KUMAMOTO, Japan -- Municipal governments in Kumamoto prefecture are preparing for an influx of Taiwanese. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, is opening factories on the southern island of Kyushu, turning the prefecture into a center of Japan's chipmaking industry.
To help accommodate the newcomers, the city of Kumamoto, capital of the prefecture of the same name, has begun offering Japanese-language classes in all five of its wards. Around 200 volunteers have signed up to help residents from overseas learn the Japanese language, and about daily life in Japan. The classes are both educational and an opportunity for cross-cultural exchange.
