During a natural disaster, the difference between life and death can come down to the availability of information that's fast, accurate and in a language you understand.
Typhoon Hagibis made landfall on the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture on Saturday before making its way north toward the Tohoku region, bringing ferocious winds and record-breaking rain. Left in its wake were flooded cities, overflowing rivers and at least 25 fatalities.
Through it all, phones were buzzing with news about evacuation advisories and updates on the trajectory of the typhoon, but mostly in Japanese. In the wake of Typhoon Hagibis, voices on Twitter and other social media services criticized the lack of information distributed in other languages.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.