Japan is, in general, a pretty safe place to travel. But disasters happen – and navigating them as a foreign tourist with little knowledge of the local language can be downright frightening. To bridge this gap, navigation app company NAVITIME has announced a new Safety feature for its popular multilingual app aimed at foreign visitors.
NAVITIME introduces comprehensive safety functions
NAVITIME Japan Co., Ltd., one of Japan’s top navigation app makers, has announced a significant upgrade to its Japan Travel by NAVITIME app aimed at international tourists. On March 26, 2025, the company launched new Safety features designed to address the unique challenges foreign visitors face during natural disasters in Japan.
Recent years have seen an increase in earthquakes, heavy rainfall, and powerful typhoons across Japan. While these events are challenging for everyone, foreign visitors often struggle with additional barriers like language difficulties and limited access to multilingual emergency information.
Japan Travel by NAVITIME already supports visitors with an all-in-one platform for trip planning, reservations, transportation, and experience sharing in 13 languages. Now, its enhanced safety features make critical emergency information more accessible and easier to understand for international travelers.
Key safety features that could save your trip—or more
The app’s new safety functions include three major components that work together to keep travelers informed and secure:
Alert Information Display
The app now shows warning information directly on users’ travel plans and route search results. This allows travelers to identify potential disaster risks along their planned routes or at destinations during the early planning stages. With this information, visitors can better prepare for conditions or reconsider destinations entirely if necessary.
Disaster Support Spot Search
Finding critical services quickly is important in an emergency. The updated app allows users to instantly locate nearby evacuation shelters, hospitals, pharmacies, and toilets directly on the map. While these locations were previously available through category searches, they’re now immediately visible on the map interface for faster access during emergencies.
Alternative Route Planning
When disasters disrupt transportation networks, finding alternative ways to travel is crucial. The app now offers one-tap route searches that exclude Shinkansen (bullet trains) or show only bus, walking, taxi options. This helps travelers make transportation decisions even when real-time operation updates are delayed.
These new features complement existing functionality that already included push notifications for earthquake warnings (intensity 3 or higher), tsunami alerts, eruption bulletins, weather warnings, and typhoon information. The app also provides transportation service updates, focusing on Shinkansen and airport access lines, as well as information about areas around the user’s current location and registered accommodations.
Why these features matter for Japan travelers
While Japan’s public transportation system is renowned for its efficiency, navigating it during emergencies presents unique challenges—especially for those unfamiliar with the country and its language. Heck, even during the best of times, some locations in Japan (looking at YOU, Shibuya and Shinjuku stations) can be challenging for tourists (and even locals) to navigate.
During recent disasters, foreign tourists have often found themselves stranded or uncertain about evacuation procedures and safe locations. The language barrier makes accessing critical information particularly difficult, as many emergency broadcasts and instructions are primarily in Japanese.
Japan Travel by NAVITIME aims to provide comprehensive support for foreign tourists so you can travel with greater peace of mind. The company says they’ll continue enhancing features and information to support all aspects of travel to Japan through the app.
For travelers planning a trip to Japan, downloading this app before arrival could prove invaluable—not just for everyday navigation but as a potential lifeline during unexpected emergencies.
You can download Japan Travel by NAVITIME for iTunes or Android.
Want to go to locations even an app can’t help you navigate? Unseen Japan Tours offers customized itineraries and guided interpretation so you can visit locations that most tourists can’t. Contact us today to start planning your unique Japan experience.
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