Rikei Corporation (Head Office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Tetsuo Kuroda; hereinafter “Rikei”) would like to announce that Yachiyo City (Mayor: Shuichi Akiba; hereinafter “Yachiyo”) of Chiba Prefecture has adopted Rikei’s multilingual email delivery system that connects to J-Alert for the provision of the disaster prevention and daily life information aimed at foreign residents.

Background

Before the introduction of the system, Yachiyo had operated the Japanese-based email distribution service to provide information on disaster prevention, crime prevention, the environment, and fire to 12,687 service subscribers (as of the end of January 2016).
There are 3,720 foreign residents in the city (as of the end of December 2014), which is the seventh largest number in Chiba. If no changes are made to the current service, foreign residents who are not familiar with the Japanese language will not be given enough information and will be unable to evacuate during a disaster. To address this issue, Yachiyo has employed Rikei’s multilingual email delivery system (English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, and Vietnamese) in preparation for disasters as a tool for providing information to those living in the city (including workers and students) who are in a poor position to cope with disasters.

Product summary

Residents register their mobile or computer email address in advance. Yachiyo distributes the “Yachiyo Information Email (such as disaster prevention information and information about the emergency evacuation centers)” in several languages (English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, and Vietnamese) at the registered email addresses.
The system will convert Japanese text into other languages after it is transmitted. Subscribers can select their preferred language beforehand when registering their email address. The converted emails will contain natural and easy-to-understand sentences because they are not produced through automated translation.
The system is linked with a receiver for the J-Alert system that has been introduced by Yachiyo. This allows for the automated 24-hour multilingual email transmission of J-Alert information* to registered email addresses in an emergency.

Yachiyo does not have a server in its office, but uses the ASP system based on a system constructed at the data center in Japan to offer service. This ensures that it can operate continuously even when disaster strikes.

*J-Alert: The system aims to instantly convey emergency information on urgent matters such as emergency earthquake warnings, tsunami alarms, and ballistic missile information with the use of satellites directly from the national government (Cabinet Secretariat, the Japan Meteorological Agency, and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency) to local governments and related organizations.

Features

• In normal time, the system allows city office employees to manually send emails about events or announcements made by the city government after emails are created in the language selected by foreign residents.
• In an emergency, emails can be sent 24 hours a day through automated linking with J-Alert.

Future Plans

We will recommend this system as a means of communication with foreign residents to over 100 municipal offices that have more than 4,000 foreign residents, as well as municipalities that are expected to see an increase in foreign residents and/or tourists from overseas from now until 2020. We will help communities improve their capacity to respond to disasters, improve the quality of information, and develop towns resistant to disasters.

About Yachiyo, Chiba

Yachiyo is located in the northwestern part of Chiba. It is a city rich in foliage in which urban planning has taken into account the lush green landscape. The northern half of the city consists of the leafy Shimousa Plateau, while the southern half preserves the forests. Yachiyo has achieved rapid growth as a commuter town because it is located within 30 kilometers of Tokyo, offers great access to transportation, and is blessed with a beautiful natural environment. The city is expected to grow further due to the promotion of the development of the towns situated along the Toyo Rapid Railway.

About Rikei Corporation

Established in 1957, Rikei Corporation is a solution provider for the IT and electronics industries.
Rikei offers a wide variety of solutions centered on the world’s cutting edge technologies and advanced products in the fields of system solutions, such as entrance exam and educational affairs systems and IT infrastructure, business strategy, and information security solutions. It also provides network solutions, such as satellite communication data transfer systems, digital video transfer systems, network systems for telecommunication operators and other private companies, wireless access systems, and disaster management information systems. In addition to solutions, Rikei provides electronic components and devices, such as high frequency components, high performance adhesives for industrial use, testers for automotive audio and navigation equipment, power grid analysis systems, defense-related machinery and security systems.

* Product names and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

*Reference material: Overview of registration procedure (Source: Yachiyo Information Email catalog)