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Japanese Version

Japanese text is composed of a mix of Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. In the early days of gaming, developers had to limit themselves to Hiragana, Katakana, and a handful of Kanji due to memory constraints. Today, those technical limits are largely gone, but we still encounter cases where certain Kanji cannot be used. The primary culprit? Fonts.

Many Kanji possess incredibly complex structures. Furthermore, there is a distinction between the Kanji used in daily life (Joyo Kanji) and those that are rare or specialized.

This presents a challenge for low-resolution bitmap fonts. Kanji with high stroke counts can suffer from "clogging" (where the gaps between strokes disappear into a solid block of black), making them unreadable. This loss of legibility can make it impossible for players to distinguish between similar-looking characters.

Additionally, fonts may not support rare or non-standard Kanji. In such cases, developers must either find a more comprehensive font or choose not to use those specific characters. This is a particular risk for names of people or places, or archaic Kanji used for "old-fashioned" styling, depending on the font's character set (such as JIS standards). However, in Japan, Kanji not included in standard fonts are often replaced with Hiragana anyway, so the issue is usually resolved by simply avoiding them.

Historically, Japan has refined techniques to enhance legibility by intentionally using Hiragana or Katakana for complex words or by rephrasing sentences to avoid unsupported characters.

Another factor is the target audience. Since Japanese children start learning standard Kanji upon entering elementary school, games for younger children often feature little to no Kanji. However, as mentioned in a previous article, a long string of Hiragana without spaces is difficult for Japanese people to read. To solve this, we adopt a method called "Wakatigaki"—using spaces between words, much like in English. This technique is a staple in Japanese language education and the game industry for younger demographics.

While Japanese grammar may be more ambiguous than English, its strength lies in this kind of flexibility. Yet, it is precisely because of this flexibility that unique, localized adjustments are so essential.

Author : Mikado Tashiro
I am dedicated to expanding the presence of indie games in Japan. Although I am in the early stages of building my official portfolio, I successfully completed my first full translation project within less than a month of launching my activities.

Beyond direct translation, I am committed to sharing insights gained through my work. I author in-depth articles focusing on linguistic nuances, cultural adaptation, and the technical aspects of localization to contribute to the growth of the game translation community.