🇯🇵 Japan Forms — Open Bilingual Translation Project

Community-driven English translations of Japanese municipal paperwork.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of foreign residents navigate Japan's municipal offices with forms they can't read. This project provides structured, bilingual translations of every common government form — starting with Tokyo's 23 special wards and scaling to all 1,741 municipalities in Japan.

How It Works

data/fields/        ← Universal field dictionary (kanji → English)
data/forms/         ← Form templates (one per form type)
data/municipalities/ ← Ward/city-specific variants & metadata
scripts/            ← Generators: data → PDF + Markdown guides
output/             ← Generated guides (don't edit directly)

The data is the source of truth. The output is generated from it. If you want to fix a translation, edit the data — not the output files.

The Three-Layer Model

1. Field Dictionary — Every field that appears on Japanese government forms, translated once and reused everywhere. 氏名 → Full Name doesn't change between Minato and Shibuya.

2. Form Templates — Each form type (residence registration, seal registration, etc.) defines which fields appear, in what order, with what context. These are national-level — the law mandates what a 転入届 must contain.

3. Municipality Variants — What makes Minato's form different from Sapporo's: optional fields, office locations, English availability, downloadable PDF links, local tips.

Quick Start

# Generate all outputs from data
python scripts/generate.py

# Generate for a specific municipality
python scripts/generate.py --municipality tokyo/minato-ku

# Generate only PDF or only Markdown
python scripts/generate.py --format pdf
python scripts/generate.py --format markdown

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here's how you can help:

🔤 Fix a translation

Edit the relevant file in data/ and submit a PR. Every field has a confidence rating — if you're a native speaker or have used the form yourself, bump it to verified.

🏙️ Add a municipality

Copy data/municipalities/_template.json, fill in the details for your city/ward, and submit a PR. Even partial information is useful.

🐛 Flag an issue

Use the Issue Templates to report:

• Translation error — wrong or misleading translation
• Missing form — a form type we don't cover yet
• Municipality data — corrections to office hours, locations, etc.

📝 Add a form type

Create a new form template in data/forms/ following the schema in data/forms/_schema.json.

Coverage

Tokyo Special Wards (23区)

Ward	Status	Forms Covered
港区 Minato	🟢 Started	Residence Registration
渋谷区 Shibuya	⬜ Not started	—
新宿区 Shinjuku	⬜ Not started	—
...	...	...

Form Types

Form	Japanese	Status
Residence Registration (Moving In)	転入届	🟢 Complete
Residence Registration (Moving Out)	転出届	⬜ Not started
Certificate of Residence Request	住民票交付申請書	⬜ Not started
Seal Registration	印鑑登録申請書	⬜ Not started
Bank Account Opening (JP Post)	口座開設申込書	⬜ Not started
Pension Lump-Sum Withdrawal	脱退一時金裁定請求書	⬜ Not started
National Health Insurance Enrollment	国民健康保険加入届	⬜ Not started
My Number Card Application	マイナンバーカード交付申請書	⬜ Not started

License

Content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Code is MIT.

This is a community project and not affiliated with any Japanese government entity. Translations are provided as-is for reference — always confirm with your local municipal office.

Acknowledgments

• Translations cross-referenced with official ward office materials and community contributions.
• OCR text detection powered by EasyOCR (Apache 2.0).