About OFIX

Along with the rapid increase of foreign travelers and lengthening the stay of foreign residents, OFIX actively works on improving the multilingual support system for foreign people in Osaka.

Our special priorities are Expansion of Consultations for Foreigners and Strengthening of Disaster-related Multilingual Support, as the main goals of our Mid-term Management Plan, a five-year plan beginning from fiscal year 2018.

In response to the revision of the Immigration Control Act in 2019, we increased the number of support languages for our Consultations for Foreign Residents to offer specialist consultations and extended operation hours of the Osaka Free Multilingual Consultation Service.

In order to realize the Strengthening of Disaster-related Multilingual Support, we recruit and train disaster-related volunteer interpreters/translators by signing a collaboration agreement with universities and related organizations. We have also improved the mutual disaster support system with municipal governments or international organizations, including Kinki Council of Local Authorities for International Relations. In 2019, we developed a website where foreign travelers can obtain comprehensive and essential information and a mobile application which can provide emergency disaster information through push notifications. We have started to operate the “Osaka Prefectural Volunteer Tourism Guide” program to train volunteers who want to help international travelers get to know Osaka and enjoy their stay. We also train the guides to offer emergency multilingual information incase of disasters.

Furthermore, we delivered a Multilingual Support Course for businesses serving foreign travelers 10 times in 2019, and will continue to conduct the course in 2020.

Japan draws attention from all over the world as it will host the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Osaka will hold Osaka/Kansai Expo in 2025 and has developed concrete plans. Therefore, Osaka will undoubtedly see further growth in the number of international visitors and residents.

OFIX will play an important role to make Osaka Prefecture Safe, Secure and Comfortable for foreign people working with volunteers, municipal governments and enterprises.

We will strengthen our financial base and increase our efforts to become an essential service provider for our multicultural society. For this we ask for your support and cooperation.