In the global expansion of games and entertainment, "localization"—which goes far beyond simple translation—is the key to success. This is because the fundamental premise of "what constitutes correct communication" differs entirely depending on the cultural sphere.

It might be difficult to visualize, but the concept of "correctness" varies between the West and Japan. In Japanese communication, what is valued and respected most is empathy and harmony.

Every word carries an "image" shaped by its historical and cultural background. Simply replacing the surface meaning of a word with its Japanese equivalent is nothing more than "supplying words." To convey the intended meaning rather than just the language, we need more than translation—we need localization.

In the practical world of translation, when English is rendered into Japanese, the text length almost always becomes significantly shorter. Visually, Japanese characters (Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji) are roughly twice as wide as a single alphabet letter. The same applies to punctuation and symbols. In Japan, these square characters are called "Zenkaku" (Full-width), while characters with half that width, like the standard alphabet, are called "Hankaku" (Half-width).

Regardless of the language, punctuation like exclamation marks, question marks, and ellipses are the primary tools for expressing emotion in writing. This is no different in Japanese. Exclamation marks for surprise, question marks for inquiries, and ellipses for hesitation—while the weight and usage may vary, their fundamental meanings are largely universal.

However, there are subtle yet significant differences in how these symbols are used to express emotion between Japanese and English. When English is translated directly into Japanese, it often results in a lingering sense of "unnaturalness." Anyone considering Japanese localization must grasp these nuances.

Whether it’s Japanese, English, or any other language, words evolve within the context of their own unique culture and history. As a result, the range of meaning a single word carries often differs significantly between languages. In this day and age, most people have likely experienced the frustration of seeing a machine translation engine spit out a long list of different candidates for a single term.

I previously introduced the fact that Japanese has multiple first-person pronouns ("I"). While only about three or four are used in general conversation, fiction often utilizes a wider variety to match the era or world-building.

Similarly, second-person and third-person pronouns are chosen based on various factors. While these are mostly determined by the difference in social standing between parties, they can also be influenced by the era or the setting of the story. Like the first-person examples I shared before, the following are merely general examples to help you visualize their use; in actual practice, one must consider more detailed situations and social positions.

Japanese is a language with an incredibly high number of coined words compared to others. This happens largely because of a desire to abbreviate or to express multiple meanings as concisely as possible.

As I mentioned in my previous article, the culture of "reading the air" is deeply ingrained in the Japanese mindset. Because we are expected to supplement words with information from the environment or attitude, being able to surmise a speaker's intent is a daily requirement.

When translating from English to Japanese, doing so without being mindful of this can result in text that feels overly explanatory or unnatural to a Japanese audience.

One of the most jarring issues when using machine translation (MT) from English to Japanese is the misuse of honorifics. Many translation engines tend to translate sentences literally without grasping the social context. As a result, an intimate conversation between friends or family members can end up sounding unnaturally formal—like a conversation between strangers.

As I mentioned in a previous article, one of the key elements for expressing a character’s personality in Japanese is their choice of first-person pronoun. While English typically uses “I” in most situations, Japanese offers a wide variety of pronouns that differ depending on personality, gender, age, historical period, social environment, and even the situation at hand.

In Japan, there is a unique communication environment characterized by the frequent omission of subjects and the assumption that things can be understood without being said. 

Almost every game features proper nouns such as character names and item names. When these are translated using machine translation or AI without supervision, there is a risk that the names may unintentionally change.