Research on how "Easy Japanese" can be used to ensure the safety of foreign residents in the event of a Nankai Trough Earthquake

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K02767
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese linguistics
• Research Institution: Hirosaki University
• Principal Investigator: STOH Kazuyuki 弘前大学, 人文社会科学部, 客員研究員 (40133912)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: やさしい日本語 / 外国人住民 / 外国人観光客 / 避難誘導の表現 / 地震災害基礎語彙 / 大雨洪水土砂災害基礎語彙 / 南海トラフ地震 / 首都直下地震

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study was conducted to clarify how foreigners living in Japan can safely evacuate and protect their lives in the event of a Nankai Trough earthquake or an earthquake directly under the Tokyo metropolitan area. Using the vocabulary and grammar up to Level 3 (= N4) of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, our simulations confirmed that foreign residents would be able to understand the information reliably and evacuate safely even in the event of an earthquake. This is called "Easy Japanese", and by using these expressions most residents from both Kanji and non-Kanji areas were able to understand the information about the earthquake and how to evacuate. We also confirmed the effectiveness and safety of using these expressions.
It was also confirmed that governments and other public institutions could quickly transmit new information because they would be able to avoid the risks involved in the time it takes to provide translations as well as the potential for mistranslations.

Free Research Field

社会言語学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

この研究の学術的・社会的意義は日本が不得手としていたランゲッジ・バリア問題を、根拠に基づく研究により、日本に住む外国人や観光客が災害時に安全な行動をとれる「やさしい日本語」を開発したことである。首都直下地震や南海トラフ地震の発生時に外国人住民や観光客が安全に避難し、避難所での情報を正確に理解できる表現を確立した。さらに行政機関やメディア、ボランティア団体の関係者が外国人にも情報を迅速に伝えられることも考慮した。この研究成果を効果的に利用すべく社会実装にも取り組んだことで、外国人住民だけでなく日本語を理解できない外国人観光客や、一部だが日本人の災害弱者にも寄与する表現を開発することができた。