Japanese Translation Services

Japanese translation services have gained in importance during the last few decades as the Japanese economy has become an important global player. Along with China, Japan’s economy is the most important Asian economy on the world stage. The growth in business with Japanese companies has seen a corresponding growth in demand for Japanese language services. Textronics Communications Ltd. offers professional Japanese translation services with a high degree of customer service at competitive rates.

The Japanese language has a long history. The very earliest form of the Japanese language can be dated back to the 8th century and is widely known as Old Japanese. It was not until the 17th Century that Modern Japanese as it is known today developed during what was called the Edo period.

The Japanese language is made up of a series of characters. There are three main Japanese alphabets which are Hirigana, Katakana and Kanji. The oldest alphabet is Kanji which is a grouping of Chinese characters; Hirigana is the first alphabet that foreigners will learn when they begin studying Japanese. In everyday life, written Japanese uses all three of the different alphabets. With regard to grammar, Japanese words have a certain order. For example, a verb will typically be found towards the back of a sentence. Verbs in Japanese do not distinguish between genders or number and the same verb can be used in both the plural and the singular. All these unique aspects add to the complexity of Japanese translation.

Japanese as a language is spoken by roughly 120 million native speakers in Japan. There are large populations of Japanese speakers in communities in Palau, Australia, Canada, The United States and Brazil.

Japanese has an official language status at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Although English is the main language, any conference must be translated simultaneously into six other languages, one of which is a Japanese translation. It is no coincidence that the IMF with its focus on economic matters is one of the few international bodies to incorporate Japanese as one of its official languages; Japan is after all one of the world’s top economies.

The Japanese economy is third only in size to the United States and China with a GDP in excess of $5 trillion. Japanese companies have long dominated the world stage and in 2011, the Fortune 500 stock market index contained 68 Japanese Corporations. In terms of revenue, Toyota is Japan’s largest corporation and the eleventh largest in the world. Other important Japanese companies include fellow car manufacturers, Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi. The electronics giants, Hitachi, Sony and Canon also feature prominently on the world stage. Doing business with these economic powerhouses requires accurate and reliable Japanese translation services.

With Japanese corporations holding such an important position on the world stage, there is a huge demand by foreign companies to do business in Japan. In order to do business the importance of using a professional Japanese translation company quickly becomes apparent. The complexities of the Japanese business language are due to both the linguistic aspects and the country’s unique business etiquette.

With regard to language, there is no other language family that is closely related to Japanese. There are also a large number of regional dialects that have a significant degree of variation. With regard to business etiquette, Japanese companies have a certain way of conducting business, particularly at meetings. It is crucial to give out a business card at a meeting presenting the card with both hands. If receiving a business card it is vital to leave the business card on view for the duration of the meeting. Finally, it is important to avoid handshakes in Japanese meetings as this can cause a degree of embarrassment. Experienced Japanese translation specialists will be familiar with these and other cultural requirements.

A particular area of expertise for Textronics Communications Ltd. is its Japanese language services. In order to offer a high standard of output we only work with native Japanese speakers; this ensures that when dealing with areas of specialization in terms of regional dialects we know we will get it right. All our translators are also highly educated and must pass stringent in-house tests before they begin working for us. Our translators are also subject matter experts in the fields that they are working in. If you are looking for an experienced Japanese translation provider that combines outstanding quality with strong customer service at a reasonable price then why not select Textronics Communications Ltd.? Feel free to give us a call for a no obligation quote.