Less lost in translation: Foreigners get high-tech help in Tokyo's baffling Shinjuku rail hub

TOPPAN Holdings

31/07/2023 09:00

By Tom Bateman and Rocky Swift
       TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) - As Japan enjoys a
post-pandemic resurgence in tourism from around the globe, Seibu
Railway is testing out an automated translation window to help
confused foreigners navigate one of Tokyo's most complex
transportation hubs. 
    The device, developed by printing company Toppan  7911.T 
and called VoiceBiz, lets customers speak to a station attendant
over microphones while the semi-transparent screen between them
spells out their words in Japanese and one of 11 other
languages.
    More than 2 million visitors arrived in Japan last month,
the most since the pandemic kicked off in 2019, and travellers
from the United States and Europe exceeded pre-outbreak levels
as the weak yen makes the trip the cheapest in decades.
    Kevin Khani was among foreign travellers who got turned
around in the Seibu-Shinjuku station recently and found the
VoiceBiz window helpful.
    "The translations were spot on," said the 30-year-old
German, who works at Alibaba. "It might sound a bit weird, but
you feel safe immediately because you know there's a human on
the other side. So you take your time to explain what you need
and you will know that they will understand what you need."
    Seibu Railway, a unit of the Seibu Holdings  9024.T 
conglomerate, installed the translation window this month at its
Seibu-Shinjuku station, the terminus of one of its central Tokyo
lines, for a three-month trial before considering a wider
rollout.
    About 135,000 passengers pass through the station daily,
including many foreigners shuttling between tourist hot spots,
such as Tokyo's new Harry Potter theme park.
    "Our goal in introducing this was to improve the smoothness
of communication by letting people look at each other's face,"
said Ayano Yajima, a sales and marketing supervisor at Seibu
Railway.
    The device was also tested out at Kansai International
Airport earlier this year, and Toppan has aims to sell it to
businesses and government offices in Japan to contend with both
foreign travellers and an ever-growing number of immigrants. 
    With its many rail lines - some connected, some not - and
gigantic bus station, Shinjuku district is the ultimate testing
ground for way-finding tech.
    Across the road from the Seibu station is Shinjuku's central
Japan Railway (JR) station, which is the busiest in the world,
with some 3.6 million people passing through daily. A rabbit
warren of tunnels connects the JR station to multiple train and
subway lines run by other companies.
    Weary from a 1 a.m. flight arrival, French tourists Isabelle
and Marc Rigaud used the translation window to try to find their
way from the Seibu station to the JR station. They still needed
a help from a bystander to get there.
    "It's very Japan," Isabelle, 47, said.

 (Reporting by Tom Bateman and Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by
Simon Cameron-Moore)
 ((rocky.swift@thomsonreuters.com;))