Iga City’s Guidelines
for Intercultural Cohesion (Draft)

May, 2021
Iga City

Table of contents
Introduction・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・１
Chapter 1 Overview of the Guidelines・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・２(1) Status of the Guidelines・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・２

Chapter 2 Present Situation and Issues of Iga City・・・・・・・・・・・３(1) Present situation ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・３・ Population・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・３
 Present situation of foreign residents・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・３
 Number of foreign residents by nationality ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・４
 Number of foreign residents by status of residence ・・・・・・・・・・４
 Population by age group・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・５(2) Iga City’s efforts・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・６(3) Approach to the development of a diverse society・・・・・・・・・・・・６(4) Future challenges・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ ・・・・・・６
 General issues ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・７
 Issues about population ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・７
 Issues about daily living ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・７
 Issues about working conditions ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・８
 Issues about medical care, health, and welfare ・・・・・・・・・・・・10
 Issues about education・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・10
 Issues about natural disasters, disaster prevention, and crime prevention・11
 Issus about the spread of an infectious disease・・・・・・・・・・・・11(5) System to promote intercultural cohesion・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・11
・

・

・

・

Chapter 3 Basic Philosophy of the Guidelines・・・・・・・・・・・・・12(1) Basic philosophy・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・12(2) Goals・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・12

Chapter 4 Basic Courses of Action in the Guidelines・・・・・・・・・・13(1) Four basic courses of action・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・13
 Raising awareness about intercultural cohesion and participation in social
activities through close communication ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・13
 Further improving the foundations of livelihood・・・・・・・・・・・・・13
 Turning a society intercultural・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・14
 Improving a system to promote intercultural cohesion and responding to
globalization ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・14
・・

Introduction
Since the revision of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act in 1990, Iga City
has seen an increase in the number of foreign residents, especially those of South American
descent, and diversification of nationalities.
At present, people of more than 40 nationalities and with foreign roots live here, and theirperiod of stay is becoming longer and more permanent.
As of the end of March 2020, as high as 6.3% of city’s population are foreign residents of awide range of age groups.
The birthrate is declining, and the population is aging in Japan, but be aware that foreign
residents are not here just for making up for a labor shortage in local communities. The citizens
should unite with each other to turn the city intercultural with the understanding that foreign
residents are also members of society.
So far, Iga City has been giving foreign residents information and a consultation service inmultiple languages.
In addition, Iga City has opened Tabunka Kyousei Center (Intercultural Center), set up a
website, published the multilingual newsletters, and actively provided a variety of services sothat foreign residents can live here without any worries.
However, because of an increase in the number of people of foreign nationalities living inJapan for a long time and the number of children who are Japanese nationals but have foreignroots, foreign residents are also faced with a variety of issues, such as the aging of their family
members, or issues which cannot be dealt with only through the administrative services.
The national government, prefecture, and local municipalities have enacted laws on theprotection of human rights of foreign residents in Japan and Japanese language education forthem. In such a situation, the city is expected to develop a sustainable, diverse, and inclusive
society which “leaves no one behind”, as promised in the SDGs or Sustainable Development
Goals. Both Japanese and foreign residents should deepen ties with each other and work handin hand to solve regional issues.
In order to make local communities more active, people should understand and respectdifferent cultures.
For this reason, the citizens, Jūmin Jichi Kyōgikai (resident autonomous organization),various organizations, businesses, and administrative agencies should make joint efforts tosolve these issues with the viewpoint of the citizens. Iga City will draw up Iga City’s Guidelines
for Intercultural Cohesion (hereafter called the Guidelines) with the aim of making the city more
self-supporting, harmonious, and comfortable to live in.

Chapter 1 Overview of the Guidelines(1) Status of the Guidelines
In addition to Iga City’s Basic Ordinance of Local Governance, Comprehensive Plan,
Comprehensive Plan for Measures for Raising Awareness about Human Rights, and other plans,
the Guidelines aim at clearly stating the basic approaches which all parties concerned in Iga
City should take to mutually respecting people of different nationalities and cultures anddeveloping an intercultural society.
The Guidelines include the concept of the Promotion Guideline for Intercultural, Harmonious
Society, which was revised by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in 2020, andthe perspectives of SDGs. Furthermore, the Guidelines are designed in line with Iga City’sComprehensive Plan and other administrative plans.
What is more, the Guidelines reflect the present situations and issues of the city, citizens’
opinions, and demand.
The city will flexibly adapt the Guidelines to rapidly changing social situations. Therefore, thecity will update the Guidelines as necessary while keeping an eye out for future trends in Japan.
Once the Guidelines have been decided on, Iga City’s Plan for the Promotion of Intercultural
Cohesion (tentative name) will be separately drawn up in order to reach the goals specified
herein.

