In the middle of March, the BBC reported that âOsaka’s metro network has shut down its foreign language sites after users noticed some odd translations.â Apparently, people began noticing strange names for the rail lines and stations as listed in the BBC article:
- The Sakaisuji line became the âSakai muscleâ
- Dobutsuen-mae station became âBefore the Zooâ
- Daikokucho station turned into âPowerhouse Townâ
- Taishibashi-Imaichi station became âPrince Bridge Now Cityâ
- Tengachaya station was known as âWorld Teahouseâ
- Third Carriage became the âThree eyesâ
The metro uses a translation program for all of its language translations, including English, Korean, Chinese and Thai, but no errors were reported for other languages. All of this comes as Japan rushes to make itself a welcoming place âfor foreign visitors, ahead of the rugby world cup this year and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.â Hopefully, all of the translation kinks will be worked out by then.
Grandeâs Grill
Errors between English and Japanese are fairly common, and this isnât the first incident to cause a stir in 2019. Earlier this year, U.S. pop singer Ariana Grande got a tattoo on her palm to pay homage to her latest hit single â7 Rings.â After posting a picture of the tat on her Instagram account, âsocial media quickly chimed in to tell her the characters actually translated to shichirin: a small charcoal grillâ (The Guardian).
Nothing In Life Is Free
Back in 2016, a heated argument broke out in a Japanese convenience store when a customer took a bottle of iced lemon tea from the shelf and began drinking it. The brand name of the drink was âFree Tea,â which the man assumed meant that he didnât have to pay for it. Shopper Akiyama Kojiro witnessed the situation and shared it on his Twitter account. This resulted in âmore than 34,000 retweets and [it] was liked by more than 18,500 users, with people sharing their own experiences of linguistic confusionâ (BBC).
What Makes It So tricky?
Unlike Romance languages like Spanish and Italian, Japanese shares no common roots with English or French.
Unlike Romance languages like Spanish and Italian, Japanese shares no common roots with English or French. This makes things more difficult right from the start. An article in Japan Info states that âThe problem is that Japanese is very contextualâŚwhen it comes to saying hello in Japanese most textbooks will tell you itâs âkonnichiwaâ, but that is actually âGood Afternoon.â There is no âhelloâ in Japanese.â Other issues include the different levels of formality, lack of English equivalents and a complex writing system where âthe language and the writing system do not match.â
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We employ a strong network of people who understand all aspects of the Japanese language. Our professional translators will bring you Japanese translation services with a human touch. From agro-food translation that can explain your âfree teaâ to medical translation that can cover a step-by-step tattoo removal process, youâll find it here. Contact us today for the right words to convey your ideas the way they are meant to be.