Why is Japanese translation difficult?

by Target Language Translation Services

- November 05 2021

As one of the world’s leading industrial powers and a “must” market for any international company, Japan is home to 127 million citizens and the country provides a stable business market that encourages trade and foreign investment. However, success in Japan comes with the necessity to navigate the geographic, linguistic (translating to Japanese) and cultural diversity of Japanese society. With that said, International organizations can take full advantage of the many benefits of doing business in Japan.

When it refers to Japanese translation, it is fair to say that Japanese is a notably difficult language to translate – especially into English. There are many challenges with translating Japanese into English. There are many aspects to Japanese language that make it a complete mystery to English speakers. It is a complex task to execute translations perfectly in this language pair which means that if you wish to do translations between Japanese and English, you not only have to have a deep knowledge of both languages and cultures, but you should also know what makes them so different and how to overcome countless obstacles you’ll face along the way.

Challenge for Japanese Translations

Here are a few of the biggest reasons why Japanese is such a challenge for translators:

Cultural Nuances

Translation into any language requires translators to pay close attention to cultural nuances to make sure that the correct context is represented. This is especially true for translating to Japanese because sentences need to be broken down into smaller segments in order for cultural nuances to be represented in a natural-sounding way.

For example, Japanese grammar expresses a sense of formality and politeness, which does not exist in another language and is something that is essential for a translation to capture. In Japanese, there are various specific suffixes you use for each layer of formality such as ‘-chan’ which is used in an endearing manner or ‘-sensai’ which is used specifically to show respect. It can be difficult to even grasp the meaning of honorific suffixes in Japanese perfectly, let alone translation.

More than One Alphabets

Japanese uses three independent writing systems in Japanese language and each one of them comes with its own alphabet: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Kanji is the logographic-based written language that is based off of Chinese characters and is commonly used in everyday Japanese. Hiragana and Katakana are both phonetic symbols, with Katakana used for all words borrowed from other languages.

While the alphabets can work together, it requires an in-depth knowledge of the language and culture to understand how and when to use them. For instance, Hiragana is most commonly used for grammatical functions like particles, but can also be used to create words when Kanji characters don’t exist. Altogether, there are thousands of Kanji characters in the writing system, requiring that translators understand both languages and their written forms perfectly and make sure that no meaning is lost while moving from Japanese into English

No Plural Nouns

Japanese omits subjects and pronouns all together and there is no distinction between singular and plural nouns. This means that translators have to go by the context of the words. However, difficulties arise because there is often no way to be sure whether the word is meant to be singular or plural.

Not Obvious Pronoun Choices

In English, choosing the right pronoun to use is simple, but that is often not the case in Japanese. Some Japanese expressions do not provide any clues about the gender of the person being referenced. This makes it hard to figure out which gender-specific pronoun to use.

Different Verb Placement

Japanese and English sentence structures are extremely different. An English sentence is ordered subject – verb – object whereas a Japanese sentence is ordered subject – object – verb. Furthermore, in Japanese, subjects are often understood, rather than being stated. This means that readers have to base their understanding of the subject on the context of the sentence.

Tenses Pose Difficulties

English grammar provides three tenses – past, present, and future. In contrast, the Japanese language uses only two tenses – past and non-past. When describing either the present or the future, the non-past tense is used.

While other languages have their difficulties and nuances, Japanese seems to be one of, if not the most difficult languages to translate to and from. Putting the fact that the language has 3 different alphabets aside, Japanese is highly contextual and the whole language is built on honouring the Japanese culture. Combining this with huge differences in sentence structure and grammar, it’s no surprise that there are many challenges with translating Japanese into English

With such a difficult task, you should work with an professional translator who can offer high-quality translations. At Target Language Translation, we have a large pool of native translators who are qualified in different subject matters and can offer experienced Japanese translation services.

To find out more about our Japanese Translation Services just call us on +8618206071482 or email info@target-trans.com for a free quote and see how we can work with you.

This article is reprinted from LILT, TTC wetranslate and TMS.

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