The Role of Language in Asian Martial Arts

Martial arts has a deep and complex history with sumo wrestling’s roots dating back all the way to 23 AD in Japan. Since then, numerous forms of martial arts have…

Language and Localization in Packaging and Labeling for Export: Asian Market

As a business owner, you know full well how important the presentation of your products is to local markets. Beautiful packaging adds to your customers’ unboxing experience and can help…

Japan’s Media Renaissance

Japan’s entertainment industry reached its heyday in the second half of the 20th century, followed by a slump as Korean media took over the continent and the world. However, Japan…

Cybersecurity Translation in the Asian Context

Although the internet and world wide web are major sources of information and communication, they have also opened up pathways for malicious actors to take advantage of vulnerable or unsuspecting…

The Growing Relationship Between AI and the Japanese Language

When OpenAI released the ChatGPT chatbot in November 2022, artificial intelligence (AI) became one of the most talked about topics in the world. The implications for organizations are enormous and…

Lost in “Localization”: Anime Edition

Anime is stylized Japanese animation that has taken the world by storm. With numerous titles being translated and localized for Western audiences, anime localization has become quite controversial. That’s partly…

Breaking Down Barriers in Steel: The Vital Role of Japanese Translation

Just five years ago in 2017, Japan was the world’s second-largest steel exporter, exporting to over 130 global countries and territories. These exports are used in a broad range of…

Exploring the Rich Diversity of Japanese Dialects

A predominantly homogenous nation, it may come as a surprise that the land of the rising sun contains multiple different Japanese dialects. The country consists of around 6,000 islands and…

Japanese to English Transliteration – How It’s Done

In the translation process, there are some words that simply don’t have an equivalent from the source language to the target language and this is where transliteration comes in. Transliteration…

Dubbing & Voice-over Recording in Japan

Have you heard of a seiyuu? It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that most of us have watched a creative video piece or listened to the radio where a…

Localization Quirks From English to Japanese

Global borders continue to shrink and this is becoming ever more evident when it comes to English to Japanese translations. Many Western companies are heading to Japan to offer their…

Can you translate acronyms from Asian languages?

An acronym is briefly defined as a shortened version of the various words that make up a meaningful phrase, with every first word of the phrase being abbreviated and then…

The Golden Week in Japan

From the 29th of April to the 5th of May each year, Japan and its citizens celebrate “Golden Week”. This period of festivities includes four very special holidays, which we…

Word Count for Japanese for Project Managers

For three years in the translation industry, I learned a trick or two on the peculiarities of working with Asian languages. Sometimes my quest for searching interesting and professional topics…

Itadakimasu – the Japanese Way to Live Life With Gratitude

There’s a Japanese saying that goes like this: “Seven Gods live in one grain of rice.” And what this means is that when one eats food, one should not waste…

What lies behind the names of Asian countries: Japan

What lies behind the names of Asian countries – Japan The land of the rising sun, Japan is home to a population of 126.3 million people. The country is known…

Proper punctuation when doing DTP in Japanese

In English, punctuation might be taken for granted. After all, the comma that adds a natural pause in a sentence or the period that marks its end are things seemingly…

Kokeshi Dolls – the story behind these small beauties

While known for its anime, sushi vending machines, punctual public transport system, as well as other cultural aspects, Japan is an interesting country and other less known aspects about its…

Kaiju – the monster from Japan and China that took over Hollywood

Halloween took place just about a month ago, but we`re here with some spooky stories about monsters from another land. You might be surprised to find out that Japanese culture…

Kawaii: the Japanese art of being “cute”

If you are a fan of manga, anime or Japanese culture as a whole, then you know pretty well that kawaii is not just another Japanese loanword. Kawaii is an…