Why do Japanese games often have the titles in English but.....

[Tabonga | 2,345]

....there is no English translation in the game itself?   

I have often thought it odd and downright infuriating if it is a game I would like to play if it had English in it.

 

[RH | 4,980]

Many decades ago, when the internet was not afraid to be non-PC, there was a site called "Engrish.com" and I think it might have even been a part of the "Cheezburger Network", which was a series of sites that made most of the images we call memes today.  This was back around 2001, or so.  Anyway, Engrish.com was dedicated to all of the random English words that are, and were, posted all over Japan, often with no contextual relation to whatever "thing" it was stamped on.

I recall they had a FAQ page and, supposedly, the site was ran by a Japanese-American who could speak both English and Japanese with high-proficiency.  According to him and his personal knowledge, it's not much different than someone getting a tattoo with a Chinese or Japanese character or two that says something meaningful to that person.  Except, in Japan, they put a LOT more English everywhere and it's less about what it says and more the aesthetic of having English plastered on something.  Often the context works, but other times, the context is wrong and potentially funny... much like someone who has "Soup" tattooed on them, rather than "Hope", but in Japanese.

Assuming that information is correct, there's probably an element of that desire when they put the English name on these boxes--they simply like English and the way it looks.  Keep in mind, they tend to only do this with English and, from my observation, it's American English too, not British English.

If I had to guess a reason why English is singled out, it probably goes all the way back to the General McArthur era when the Japanese people gained a deep since of respect and appreciation for America when we helped re-establish them as a prosperous nation and we then became strong allies with them.  In other words, they probably like English for the same reason several generations have been obsessed with Mickey Mouse--it represents a lot of good after a very tragic era.

Edited May 2 by RH

[Brickman | 4,020]

It is done for style and look, especially with JRPG's because they are often based around English fantasy or medieval history. 

[Brickman | 4,020]

4 minutes ago, RH said:

Many decades ago, when the internet was not afraid to be non-PC, there was a site called "Engrish.com" and I think it might have even been a part of the "Cheezburger Network", which was a series of sites that made most of the images we call memes today.  This was back around 2001, or so.  Anyway, Engrish.com was dedicated to all of the random English words that are, and were, posted all over Japan, often with no contextual relation to whatever "thing" it was stamped on.

I recall they had a FAQ page and, supposedly, the site was ran by a Japanese-American who could speak both English and Japanese with high-proficiency.  According to him and his personal knowledge, it's not much different than someone getting a tattoo with a Chinese or Japanese character or two that says something meaningful to that person.  Except, in Japan, they put a LOT more English everywhere and it's less about what it says and more the aesthetic of having English plastered on something.  Often the context works, but other times, the context is wrong and potentially funny... much like someone who has "Soup" tattooed on them, rather than "Hope", but in Japanese.

Assuming that information is correct, there's probably an element of that desire when they put the English name on these boxes--they simply like English and the way it looks.  Keep in mind, they tend to only do this with English and, from my observation, it's American English too, not British English.

If I had to guess a reason why English is singled out, it probably goes all the way back to the General McArthur era when the Japanese people gained a deep since of respect and appreciation for America when we helped re-establish them as a prosperous nation and we then became strong allies with them.  In other words, they probably like English for the same reason several generations obsessed with Mickey Mouse--it represents a lot of good after a very tragic era.

Yep this is 100% it.

[wongojack | 224]

1 hour ago, Tabonga said:

....there is no English translation in the game itself?   

I have often thought it odd and downright infuriating if it is a game I would like to play if it had English in it.

 

Are you infuriated that there is no English translation?  Or is it more that you are sort of fooled into thinking the game is in English.

 

I mean, don't get too bent out of shape if things aren't in your native language.  Pretty much everyone who grows up speaking another language has it worse.

[Tabonga | 2,345]

4 minutes ago, wongojack said:

Are you infuriated that there is no English translation?  Or is it more that you are sort of fooled into thinking the game is in English.

 

I mean, don't get too bent out of shape if things aren't in your native language.  Pretty much everyone who grows up speaking another language has it worse.

