The Japanese government adopted a policy Tuesday to strengthen support for foreign residents who may face hurdles in getting coronavirus vaccinations, together with local municipalities.
Under the policy, the government will boost assistance to foreigners who have difficulty in understanding what to do with vaccination coupons sent to them by municipalities in charge of inoculation campaigns and those who do not know how to contact the municipalities.
The government will also promote the sharing of multilingual information about measures against the spread of the coronavirus.
The stronger vaccination support is among 10 new measures added to the government's existing policy package aimed at facilitating the daily lives of foreigners who may not be used to Japanese culture and customs.
The package was originally crafted in December 2018, before Japan launched a new visa system in April 2019 to formally open its doors to foreign blue-collar workers amid a serious labor shortage. It is revised each year and now covers 197 policies.
As of late 2020, Japan had around 2.89 million foreign residents in total.
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