2Chapter 2 Present Situation and Issues of Iga City
(1) Present situation
 Population
Iga City has a population of 89,771 as of the end of 2020, and 5,575 of them are foreign
nationals. The total population decreased by 13,500 compared to 2004, when it was 103,267.
Speaking of the number of Japanese residents, it has decreased by 14,864 in total or by
about 900 per year for the last 9 years.
Chart 1 Iga City’s total population by year
105,000 103,267
100,000
95,00089,77190,00085,00080,000 Present situation of foreign residents
The Brazilian account for about 40% of the total number of foreign residents. The numberof South Americans of Japanese ancestry moving into the city started to rapidly grow after
changes to the Immigration Control and Refugee-Recognition Law in 1990. It temporarily
decreased because of an impact of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in 2008, but it has
been growing again since 2015.
Chart 2 Total number of foreign residents in Iga City by year
5,715 5,575

6,000
5,000

4,207

4,180

4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0

3

 Number of foreign residents by nationality
These days, the number of Vietnamese has been rapidly increasing. The Vietnamese
account for about 20% of foreign residents in Iga City, following the Brazilian. Today, foreign
residents of 43 different nationalities live in Iga City. As the number of nationalities is growing,
the composition of population of foreign residents changes accordingly.
Chart 3 Population by nationality in 2020 (top 5
countries)
Nationality
End of 2020 Percentage

Chart4 Population by nationality in 2004 (top 5
countries)
End of 2004 Percentage
Nationality

1 Brazil

2,190

39.30%

1 Brazil

2,380

56.57%

2 Vietnam

1,073

19.30%

2 China

635

15.09%

3 China

560

10.00%

3 South and North Korea

421

10.01%

4 Peru419

7.50%

4 Peru356

8.46%

5 Philippine

410

7.40%

5 Thailand

116

2.56%

Total 43 countries

5,575

Total 38 countries

4,207

 Number of foreign residents by status of residence
Permanent Residents and Long-Term Residents hold a majority of foreign residents in Iga
City. In recent years, because demand for labor force is growing, the number of technicalinterns has doubled compared with 2015. In addition, the number of residents under a statusof residence “Engineer, Specialist in Humanities / International Services” has increased byabout 6 times.
Chart 5 Number of foreign residents in Iga City by status of residence
Other
Skilled Labor
Engineer/ Specialist in Humanities/ International Services (ESI)
Dependent
Technical Intern Training (TIT)
Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident (SCPR)
Spouse or Child of Japanese National (SCJN)
Long-Term Resident (LTR)
Special Permanent Resident
Permanent Resident (PR)
0

200

400

600

800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800 2,000

Engineer/
Specialist
Spouse or Spouse or
Technical
inPermanent Special Long-Term Child ofChild ofInternHumanities
Resident Permanent Resident Japanese Permanent
Dependent
Training/(PR)
Resident(LTR)
National Resident(TIT)
Internation(SCJN)(SCPR)
al Services(ESI)

Skilled
Labor

Other

2020年

1,886

218

1,160

270

80

1,248

117

414

15

167

2015年

1,838

291

779

285

72

687

60

67

13

20

4

 Population by age group
Chart 6 clearly demonstrates a declining birthrate and aging population of the Japanese.
In addition, Chart 7 shows that many Japanese residents aged 15 to 44 move out of thecity. On the other hand, Chart 8 shows that foreign residents move in. In other words, anincreasing number of foreign residents moving in make up for a decrease in the number ofJapanese residents in Iga City.
Chart 6 Population by age group20,00019,36015,89315,00010,00013,177

11,007

9,186

13,033

5,000
1,782

611

0

0～14歳

15～29歳1,755
30～44歳Total Number

959

410

45～59歳

60～74歳

Number of Japanese

2,540
5
90歳以上

53
75～89歳

Number of foreign residents

Chart 7 Demographic shift by age group (Japanese residents)
100
50
0
(50)
(100)
(150)