The only time I bought a Japanese game thinking it had an English translation and it wasn't there was because Playasia said it was  there - so that was kinda on them rather than moi. 

I am not bent outta shape about it - just frustrated because I really really like SRPGs.  

And it should be pretty clear by my OP that i more found it more odd than being "too bent out of shape" about it.

 

 

j

[Tabonga | 2,345]

There was a reverse situation concerning this very famous song from 1962 - none of you were (as far as I know) alive and cognizant then - but I was and it got constant airplay for a long tine.

The song has nothing to do with the dish Sukiyaki but it was recognized that the word would be recognized by English audiences.   It actually was historically significant since it acted as a presage (in the lesser - but good usage)  to Japan's re-entry on the world stage as a responsible country.  Kyu Sakamoto was the perfect conduit for this since he was so damn clean cut and always smiling.  He was to later die in a plane crash in 1985. 

 

Edited May 1 by Tabonga

[wongojack | 224]

1 hour ago, Tabonga said:

The only time I bought a Japanese game thinking it had an English translation and it wasn't there was because Playasia said it was  there - so that was kinda on them rather than moi. 

I am not bent outta shape about it - just frustrated because I really really like SRPGs.  

And it should be pretty clear by my OP that i more found it more odd than being "too bent out of shape" about it.

 

 

j

You used the word "infuriating" which is similar to furious.  Quite a few degrees above "bent out of shape."  And it is (still) not clear what you meant.

Edited May 2 by wongojack

[Tabonga | 2,345]

4 minutes ago, wongojack said:

You used the word "infuriating" which is similar to furious.  Quite a few degrees above "bent out of shape."  And it is (still) not clear what you meant.

 Infuriating is also similar to irritating.   

if  i was furious I would have gone on a rant about how it was deceptive and shouldn't be allowed. 

As most of the responses indicated the thread was asking people why they thought this situation occurred.

 

i

 

 

 

 

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[wongojack | 224]

1 hour ago, Tabonga said:

 Infuriating is also similar to irritating.   

if  i was furious I would have gone on a rant about how it was deceptive and shouldn't be allowed. 

As most of the responses indicated the thread was asking people why they thought this situation occurred.

 

i

 

 

 

 

i

Infuriating means extremely angry.  I don't really know what we're talking about here.  Yeah, it's too bad that everything isn't translated into XYZ language.   I don't get "extremely angry" over that type of thing, but you do your thing.

[wongojack | 224]

Perhaps this is more on topic for you.  I watch a lot of the Youtube channel "Abroad in Japan."  Chris has lived in Japan as a teacher and Youtuber for many years.  He has explained that as a teacher, he observed that Japanese students are often very good at memorizing English words but lack a lot of confidence when actually trying to speak English.  This sort of comes out of a cultural quality where failure is to be avoided and being wrong is simply seen as being very bad.

So, they tend to know a lot of individual words or phrases but don't have a lot of practical ability to speak English.  Because of this, English gets used in strange ways all over Japan as others in this thread have stated.  It is recognized and sometimes even new meaning is given to a foreign or English word and then reused without understanding of the word origin etc.  One example I heard recently was the word "Viking" is sometimes used for a buffet.  This is because saying the Swedish word "smorgasbord" was waaay too hard, so they swapped in another word that was vaguely Scandanavian and went with it.

Anyway, the Japanese tend to use and adopt foreign and English words quite regularly, so seeing them in brief use in a title seems to fit right in with how they interact with foreign languages.  At least in a public or marketing sense.

 

But D00d, your original post reads like this to me

"I get extremely angry when foreign things aren't translated for me into MY LANGUAGE."

If someone is reading what you wrote like I did, they would think you were being very entitled and wanting everything in the world translated for you. 

 

[Tabonga | 2,345]

[Sumez | 2,995]

I'm confused. Why should they not use English in their titles?

[Tabonga | 2,345]

5 hours ago, wongojack said:

Perhaps this is more on topic for you.  I watch a lot of the Youtube channel "Abroad in Japan."  Chris has lived in Japan as a teacher and Youtuber for many years.  He has explained that as a teacher, he observed that Japanese students are often very good at memorizing English words but lack a lot of confidence when actually trying to speak English.  This sort of comes out of a cultural quality where failure is to be avoided and being wrong is simply seen as being very bad.

