Hello! I received this from Debito: "I just received information about a hotline which will be open from 1 to 5pm on Sunday June 1st providing free legal advice to foreigners living in Japan. This is to test the demand for such a service in relation to research by the Japan Law Foundation being made by lawyers, NGOs and researchers on the necessity of starting a specialized law office/center for foreigners/refugees. Interpretation will be provided, in many languages.If the hotline receives many calls, this will strengthen the case for such a service, which seems to be to be sorely needed.If you also feel this could be an important service, please pass this information on.For further information, please contact: Ms. Masako Suzuki on 03-5269-7773, at the Executive Committee for Foreigners Legal Counseling (c/o ALT Law Firm)."HERE IS THE INFORMATION:Free Legal Telephone Counseling for Foreigners/Refugees - By lawyers in different languages -We, the Executive Committee for Foreigners Legal Counseling, have planned a one-day free legal telephone counseling for foreigners and refugees. Such a nationwide free legal telephone counseling focused on foreigners/refugees by lawyers has never been held so far.More than 10 lawyers will join this event and multilingual interpretation service will be provided. This event is held in cooperation with the Center for Multilingual Multicultural Education and Research of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, the Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan, the Catholic Tokyo International Center (CTIC), Japan Association for Refugees (JAR), and the House in Emergency of Love and Peace (HELP).Up to now, specialized legal consultations for foreigners/refugees are available only in regions around big city areas. The purpose of this event is to make it possible for foreigners who have difficulty accessing legal consultation to consult with lawyers.It would be highly appreciated if you can help us disseminate information regarding this significant event. Please feel free to contact us at the following contact for any questions or further information.This event has been planned in relation to the research of the Japan Law Foundation being made by lawyers, NGOs and researchers on the necessity of starting a specialized law office/center for foreigners/refugees, to cope with the rapid increase of the non-citizen population in Japan.Date: Sunday June 1, 2008 13:00 – 17:00Tel: 03-3547-0300Languages Available: Japanese, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Thai, Russian, Indonesian, Burmese, Romanian and others.Contact: Executive Committee for Foreigners Legal Counseling (c/o ALT Law Firm) Tel:03-5269-7773?Fax:03-5312-4543MULTILINGUAL POSTER AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD IN PDF FORMAT AT:http://www.debito.org/legaladviceforNJ.pdf