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Chart 8 Demographic shift by age group (Foreign residents)

200
100
0
(100)

2015

2016

2017

5

2018

2019

90歳以上

85～89歳

80～84歳

75～79歳

70～74歳

65～69歳

60～64歳

55～59歳

50～54歳45～49歳40～44歳35～39歳30～34歳25～29歳20～24歳15～19歳10～14歳

5～9歳

0～4歳

(200)

(2) Iga City’s efforts
Iga City has been making a variety of efforts such as a consultation service for foreign
residents, exchange programs in cooperation with Kokusai Kōryūkyōkai (International
Exchange Association), and learning assistance programs mainly for elementary and juniorhigh school students who have foreign roots.
In addition, in response to the opinions of Gaikokujin Jūmin Kyōkai (Foreign Residents
Council), Iga City opened Tabunka Kyousei Center (Intercultural Center) in 2016. This facility
is engaged in raising Japanese residents’ awareness about intercultural cohesion, carryingout exchange programs, assisting foreign residents in their volunteer activities, and helping
them to solve issues about their daily lives. Foreign residents sometimes have difficulty ingetting necessary information in their daily lives because they are not good at Japanese. For
this reason, Iga City translates information essential for their daily living into Portuguese,
Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, English, and plain Japanese for convenience, and then post
it on the website and Facebook of Tabunka Kyousei Center (Intercultural Center).
Furthermore, Iga Shiyakusho (City Hall) regularly provides a “Plain Japanese” training
course so that the staff at the city hall can communicate with foreign residents even if theycannot speak foreign languages.
(3) Approach to the development of a diverse society
The national government organized the Comprehensive Measures for Acceptance andCoexistence of Foreign Nationals (Ministerial Conference on Acceptance and Coexistenceof Foreign Nationals) in December 2018. The national government will continue to revise
or renew the measures, and work on the acceptance of people from different countries andthe development of intercultural societies. In 2019, the Act on the Promotion of Japanese
Language Education was enacted. The act is aims at making clear the responsibilities andobligations which the national government, local public bodies, and employers must fulfill
for Japanese language education. The act also states the basic courses of action andguidelines for the promotion of Japanese language education. The act requires thatcomprehensive measures for Japanese language education should be promoted.
According to the policies of the national government as described above, Iga City strives
to develop a society which guarantees the human rights of all citizens, never accept
discrimination against anyone including buraku (a former untouchable group in Japan as the
traditional social hierarchy), and encourages people of different backgrounds to respect eachother based on the principle of SDGs.
(4) Future challenges
 General issues
As more and more foreign residents live in Iga City permanently or for a long term, the city
should deal with issues which they may be faced within each stage of life. From theperspective of SDGs, the city should develop a prejudice and discrimination-free society
where both Japanese and foreign residents respect each other.
According to Iga City’s attitude survey on city planning in 2019 in the Comprehensive Plan,
49.3% of respondents are satisfied with the measures for intercultural cohesion, and 31.6%
6

of them have ever joined in the measures. The survey shows that citizens’ interests in themeasures are still low. Therefore, the city should continue to try to raise citizens’ awarenessabout intercultural cohesion.
 Issues about population
Chart 1 clearly shows that the total population decreases year by year. Particularly, thenumber of Japanese residents is decreasing with the birthrate declining and population aging.
Also, Chart 9 demonstrates a clear fall in working-age population. Luckily, a decrease in the
total population has slowed down thanks to an increase in the number of foreign residents.
But the city still has to work hard to steadily maintain the total population. Therefore, the cityneeds to continue to make efforts to be more appealing and a city of choice in order to stop
residents from moving out and increase the number of people moving in.
Chart 9 Iga City’s population of residents of 3 different age groups
2005 年

2010 年2015 年

2020 年

Young population (0～14yrs)

13,356

12,478

11,276

9,924

Working-age population (15～64yrs)

64,48861,08054,65250,484Old-age population (65yrs and over)

