Japan: language and translation guide
Review honorifics, address order, and context-dependent subjects before sharing Japanese text.
Practical guides for translating files, emails and reviewing results
Languages spoken
Japanese is the main language of public life. Regional and minority language communities also exist. Written Japanese combines kanji and kana.
Translation use cases
Translation can help you understand travel information, prepare a message to a host, compare product descriptions or draft workplace correspondence involving Japan. Keep the intended audience and purpose with the text. Machine translation is useful for a first reading; it does not replace a certified translation for an official submission.
Local language information
Review honorifics, address order, and context-dependent subjects before sharing Japanese text. Keep addresses in their original format where delivery matters, and write month names when a numeric date could be ambiguous. Verify specialist terminology with the receiving organization.
Keep name order and booking details verifiable
When preparing a message for a recipient in Japan, keep the person’s own presentation of their name as your reference. W3C describes Japanese name order as one example of why a universal given-name-first assumption can fail. Do not rearrange a name automatically or invent its reading when the reliable source does not provide one.
A useful booking enquiry states the reference, who is travelling, and what needs to change in separate sentences. Include the actual date and compare it with the result. Keep venue names and addresses from the original available alongside translated prose, rather than expecting the translation to serve as a verified address conversion. If politeness or an implied subject is unclear to you, ask a fluent reader to check the complete exchange before sending it.
Further reading: W3C: personal names around the world
Useful language pairs
Language guides
StarTranslate is an online language tool and does not claim a local office in Japan.