Three smartphone apps and services recommended for foreigners and international students during their stay in Japan.

Often times, foreigners and foreign students have problems during their stay in Japan.

Language barriers, interacting with other foreigners, dealing with disasters when they occur, and so on.
Of course, recently, the national and local governments have prepared various pamphlets for foreigners, which have become more convenient.

However, I think there is a real desire to obtain a lot of information if possible, as pamphlets produced by the national and local governments alone do not provide enough information.

Therefore, we would like to introduce you to an application that is easy to obtain and very convenient.

(1) Smooth communication with an application for foreign language conversion

Google Translate” is one of the most famous apps.
It supports more than 100 languages, and it has a function that converts images into the language of your choice when you look at them with your smartphone’s camera.

It can also translate in both directions, making it probably the best tool for communication.
However, while you can translate more than 100 languages when online, the number drops to about half, to about 50, when offline. We recommend that you use it for your own native language.

Here is another translation app. The most famous one is “DeepL translation”.

There are many translation apps out there, but this one is self-proclaimed as the most accurate in the world. There are certainly situations where we feel translation apps fall short, especially in terms of accuracy of details.

This app was designed with that detail in mind, so it can accurately translate even somewhat complex languages. However, please note that the number of supported languages is small, only about 30 languages.
These services are free of charge, so don’t worry.

(2) Make foreign friends with platform apps

There are places where foreigners can communicate with each other using apps.
Here we call it a platform, and we would like to introduce the famous app “Tinder”.

There are many apps that allow you to make friends with foreigners, but this app is unique in that it is used by a large number of foreigners. Many people use it as a matching app, but its original purpose is to “connect people,” so you can interact with many friends.

Many foreigners and foreign students encounter language and cultural barriers in Japan, which is a foreign country. At such times, if they can make friends who share the same problems, they can share their suffering with each other.

The platform is a place to meet such friends. This application, designed to expand human connections, will be one of the best services for this purpose.

However, this service can be charged for in the app, so be aware of that.

(iii) Be prepared before a disaster occurs.

In Japan, disaster response is considered to be the job of the national government and municipalities, but when disaster strikes, it is not possible to move according to the manual. After all, the most important thing is to protect yourself.

We recommend “Safety Tips” as an application to help you prepare for a disaster before it happens.

There are 15 supported languages, and in addition to earthquake and weather warnings, it also provides information on hospitals that can accept foreigners in case of emergency. Originally developed for foreigners visiting Japan as tourists, the app is also fully functional as a disaster preparedness tool.

In Japan, there is a saying, “If you are prepared, you are safe.
It means that if you are prepared on a regular basis for when something happens, you do not have to worry when that something happens.

Of course, it is better if nothing happens, but you should be well prepared to protect yourself. This service is promoted by the government and is free of charge.

Conclusion

All of the apps introduced can be used on both Android and iOS devices.

If you are staying in Japan, services such as translation, dating, and disaster prevention will be essential. There are various other services, not limited to apps, to help foreigners and foreign students live in Japan with peace of mind.

In addition to the apps introduced here, why don’t you search for other services that you think are necessary?
You may unexpectedly find an application or service that will help you solve your everyday problems.