Today’s XPAND Linked release is, by a happy coincidence (!) timed to mark the Japan–Russia summit taking place today: a Russian-language edition of our "No Smoking" sign, plus a Portuguese/Spanish edition.
First, this one.
The Russian edition. It carries text in three languages: Japanese, English, and Russian.
The current standard combination for multilingual signs is Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean — and that is what we ordinarily use for XPAND Linked products.
However, there are regions — Hokkaido and areas along the Sea of Japan coast, for instance — where there is genuine demand for Russian, and this release is our attempt to cater to that need.
On a standard XPAND Linked sign, only English, Chinese (Simplified/Traditional), and Korean are provided in human-translated text; Russian visitors viewing via smartphone would normally see an auto-translated version of the English.
With this sign, however, a professionally translated Russian text is displayed for Russian-language viewers as well.
Now, this one.
The Portuguese/Spanish edition. It carries text in four languages: Japanese, English, Portuguese, and Spanish.
This variation was created for areas with a demand for Portuguese or Spanish, such as industrial clusters with large immigrant workforces.
Because Portuguese and Spanish vary considerably by country, this sign uses Brazilian Portuguese and Peruvian Spanish as its reference standards, reflecting the likely user base.
As with the Russian edition, this sign displays professionally translated Portuguese and Spanish text — in addition to English, Chinese, and Korean.