The Totsuka District Police Office has been working with Waseda Advertising Society to design safety posters based on universal design that is easily understood by tourists and foreigners. This initiative is being carried in preparation for the 2020 Olympics Game in which the number of tourists from overseas is expected to peak.
Beside working with the Toei Bus and Takadanobaba station to put up these posters around Shinjuku Ward, the Totsuka District Police Office has also posted them on the its official website and twitter account.
Last year in 2016, the number of accidents causing injury or death totaled up to 190 cases. Among these accidents, 21 involved foreigners. Currently, there are approximately about 41,000 foreigners living in Shinjuku ward, the ward that houses the most number of foreigners in Japan. As it is predicted that the number of foreigners living in Shinjuku ward will continue to rise and peak at 2020 Olympics Game, the Totsuka District Police Office decided to work with Waseda University, which has the largest enrollment of international students across all universities in Japan, to design safety posters for tourists and foreigners. Out of the 11 design applications, 4 were being selected to be put up around Shinjuku ward.
On 5th April, an award ceremony took place at the open space in front of Takadanobaba station where awards were presented to winners whose posters were being selected. The first prize went to Yoshimura Kana, who is a 2nd year student from the School of Political Science and Economics. Her design poster portrays a car approaching a Ninja using his smartphone while jumping the lights. Through her poster, she wishes to convey the message that a moment of negligence will lead to traffic accidents and that we should always be vigilance and careful when crossing the roads.
Other award winning posters