Subtitling is crucial to bridging language and cultural divides. The right subtitles give viewers access to foreign media while preserving its original flavour.
But subtitling is a challenging undertaking. Those who write subtitles in any language must deal with the limitations on the length of text that can be displayed on screen. They must limit the characters used while retaining the meaning of the dialogue and ensuring that subtitles are easy to read so that a viewer’s attention isn’t diverted from the action for too long.
For these reasons, subtitles are difficult to write, even when translating from a source language into a similar target language or when the cultures of the regions concerned are similar. Things get even harder when there are significant differences between languages, writing systems and cultures. To make life even harder for those who create subtitles, the expected style and format of subtitles varies between countries.
Japanese subtitles certainly differ significantly from those in the West in style, format, and general approach. The distinctions stem from linguistic differences, Japanese cultural norms, and the preferences of Japanese audiences. There is no doubt that suitable Japanese subtitling can only be achieved by skilled specialists.
Japanese subtitles differ from those Western audiences would expect and in a number of ways:
1. Character Limits and Brevity
While Western subtitles may feature 35-40 characters per line, Japanese subtitles tend to contain a maximum of 15 characters courtesy of strict spatial and temporal constraints. However, there are factors that mitigate the challenge of using so few characters. In Japanese, meaning can often be retained while using limited Japanese characters as a single Kanji character can convey complex ideas that would require the use of multiple words in a European language. In addition, it is the norm to omit punctuation marks from Japanese subtitles.
The handling of names in subtitles may also help to limit the number of characters used while aiding clarity. In Western movies and TV programs, a person may be referred to by their first name in some instances and by their surname in others. They could also be referred to by their nickname. In Japanese subtitles, a person will always be referred to in the same way. For example, if a person called David Sommerville features in a Western movie, they could be referred to as “David” in some scenes and as “Sommerville” in others. In Japanese subtitles, that person would likely be referred to as “David” throughout the movie.
The brevity of Japanese subtitles means that non-essential dialogue is omitted or significantly condensed. The focus is placed on reflecting the essence of what has been said rather than producing word-for-word translations.
2. Vertical vs. Horizontal Text
Western subtitles are horizontally aligned at the bottom of the screen, but Japanese subtitles often appear vertically and on the right in older media, such as traditional films or classic broadcasts. Modern media has shifted more toward horizontal alignment for global compatibility, but the vertical format is still used occasionally, adding a unique cultural flavour to any media.
3. Localization vs. Literal Translation
Japanese subtitles often prioritize localization over direct translation. Subtitlers adapt cultural references, idiomatic expressions, and humour to ensure they are relatable for the Japanese audience. Western puns or slang may be replaced with Japanese equivalents. Cultural jokes or idioms might be rewritten entirely, to maintain the intended humour or impact while being comprehensible to Japanese viewers.
The iconic movie Dirty Harry provided a great example of how challenging it is to tackle western idioms in Japanese subtitles. Harry’s famous expression “Go ahead, make my day” was rendered by the Japanese subtitler as “Come on, let me shoot you” – words that express what Harry meant rather than what he said.
Sometimes, Japanese translators and subtitlers have opted to retain English expressions rather than to translate them. For instance, the linguist who subtitled the Terminator 2 movie didn’t translate Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famous line “I’ll be back” into Japanese. They retained the English phrase which then went viral in Japan.
Sarcasm is particularly problematic in Japan as it isn’t usually well-received and may be taken too literally. If a character in a Western production was to say “Excellent!” when receiving bad news, a Japanese translation would read something like “how terrible”.
Japanese subtitles are more likely to feature interpretations of dialogue rather than the literal translations that are generally created in the West.
4. Focus on Visual Context
Japanese subtitles are crafted with the assumption that viewers are highly attentive to visual and contextual cues. This often leads to selective subtitling, where only the most critical lines are translated, relying on the audience to infer the rest from the visuals. In contrast, Western subtitles tend to feature translations of nearly every spoken line, aiming for comprehensive accessibility.
5. Onomatopoeia and Sound Effects
Japanese media, especially anime and manga, heavily incorporates onomatopoeia and sound effects into its narrative style. Subtitles in Japan often include translations or adaptations of these sounds, even when they don’t directly correlate to dialogue. This differs from Western subtitling, which usually focuses on speech and occasionally closed-caption subtitles relevant to sound effects and background noises.
6. Politeness Levels and Speech Nuances
Japanese is a language that features levels of politeness and honorific terms. Subtitles should be adapted to these nuances so as to reflect character relationships and social hierarchies. Informal speech in foreign languages might be rendered in a dialect such as Kansai-ben to give the Japanese audience a sense of regional personality.
7. Minimal Use of Italics and Formatting
In Western subtitling, italics are often used to denote off-screen dialogue, internal thoughts, or foreign words. Japanese subtitles typically avoid such formatting, relying on context or subtle visual cues instead.
8. Rubies
Ruby characters, also known as rubi or rubies, are small annotation characters that are positioned above or to the right of East Asian subtitles. They act as pronunciation guides for symbols or names that are likely to be unfamiliar to the reader.
9. Cultural Subtlety in Humour and Drama
Japanese subtitlers often simplify humour, wordplay, or emotional nuances for brevity while endeavouring to maintain the intended impact. Western subtitlers, on the other hand, may use additional lines or notes to explain culturally specific jokes or wordplay, prioritizing full comprehension.
Quality control
Complex expressions of language, media scripts often contain words that don’t translate well, jokes that don’t travel, cultural references that are meaningless to outsiders, and even concepts that have no equivalent in other countries. Affordable rates for Japanese subtitle translation might not equate to good quality translation.
The average rate for subtitling has gone down with the emergence of "fan subs" and young translators looking for experience. Subtitling is always challenging and subtitling in Japanese presents unique difficulties.
A high-quality Japanese subtitling service demands the skills of native linguists who are both imaginative and innovative. That is why considering respectable rates instead of competitive rates may benefit content in the long run whether it is video content such as a promotional video or a feature length film.
There is, perhaps, no other form of Japanese translation that places so many demands on the professionals who undertake the projects.
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