Our Lives | JAPAN LITE Aug 29, 2018
In Japan, the most important rule for language translation is often broken
by Amy Chavez
As Japan continues to court more foreign tourists, the nation must learn to respect foreign languages as much as its own.
NEWSWORTHY
World / Politics Jan 13, 2018
U.S. President Donald Trump's use of the word "sh-thole" to describe some countries has sparked fury in some quarters and left many media scratching their heads on whether to repeat the slur. But spare a thought for the non-English language media outlets that had to ...
National Dec 30, 2017
Best-selling Kojien dictionary expands nuclear terms in once-a-decade update
In a once-a-decade update, Japan’s most popular dictionary reviews and expands its range of nuclear terms, acknowledging the impact of the Fukushima disaster.
Business / Tech Oct 5, 2017
New Google ear buds offer real-time translation of spoken conversations
Google on Wednesday introduced new Pixel ear buds that the company says are capable of real-time translation of conversations in different languages. A demonstration given as Google unveiled a host of new products infused with its digital Assistant smarts got people playfully referring to Pixel ...
National / Crime & Legal Jun 2, 2017
Justice seen hamstrung as experts warn court interpreters should be licensed
by Daisuke Kikuchi
Courts are supposed to be bastions of justice. But equal justice may be thwarted for some defendants owing to language barriers. Despite all the various training seminars and guide books preparing newly registered court interpreters for the job, the current pool of interpreters are not ...
Books / Reviews Apr 15, 2017
'The Book of the Dead': The first complete translation of Shinobu Orikuchi's classic
by Damian Flanagan
Both influential and deeply mysterious, "The Book of the Dead" ("Shisha no Sho," 1943) is the most famous work of fiction by Shinobu Orikuchi (1887-1953), a pioneer of folklore studies in Japan and renowned poet. Orikuchi was fascinated with the origins of Japanese religion ...
Our Lives | JAPAN LITE Mar 26, 2017
The confessions of a Japanese-to-Hungarian translator
by Amy Chavez
Over some Hungarian wine, a translator who does not wish to be identified spills the beans on the juicier bits of her job.
National Feb 17, 2017
Japan’s interpreters struggle to make sense of 'Trumpese'
by Tomohiro Osaki
As political leaders in Japan pay close attention to how U.S. President Donald Trump will go in office, so, too, are interpreters who have had a nightmarish experience translating his disjointed speeches. "He rarely speaks logically, and he only emphasizes one side of things as ...
Business / Tech Nov 17, 2016
Panasonic Corp. said Thursday it will start offering in December a megaphone capable of automatically translating Japanese into English, Chinese and Korean in its latest bid to help companies cope with an increase in foreign visitors to Japan. Panasonic hopes the new translation service can ...
Commentary / World | THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK May 4, 2016
The complexities of 'they' versus 'xe/him/xir'
by Hiroaki Sato
The long search to find a way to refer to people in English without relying on gender won't be ending anytime soon.
Language | BILINGUAL Apr 4, 2016
Luckily for English speakers, machine translation still can't match a native's touch
by Mark Schreiber
The consensus is that translation will one day inevitably be taken over by computers — but we're not there yet.
National Apr 3, 2016
Tokyo interpreting firm hopes to cash in on tourism boom with over-the-phone assistance
by Anna Masui
The operator of a Tokyo-based call center is expanding services to target municipalities and companies in need of interpreters to communicate with foreign residents, tourists and customers. For two months from February, LanguageOne Corp. offered call-center services to hotels, restaurants and other tourism businesses in ...