25,383

26,73028,91929,689(Iga City Population Vision) Issues about daily living
Some administrative services are available for both Japanese and foreign residents, andothers are not depending on an agreement made between Japan and their home countries.
As a result, the city consultation center receives requests for advice from foreign residents
about a variety of issues. (See Chart 10.)
Shiyakusho (City Hall) and Tabunka Kyousei Center (Intercultural Center) receive 9,000
consultations a year, either through visits or phone calls. Especially in the present situation
where Covid-19 is spreading, the city should further improve a system to inform as many
foreign residents as possible that they have a place to ask for advice whenever they havetroubles.
Not only the administrative agencies but also local communities give foreign residents
assistance in order not to leave them uninformed or left behind because of their language
problems.
In addition, according to the questionnaire survey for foreign residents in Iga City in 2019(see Chart 11), about 60% of respondents do not know about Jichikai (resident associations).
This means that they are not as closely connected with local communities as the Japanese
residents are. Though foreign residents are given assistance, they are also expected to joinin community activities as members of society and play active parts there.
The city should give foreign residents more opportunities of joining in community activities.
To change the present situation for the better, the city should help both Japanese andforeign residents to overcome cross-cultural differences and get more closely connectedwith each other. If so, foreign residents will be able to live safe, secure, and comfortable lives
by themselves or with the help of people around them, regardless of different nationalities.
1Chart 10 Number of consultations at the centralized consultation service in Iga City in
2020
Contents ofConsultation

Immigration Employment
Procedures and Labor

Number of
consultations

691

753

Contents ofConsultation

Learning
Japanese

DisasterPrevention

Number of
consultations

60

Social Insurance
and Pension

2,271
Housing
260

Medical Care

Childbirth andChild-Rearing

Education

590

445

540

323

Identity

Transportation /Driver's License

Interpretation/
Translation

408

73

88

Tax

Other
2,327

*8,875 requests in total: Requests for translation of administrative documents: 99
Requests for an interpreter to deal with issues in other sections: 140
Chart 11 Questionnaire survey for foreign residents in Iga City in 2019
Do you know your local community
Number of Responses

Percentage

association (Jichi-kai)?
Yes, I know

4337.70%

Don't know

66

57.90%

No answer

5

4.40%

114

100.00%Total

 Issues about working conditionsi) Status of residence
Foreign residents must have a status of residence and resident registration under the
Resident’s Basic Register Law if they want to use the public services in Japan. In addition,
if they desire to work in Japan, they must have the status of residence which allows them
to work. In Iga City, Permanent Residents, Special Permanent Residents, Long-Term
Residents, and Spouses or Children of Japanese Nationals account for about 65% of all
foreign residents. Next, about 33% of foreign residents live here for the purpose of working
or taking training as Instructor / Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / Technical Intern while
about 2% as Dependent. (See Chart 12.) As the survey shows, foreign residents work in awide range of fields, and serve as a pillar of the local economy.
Furthermore, there is a high proportion of children who are Permanent Residents or LongTerm Residents. Considering this situation, the city should provide them with support
programs for job seekers, career education programs, and other talent development
programs. Through such programs, the city should help them to work in local communities
and get involved in community activities as the Japanese residents do.
Moreover, new statuses of residence were added in 2019, as shown in Chart 13. Typesof jobs or countries which have an agreement with Japan are always updated. For thisreason, more and more foreign nationals are expected to come to Iga City mainly from the
Asian region. So, the city will become more multinational. If foreign residents have a status8

of residence of Specified Skilled Worker (ii), they may take their family to Japan. Therefore,
the city will need to assist not only such workers but also their family members. As a period ofstay becomes longer, they will live in the city longer accordingly. In conclusion, the city should
promote intercultural cohesion from a medium to long-term standpoint.
Chart 12 Classification of foreign residents by status of residence
Dependent 2%

Based on theactivity which
one engages
33％

Based onstatus or
position
65％[Based on status or position]
Spouse or Child of Japanese National (SCJN), Special
Permanent Resident (SPR), Permanent Resident (PR),Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident (SCPR), Long-Term
Resident (LTR)[Based on the activity which one engages]
Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services/ Skilled Labor / Technical Intern Training / DesignatedActivities[Dependent]

Dependent, Student, and so forth

Chart 13 Classification of Specified Skilled Worker (SSW)
New statuses ofresidenceSpecified Skilled
Worker (i)Specified Skilled
Worker (ii)Industrial fields

Remarks

Nursing care / building cleaning /Material processing industry /Industrial machinery industry /Electric and electronic information
related industry / Construction /Shipbuilding and ship relatedindustry / Automobile maintenance /Aviation / Lodging / Agriculture /Fisheries / Food and beverages
manufacturing industry / Food
service industry
Construction / Shipbuilding and ship
related industry

Period of stay: Up to 5 years in total withrenewals every year, 6 months, or 4 months
 In general, they are not permitted to beaccompanied by their family.
 They are supported by an acceptingorganization or a registered support
organization.

