Western Japan has begun trialling a multilingual smartphone-based service that will provide disaster information to foreign tourists, with plans to launch the service in Osaka by June.
The service by Kinki Bureau of Telecommunications in Osaka will push out weather news and evacuation orders in several languages.
Foreign embassies will also be able to issue messages to their nationals in emergency situations. Consulates of the Vietnam, Peru and the Philippines have also successfully sent trial messages on Monday using an existing news app, Portable News.
The application will also be able to provide sightseeing information when there are no disasters.
Osaka is expecting to launch the service by June, when it will host the Group of 20 summit.
Further ahead, the city is preparing to better cope with an influx of foreigners when it hosts the Osaka 2025 World Expo.
Last year, it struggled to help foreign visitors in disaster-affected areas gain access to information about transport disruptions.
Osaka and other parts of western Japan were hit by earthquakes, torrential rain and typhoons last year. The city is also a major gateway to key tourist sites such as Kyoto and Nara.