Newly staffed station connects with foreign students learning Japanese

SENDAI - Local residents in a city in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, have taken on a new role of "station attendants" at a once unmanned train station to help make riding easier for foreign students at a Japanese language school.

Osaki, which operates a public Japanese language school -- a rarity even nationwide -- has reintroduced staff personnel to a previously unstaffed train station in the hopes of deepening community ties through support of the international students.