Zenrin and CBC TV Launch Multilingual Web Hazard Map Pilot for Foreign Residents

Zenrin Co., Ltd. (HQ: Kitakyushu, Fukuoka; President: Michiro Takekawa), in collaboration with CBC TV, launched a public trial of a web hazard map on the disaster prevention page of 'Explore Nagoya,' a website for foreign residents operated by CBC TV, on June 9 (Tuesday).

The site utilizes generative AI automatic translation technology to support four languages: English, Korean, Traditional Chinese, and Portuguese.

Background of the Initiative The Tokai region, including Aichi Prefecture, is home to many foreign nationals working for global corporations. While the need for disaster prevention and mitigation information has increased in recent years, a major challenge has been the difficulty for these residents to access such information in their native languages.

In response, Zenrin, which holds detailed nationwide map data, and CBC TV, operator of 'Explore Nagoya,' have initiated this pilot to combine their assets and provide high-efficacy disaster information in multiple languages.

Roles Zenrin: Development and operation of the web hazard map utilizing GenAI translation. CBC TV: Planning and operation of 'Explore Nagoya.'

How GenAI Translation Works Various information on the hazard map is retrieved via API from Zenrin's spatio-temporal database, dynamically translated using generative AI into the language selected by the user, and then displayed on the map. This eliminates the need for pre-prepared multilingual databases, enabling quick and flexible support for any language.

Pilot Overview - Website: Explore Nagoya (https://explore-nagoya.jp/) - Launch Date: June 9, 2026 - Languages: English, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Portuguese - Content: Hazard info (flood, tsunami, storm surge, landslide), evacuation sites, multilingual hospitals - Features: Address/facility/route search, content overlay - Period: June 9, 2026 – March 31, 2027

Future Outlook Going forward, the companies will consider business opportunities utilizing multilingual maps and content. Zenrin aims to leverage findings from this trial to understand the needs of foreign residents regarding disaster information and to build an environment where multilingual maps can be introduced quickly and easily using AI technology.