Unnecessary honorific or polite language
Update : 2026/2/19
The Pitfall of "Unnecessary Honorifics" in Machine Translation
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.
For example, a casual family dinner conversation like "The food was good today, wasn't it?" might be translated as "Kyou no shokuji wa oishikatta desu" (The meal was delicious). While the meaning is the same, the polite "desu" ending creates a sense of emotional distance that shouldn't exist in that context.
This problem frequently extends to game system messages and UI text. English instructions are often written in the imperative mood (e.g., "Press any key"). A machine might translate this as "~shite kudasai" (Please do ~). This results in a strange dynamic where it feels as though the UI is politely requesting the player for an action, or conversely, as if the player is giving formal instructions to the system. This is a classic failure of machine translation: even the shortest phrases in a UI can drastically lower the overall quality and immersion of a game if the tone is wrong.
As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, Japanese culture frequently omits subjects and parts of sentences. To achieve a natural feel, a translator must sometimes "trim" the source text based on the context. If translated too literally, the text becomes overly explanatory and stuck in an unnaturally polite tone, making it feel like "translated text" rather than a living language.
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.