KIKUYO, Japan - A strong earthquake that shook the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto has highlighted the challenges the town hosting the world's leading contract chipmaker TSMC faces in responding to the emergency needs of foreign residents the factory has brought with it.
The town of Kikuyo, with a population of over 44,000, has seen a sharp increase in foreign residents in recent years with the establishment of a factory by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. People from Taiwan make up the largest group, followed by China, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Against this backdrop, the town has turned to the chat app Line to answer questions from foreign residents in English and Chinese, sharing disaster-related information in easy-to-understand Japanese on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram that are popular in Southeast Asian nations.
Kikuyo also disseminated information on the location of shelters and water distribution points following the magnitude 7.1 earthquake on Tuesday. But officials say the town still faces the challenge of reaching more residents in need quickly.
About 20 people from the local police, fire department and other authorities gathered Friday to discuss assistance to foreign residents whose number has exceeded 1,200, nearly a five-fold increase from 10 years ago.
"I imagine foreign residents must be worried after an earthquake. Do you think the multilingual support is sufficient?" one of the participants asked town officials at the meeting.
In response, a town official explained that they have been providing information through social media using simple Japanese about the location of shelters and tips on how to protect themselves in the aftermath of an earthquake.
But the official said, "We have only a few followers and need to work on raising awareness as soon as possible."
While the number of foreign residents who have evacuated to the shelters set up by the town after Tuesday's quake is still unknown and there have been no inquiries, the town said it intends to provide necessary support to people regardless of their origin.
The challenges are seen as manifold as TSMC plans to begin production of 3-nanometer chips in 2028 at its second factory in the town, which is currently under construction. Production at its existing plant has yet to return to normal since the latest quake.
At the meeting, the fourth of its kind designed for town staff and local community members to discuss ways to promote coexistence with foreign residents, the fire department revealed the realities facing first responders.
Local authorities have begun to use translation apps and a multilingual call system aided by interpreters. But "Calls get disconnected before an interpreter can join or the use of translation apps is not possible when the caller's language is not immediately identified," an official said.
