Photo/Illutration The seven individuals appointed to the multilingual fire brigade, front row, including leader Julia Mayumi Yamashita, far left, at the municipal fire department in Aikawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, on July 7 (Hidenori Nakajima)

AIKAWA, Kanagawa Prefecture--Authorities here are hoping a multinational volunteer firefighting squad they set up to assist foreign residents when disaster strikes will serve as a model for the rest of Japan.

The tasks of the brigade members include serving as interpreters and translators, helping during evacuation procedures and providing support to foreign residents while they are living in temporary shelters.

They are also expected to take part in drills and other events staged by town authorities as public relations exercises.

Unlike a typical fire brigade, a “functional fire brigade of multilingualism” draws on the abilities and other characteristics of its members to fulfill a specific role, a town official said.

By country of origin, the brigade comprises two Brazilians who speak Portuguese, two Filipinos who are fluent in Tagalog and English, a Cambodian who speaks Khmer, a Vietnamese and a Peruvian national who speaks Spanish.

Aikawa, which hosts a large industrial park, has around 3,500 non-Japanese residents who represent more than 45 countries and regions, accounting for nearly 9 percent of the town’s population.

Town officials called the creation of the fire brigade a step for “building new community-based disaster management capabilities in a multicultural and inclusive society.”

They said they hope their example will serve as a model for the rest of Japan.

Kazuhiko Kojima, Aikawa’s fire marshal, handed written appointments to the brigade members during an inauguration ceremony on July 7. Uniform caps and jackets were also distributed to the members.

Julia Mayumi Yamashita, a 54-year-old native of Brazil who leads the fire brigade, recalled she was visiting an elementary school with Brazilian kindergartners she was teaching Japanese to when the magnitude-9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake struck in 2011.

She said Japanese schoolchildren remained calm in the face of the abrupt shocks, but the kindergartners were clearly frightened.

“I hope to help convey information to non-Japanese so they and Japanese people can help each other in times of trouble,” Yamashita said.

Norma Yamashiro, a 45-year-old Peruvian, said she often sees residents in her neighborhood pass on circular bulletins without looking at them because they cannot read Japanese.

“As a member of the fire brigade, I hope to tell them things that they don’t understand,” Yamashiro said.

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