Hi Guys,
I am Himanshi, from India. Last year I moved to Tokyo, Japan for work purposes. Once I moved here, I realized that many of the places’ names are not available in English. And in some cases, the places name is available but the address or floor information is not available in English. There are some problems that stem from these issues:
- I cannot explore new places in the city as I don’t understand the name or relevant information to identify the place or judge if I like it or not
- I frequently get lost, trying to locate a place as GPS or location marker are sometimes not accurate
- The businesses lose the money that they would have received if their information was accessible to the English speaking audience.
This along with the fact that Japan is hosting Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics next year which will receive 10 million tourists. These tourists might not understand Japanese and this makes it crucial for Google Maps to have the important information in English as well. Most of the western world relies on Google Maps for navigation.
I have been trying to initiate an Englishnization movement in Japan. I tried an Englishnization meetup for the first time in Tokyo. You can find about the event here: Map Englishnization in Tokyo and recap of the meetup here: Recap Map Englishnization in Tokyo. We tried to go around the Shibuya area, talked to businesses and distributed pamphlets to convince businesses to add English information in their signboards and menus. @Anzu san, @Yutaro san, Aayush, and Atul helped me organize this event. I am grateful for their effort.
My other local guides friends have also joined in this Englishnization effort. @YasumiKikuchi and @KimberlyAnnG have created their list of recommended places to visit in Tokyo along with English Reviews. They are working to create an even bigger list to help more people. You can read more about their efforts here. [DEEP JAPAN] TOKYO Full version English Guide List
@HiroyukiTakisawa san deserves a special mention for his contributions. He is adding more and more English information for places every day. He has also written up guidelines for Japanese Local guides so they can do the same. His contributions are enabling other local guides to be involved in this effort. You can check the guidelines here: Proposal of Japanese English Language Conversion Guidelines .
Hiroyuki san is also helping me plan a large scale Englishnization meetup in Japan so we can have a bigger impact together for all places in Japan.
I hope more and more Local guides will join our movement and together we can build a Maps which supports everyone, including people who don’t speak many languages.
Find me on Instagram- @awkward_Himanshi | Recap of Coffee and Hanami Meetup in Tokyo | Recap Map Englishnization in Tokyo | Biggest Starbucks Roastery in the world now in Tokyo
.
. My time with you and 