Climate change impacts
In Kyūshū and Yamaguchi Prefectures, the average number of torrential rainfall events per year between 2008 and 2017 was about 1.5 times that of the period 1976 -1985. With the current measures against global warming, the average number of heavy rain events in the city of Ōita at the end of this century is expected to be double that of the end of the 20th century, while the number of days without rainfall is expected to increase. There are concerns that such extreme rainfall may increase the risk of natural disasters such as flooding, inundation, sediment-related disasters, as well as risk of water shortages.
Adaptation activity
Ōita provides different forms of assistance for foreign tourists in times of disaster. One of these is the Ōita Emergency Multilingual Interpretation Service. This service is activated when the Ōita Municipal Disaster Warning Headquarters or Ōita Municipal Disaster Response Headquarters are convened in the event of a disaster, and it is available for a month after the headquarters are closed. This interpretation service is available 24 hours a day in 19 languages (see Note) via a call center, and calls are toll-free (Fig. 1). In 2018, the Ōita Multilingual Disaster Prevention Guidebook was published by the Ōita city council, which provides information on disaster mitigation, what to do in emergencies, and the location of shelters (Fig. 2). The guidebook is written in four languages: plain Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean, and aims to present information as concisely as possible. At the end of the booklet Ōita municipal evacuation centers are listed in Japanese and English.
The official Facebook page of the International Division of Ōita City Council provides various crisis and emergency data as well as information on shelters and evacuation guidelines. Notification of the above-mentioned Multilingual Interpretation Service is also posted when the service becomes active.
Outputs / Expected benefits
Better communication with foreign residents and tourists in Japan in the event of disasters.
Footnote
(NOTE)A total of 18 languages are supported: English, Chinese (Mandarin), Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malay, Nepalese, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Tagalog, Myanmar, Khmer, and Mongolian.