Period of stay: Up to 3 years in total withrenewals every year or 6 months
 They are conditionally permitted to beaccompanied by their family.
 They are not supported by an acceptingorganization or a registered support
organization.

ii) Issues about working and living environments
One of the major issues for foreign residents is assurance that they will be able to work intheir jobs as long as they like. It is necessary to provide working environments for foreign
residents to work without any worries and help them to correctly understand basic social
and work rules in Japan. In order to accomplish these objectives, the city should pushforward the measures to accept talent smoothly and properly from different countries, assuggested by the Japanese government.
Particularly when accepting workers from outside the city, the city should help them tomove into public housing or private housing for rent. This is because they have difficultyfinding one by themselves.

9On the other hand, an increasing number of foreign residents buy houses. However, theysometimes get into trouble with neighbors because of cultural differences. Therefore, anissue is how to encourage foreign residents to join Jichikai (residence associations) orcommunicate with neighbors when they move into their new houses.
Chart 14 Employment of foreign residents in Mie Prefecture Issues about medical care, health, and welfare
Some foreign residents do not know so much about the Japanese social security program.
As a result, they fail to take out the health insurance or pension or pay contributions, andfinally they miss using local health and welfare services.
What is more, they cannot say what they want about medical or welfare services because
they are not good at Japanese. As a result, they may be socially isolated with their troubles
unsolved.
In order to avoid such a situation, the city should give foreign residents as muchinformation as possible about medical care, pension, health insurance, welfare, and otherservices essential for their daily living in multiple languages. If so, they will be able to enjoy
the benefits of such services.
 Issues about education
Foreign-born parents may be confused about differences in the educational system
between their home countries and Japan. What is worse, their children have difficulty inadapting themselves to school lives in Japan or do not feel like studying because they cannot
understand Japanese well. Some families do not even use Japanese at home. As a result,
there is a high proportion of children who need to learn Japanese at elementary and juniorhigh schools. Each school should provide a good environment for such children to learn abouthuman rights, understand intercultural cohesion, and have a dream for the future. In order tomake things better, the city should make every effort to teach Japanese to children who haveforeign roots, and help them to enroll in schools or go on to high schools and to hand down
their identities.

10

As society is being more globalized, children who have foreign roots will be more expected
to play active parts by using their strengths of good understanding of different cultures andsenses of value and their abilities to speak multiple languages.
Chart 15 Number of children who need Japanese language education in Iga City by year
300
250
233

200

245

254

150
83

100
96

72

50
0

97

35

elementary school

junior hight school Issues about natural disasters, disaster prevention, and crime prevention
Once a natural disaster, such as an earthquake and a typhoon, hits us, foreign residents
may feel worried or go into a panic. This is not only because they are not so good at Japanesethat it is difficult for them to get enough information, but also because they have different
cultural backgrounds or have little experience of a natural disaster. In order to let them freefrom troubles, the city should develop a system to give them guidance on disaster prevention
in plain Japanese through a wide variety of media. Also, the city should quickly improve anenvironment to give foreign residents relevant information and encourage them to join in adisaster prevention drill. If so, they will be able to learn more about disaster prevention,
prepare themselves for natural disasters, and then get ready to help each other in case of anatural disaster.
Furthermore, the city should make more efforts to lead foreign residents to join in a patrol
or an organization for local crime prevention with the view to developing a society where all
citizens can live safely and securely.
 Issus about the spread of an infectious disease
The city must carefully handle information when controlling or preventing the spread of
Covid-19 or other infectious diseases. If not, any unknown or wrong information may hurthuman rights. The city will make every effort to give foreign residents necessary informationin multiple languages as quickly as possible.
(5) System to promote intercultural cohesion
Considering the present situation of the city and the world, Iga City should discuss how topromote intercultural cohesion and cooperate with all the parties concerned in order to turnthe city’s vision into reality and develop an intercultural society efficiently and effectively.
11

