When you have trouble communicating

The most frequently cited problems encountered by foreign tourists while traveling in Okinawa include "difficulty communicating with staff at facilities," and "difficulty understanding multilingual displays. It is inevitable to encounter such language barriers when traveling in other countries, but you can enjoy your trip to Okinawa more by taking countermeasures in advance.

Contact the Okinawa Multilingual Contact Center

If you have any problems during your trip, you can contact the contact center operated by Okinawa Prefecture [ Okinawa Multilingual Contact Center ]. The center provides tourist information, interpretation services, and support for dealing with disasters such as typhoons, etc., to foreign tourists. Another call center is the Japan Visitor Hotline, which is operated by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). This center is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so it is a good place to call if the Okinawa Multilingual Contact Center is not open.

Use free translation apps

Another option is to download a free translation app on your smartphone. Google's translation app, which I am sure many of you are already using, is available in more than 100 languages worldwide, and the accuracy of translation continues to improve, so it will be useful in many communication situations during your travels.
In addition to text and voice translation, it can also translate text in images, making it very convenient to translate Japanese displayed on information boards, billboards, etc. by simply pointing the camera of a smartphone.
Another app that is highly recommended is the Pocket Talk app, which is an app version of the well-known AI interpreter Poketalk, which always outputs up-to-date and accurate translation results quickly.