Translation app Kotobal adds Ukrainian to assist Japanese local govts

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:00 JST, April 19, 2022

Kotobal, a tablet-based multilingual translation application created by Konica Minolta, Inc., has added Ukrainian to help government organizations and municipalities assisting displaced Ukrainians.

Administrative technical terms can be difficult to translate. By adding the language, the company can support the administrative processing of displaced Ukrainians who came because Russia invaded their country.

Kotobal offers its machine translation services in a chat format. For more complicated conversations, it also offers remote interpretation via a monitor and a live person. The application provides translations in roughly 30 languages, including English, Chinese and French, which helps local government employees assist the public.

Konica Minolta added Ukrainian at the request of local governments that have accepted displaced Ukrainians. It is already being used by the Nagoya municipal government and an organization affiliated with the Hiroshima prefectural government.

“Now we can offer displaced Ukrainians the opportunity to have discussions in their own language,” said a Nagoya municipal government official, praising the service.