In anticipation of the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, the Bureau of Transportation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) is pushing forward with measures to grasp the actual needs of non-Japanese transportation users. As part of this initiative, Tokyo Metropolitan University (TMU) foreign students, including Asian Human Resources Fund Scholarship students, participated in the “Survey to Grasp the Needs of Non-Japanese”.

As an initial step, the foreign students answered their impressions of Tokyo&rsuo;s public transportation in a preliminary survey. Next, over June and July a series of field studies and group interviews were conducted. During the field studies, students actually inspected Toei transportation infrastructure (that run by TMG), and while using bus and subway services, received explanations of various elements (such as the subway platform signage, the toilets, the bus stops and the benches, etc.). While undertaking these inspections, TMG asked the students their opinions. With respect to what they encountered on the subways, the students offered the following input: &ldquoIt isn’t always necessary that signage be displayed in four languages, I think English (romaji script) is sufficient, and I would like it to be displayed prominently”, “Multipurpose toilets* that anybody can use are a really good idea, however, it is unfortunate that there are currently no English usage directions” and “I don’t understand the information listed in the train timetables. It would be good if there was also an explanatory notes offered in English”. Meanwhile, on the topic of buses, the following opinions were elicited: “The word ‘eki’ is used to denote train stations when buses indicate the next stop on their routes, and this is something that I don’t understand. With the newer display devices on buses, the abbreviation ‘Sta.’ is used instead to denote stations, and I think this is more readily understood” and “At bus stops with advertising signage, because there are no arrows offered on the bus route maps, you cannot understand in which direction a bus might be traveling”.
The students offered numerous opinions in that they were given the opportunity to inspect infrastructure that they normally couldn’t access. They were also proud that their opinions were of value for future transport operations in Tokyo. In this respect, the combination of field studies and group interviews conducted over a single-day format were very productive. In the future as well, it is planned to offer more opportunities to TMU foreign students so that they can experience and learn more about TMG policies

*Irrespective of whether they are wheelchair-bound, elderly, an expectant mother or somebody traveling with infants or small children, etc., multipurpose toilets are a multifunction, barrier-free toilet that anybody can easily use.