Chapter 3 Basic Philosophy of the Guidelines(1) Basic philosophy

Respecting people of different cultures and backgrounds and turning the cityintercultural and comfortable to live in(2) Goals
Iga City has set the goals as listed below in order to realize the basic philosophy of the
Guidelines.
 People of different cultural backgrounds will respect each other and work hard together toraise awareness about human rights and develop a discrimination and prejudice-freesociety with an eye toward intercultural cohesion which Iga City aims for.
 The citizens, Jūmin Jichi Kyōgikai (resident autonomous organization), variousorganizations, businesses, and administrative bodies will unite as one and develop asustainable, diverse, and inclusive society which “leaves no one behind”, as promised in
the SDGs or Sustainable Development Goals.

Ideal image of the intercultural society which Iga City aims for Many foreign residents are strongly attached to Iga City, and integrated into local
communiteis.

 The citizens interact with and help each other on a daily basis in local communities,
regardless of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds.

 A variety of groups actively conduct activities to support foreign residents so that they
can live their daily lives without any worries.

 A diverse society* is made reality.
Relationship between the Guidelines and SDGs*

A diverse society is a society which includes and accepts people of different backgrounds and senses ofvalue.
12

Chapter 4 Basic Courses of Action in the Guidelines(1) Four basic courses of action
In order to reach the goals of the Guidelines, the citizens, Jūmin Jichi Kyōgikai (resident
autonomous organization), various organizations, businesses, and administrative agencies
should cooperate with each other and push forward the measures to promote intercultural
cohesion as listed below while playing their roles in society and bringing out their strengths
and characteristics.

①Raising awareness about intercultural cohesion and participation insocial activities through close communication
The city will give foreign residents more opportunities of learning Japanese and Japanesesociety so that they can actively join in a variety of activities and make contribution as membersof local communities.
In addition, the city will raise awareness about mutual understanding and respect throughcultural exchange programs so that both Japanese and foreign residents can interact with eachother on a daily basis.
[Examples of measures]
 Providing opportunities to learn Japanese and opening a Japanese language class Holding an event to encourage communication regardless of different nationalities andlanguages
 Raising awareness about accepting both Japanese culture and different cultures
 Providing a place for foreign residents and their children to visit with ease

②Further improving the foundations of livelihood
The city will help both Japanese and foreign residents to share information and work
together in preparation for the spread of an infectious disease such as Covid-19, so that they
can get rid of inconvenience or worries which they have in their daily living because of different
languages and cultures.
In addition, people in different fields will cooperate with each other to improve services sothat anyone can live their lives without any worries.
[Examples of measures] Preparing a place for foreign residents to ask for advice or get information
 Improving a system to cooperate with foreign residents in preparation for a natural
disaster or the spread of an infectious disease such as Covid-19 (Establishing aprocedure for emergency response in cooperation with local communities, businesses,
and foreign residents in case a natural disaster hits us) Working together for foreign residents to form solid foundations for their lives (including
housing, education, work, medical care, health, welfare, disaster prevention, traffic,
and crime prevention)13

③ Turning a society intercultural
The city will aim at getting rid of prejudice and discrimination against foreign residents byraising awareness about intercultural cohesion, and provide easy-to-join events andopportunities of deeply understanding different cultures.
In addition, the city will give foreign residents opportunities of learning local issues, actively
joining in activities, and contributing to local communities.
[Examples of measures]
 Encouraging foreign residents to take part in society and local affairs
 Developing local communities by promoting diversity
 Taking action against discriminatory treatment④ Improving a system to promote intercultural cohesion
and responding to globalization
In view of globalization in many fields and the acquisition of technically skilled andknowledgeable people from different countries (highly skilled professional), the city will workwith the citizens, Jūmin Jichi Kyōgikai (resident autonomous organization), variousorganizations, businesses, and administrative agencies toward the goal of the promotion ofintercultural cohesion.
[Examples of measures]
 Working together with relevant bodies and organizations
 Recruiting highly skilled professionals and developing talent

Respecting people of different cultures and backgrounds and turning the cityintercultural and comfortable to live in14