This Summer
    Seen as Points of Flame from Kyoto City; COVID-19 Countermeasures
    12 August 2020

News Archive
  • January 2021
  • August 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • More...
Categories
  • Sightseeing/Events
  • Temples/Shrines
  • Tradition/Culture
  • Local topics
  • Education/University
  • Business/Company
  • Traffic
  • Gourmet
  • 1min Kyoto
  • Kyoto
  • Shiga
Web site
Introducing Privacy Policy Japanese Site
Copyright © 1995-2021 The Kyoto Shimbun Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.
We use cookies for a number of reasons, such as keeping our websites reliable and secure, providing social media features and to analyze the performance of ads. Accept & continue Read More
Privacy Policy