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The Japanese language and culture are both some of the most complex in the world – which makes localizing for Japan very challenging. But for those that can succeed, there is tremendous business potential. Here are just a few of the key metrics:
With this in mind, we sat down with translator and LQA professional Akagi Kobayashi to talk about why LQA is so essential in Japan and the most common problems she sees in translation efforts. Akagi has been collaborating with Chillistore for several years, and acts as Lead Reviewer for one of our accounts.
Akagi is quick to point out that, while some countries may be more understanding of lapses in grammar, Japan’s formal culture makes quality an essential. “LQA is very important in that it reflects on the quality of the organization. Think of how branded goods are popular in Japan, as proper presentation is seen to symbolize quality and reputation.”
Akagi also tells us that the cultural emphasis on formality and continuous improvement adds to the pressure on LQA for companies. “Japan is a highly competitive space. There seems to be a huge market for everything and a huge number of providers. So people are very choosy. Anything that may represent quality and give a good impression of the company will count”
Akagi also likes to explain to clients that the definition of LQA, or perhaps more precisely, the emphasis on different areas of quality, shifts depending on the business sector. “Being trendy may be more important in the game industry,” she points out, “but precise technical details mean more in the tech industry than being swish or expensive looking.”
In these conditions it is important to design a bespoke quality program that takes into account industry and content specificities.
Armed with the understanding that quality is paramount but the definition varies, Akagi’s personal approach to LQA comes down to communication with the client to understand the intent of the project:
“Being mindful of the client’s intention,” she says, “helps inform the appropriate communication to the target audience and judge if the presentation is clear. You also want to know what the audience may be looking for. This all helps you understand the true purpose of the communication.”
There are two important points that you will need to be aware of and follow when going into the Japanese market.
Akagi stresses that “long-term relationships between companies and quality specialists help guide the LQA considerations as familiarity is at the base of this.” While it’s not always practically possible, Akagi’s experience has been that it’s essential to research and query the client first to determine how the content will be communicated in the target language. “The difference in intent means I may use different expressions altogether.”
Once that’s defined, documenting the brand’s tone of voice and preferred terminology is essential to ensure consistency. A style guide and a glossary are your best allies to achieve that goal.
With the intent clear, Akagi can then get down to the details of LQA. “This is where we get into checking the p’s and q’s if you will,” she says. “The key ingredients for a quality project are accuracy, particularly in the technical sector. But even where brand image is the important consideration, it must be based on accurate information.”
And, as with all languages, Japanese is ever-changing. “You want to research the trend in that marketplace in Japan,” says Akagi “What terminology, what expressions are used by the industry leaders in that industry? And if it’s something new, then what sort of terminology are the public bodies and academic institution’s research analysts using?”
The details of translation quality also go beyond word choice. Akagi adds, “checking the layout for appropriate line breaks and word wrapping and choice of font is a key in Japan as Japanese consumers are very visually driven.” Adding an in-content check to the workflow allows the LQA specialist to make sure the document’s layout is on-point and translations are correct in context.
“I’m afraid,” Akagi reports, “the first errors that I notice are mistranslations. I have been told time and time again how the quality of translation is poor in Japan. And there are many, many aspiring translators whose grasp of language may not be so good.”
The reason for the errors comes down to a fundamental difference between Japanese structure and most other languages, Akagi adds. “It’s a very contextual language and understanding that you’re walking into a very different structure to the language changes how you’re translating and the errors that are going to be made out of those translations if you don’t understand that.”
As a result, Akagi often sees a lack of coherence between sentences, due to sentence by sentence translation. “Syntactically the translation loses the connection,” says Akagi, “and once that happens the translated piece loses readability.”
“For example,” Akagi explains, “in an English ‘because statement’, you have the result and you have the reason. But in Japanese the reason usually comes first and then the because statement.” Not understanding this fundamental difference in standard structure can lead to awkward translations when working sentence by sentence.
The fix for this particular error? “Text must be reviewed in paragraphs,” she says. “Translators can be translating so hard, they overlook the fact that it is the conveying of the meaning that matters, not translation.”
After translation errors, Akagi mentions spelling can be particularly tricky in Japanese LQA. “Japanese has got a fairly complicated writing system,” she explains, “and it is not a matter of getting the spelling right. It’s not as simple as that. There could be several versions of how a word may be spelled or written.”
Akagi expounded on the problem. “The expression may depend on the meaning of the word, or the context. And so normally, in Microsoft Word, a spellcheck is not available. None of the C.A.T. (Computer Aided Translation) tools like X-bench and others that I have used have had a Japanese spellcheck either.”
Akagi recommends investing in a Japanese-specific tool to aid in spelling and, of course, relying on the experience of a seasoned LQA professional who specializes in Japanese.
Because the Japanese language and culture is so unique, Akagi feels the more standard centralized approach to localization that many companies use for other languages can actually lower Japanese LQA.
“It’s so important to understand and serve the specific cultural needs in Japan,” she says. The unique nature of Japanese market and its competitive nature, Akagi points out, has made it a specialized case – and many companies have learned that lesson the hard way. “If you’re serious about opening up the Japanese market,” Akagi says, “you can’t just throw a world universal standard product at the Japanese. You have to consider their needs and preferences.”
Check out Part 2 of our conversation where Akagi shares some of her best tips for achieving LQA success. And read Part 3 to learn about some of the unique challenges Akagi sees in using social media as a business tool in such a unique culture.
Our experience with Japanese LQA, and our relationship with experts like Akagi, have made us the go-to choice for clients who want to gain and maintain the high translation quality the Japanese market demands. And we’d be happy to help you too. Drop us a line anytime to see how we can help you break the borders of Japanese LQA.
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