[/floatl]Yachiyo City in Chiba has a multicultural centre where foreign residents can go to consult on problems they might have with life in Japan. It's open from 9:00am to 5:00pm everyday except Mondays and is staffed in the afternoons with Spanish and Portuguese speaking interpreters. The only problem is, hardly anyone uses it. In any given month, around 45 people walk through the doors. That's an average of less than two a day but, in practice, some days see no visitors at all. Foreign residents say they aren't really sure what it's for. Some think it's only good for asking simple questions, which are easily answered elsewhere anyway, while others don't even know it exists. One local Brazilian resident says language lessons or regular events to bring people together would probably be more effective.
Source (Japanese)
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