| Publication |
2010.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Today, electronic government is being pursued at both national level (denshi seifu) and local level (denshi jichitai) in Japan. It is therefore useful to examine how local administrations communicate with the public in the Internet age. This paper examines foreign-language provision on local government websites, concentrating on the 47 prefectures. An overview is supplemented by more detailed discussion of several selected websites, looking at aspects such as the languages available, content, target audiences, translation and efforts to make Japanese-language information more accessible to non-native speakers. Local governments increasingly have to take into account the linguistic needs of the growing numbers of foreign residents in their communities. Making provision for foreign residents is, however, not the only reason for local governments to use languages other than Japanese on their websites. Examining these websites in terms of which languages are used and the type of material presented offers insights into broader issues of internationalisation, multiculturalism and globalisation as experienced and managed at local level.
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