So, they tend to know a lot of individual words or phrases but don't have a lot of practical ability to speak English.  Because of this, English gets used in strange ways all over Japan as others in this thread have stated.  It is recognized and sometimes even new meaning is given to a foreign or English word and then reused without understanding of the word origin etc.  One example I heard recently was the word "Viking" is sometimes used for a buffet.  This is because saying the Swedish word "smorgasbord" was waaay too hard, so they swapped in another word that was vaguely Scandanavian and went with it.

Anyway, the Japanese tend to use and adopt foreign and English words quite regularly, so seeing them in brief use in a title seems to fit right in with how they interact with foreign languages.  At least in a public or marketing sense.

 

But D00d, your original post reads like this to me

"I get extremely angry when foreign things aren't translated for me into MY LANGUAGE."

If someone is reading what you wrote like I did, they would think you were being very entitled and wanting everything in the world translated for you. 

 

So this is some nit-picking quest to prove in your mind that I am some sort of elitist in your bizarre (IMHO) world view?  Everyone else seemed to snap to what I was asking rather than your focus.  D00d - you need to get a non woke life.  Would you be assuaged if I bought some game that I can't play? 'Tis a strange strange world you live in  Master Jack.

Spoiler

               You might find the definition of metaphorically of use and applicability here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sumez | 2,995]

5 hours ago, wongojack said:

He has explained that as a teacher, he observed that Japanese students are often very good at memorizing English words but lack a lot of confidence when actually trying to speak English.  This sort of comes out of a cultural quality where failure is to be avoided and being wrong is simply seen as being very bad.

So, they tend to know a lot of individual words or phrases but don't have a lot of practical ability to speak English.  Because of this, English gets used in strange ways all over Japan as others in this thread have stated.  It is recognized and sometimes even new meaning is given to a foreign or English word and then reused without understanding of the word origin etc.  One example I heard recently was the word "Viking" is sometimes used for a buffet.  This is because saying the Swedish word "smorgasbord" was waaay too hard, so they swapped in another word that was vaguely Scandanavian and went with it.

Anyway, the Japanese tend to use and adopt foreign and English words quite regularly, so seeing them in brief use in a title seems to fit right in with how they interact with foreign languages.  At least in a public or marketing sense.

This is not a Japanese thing, it's true for literally any culture in the entire world that has regular exposure to the English language

Edited May 2 by Sumez

[fcgamer | 4,754]

This is something I noticed in Taiwan, though I believe I also saw it when in Germany (though that was in 2007 so I could be mistaken): a lot of books would have the title in the local language (Chinese, German, whatever) but then the English name would also be present on the cover. The first few times I saw this it through me for a loop, as the contents of the book inside weren't bilingual, yet the front cover had a bilingual text.

At the end of the day, English has become somewhat trendy in other parts of the world, almost a fashion. Sometimes I sense it might be used to "show off" as if to say "Hey, I can speak another language with great fluency". I hear this sometimes on the local radio station here in Taiwan, or even sometimes when people speak Chinese, throwing in English phrases here or there, especially if they notice a foreigner is nearby. I personally don't like this and sometimes feel resentful, as if I were doing the reverse (writing songs with a lot of Chinese) or whatever, the PC police would be on my case in a heartbeat for cultural appropriation or something, despite the fact that I spent 1/3 of my life in a non-English speaking country.

The situation with the Japanese usage of English is quite interesting, at least to me, but I find languages and language usage to be quite interesting as a whole. For example, there is a drink from Japan known as Pocari Sweat. That's a weird name, and someone might erroneously assume that they meant to write "Pocari Sweet" and just misspelled the word; however, the drink is actually a sports drink akin to Gatoraid or Power Aid or something. In that context, while the usage sounds weird to us native English speakers, we can definitely see the correlation between sweating and sports, and thus the need for drinking a sports drink. Although I wasn't aware of the smorgasbord example mentioned above, once again, it demonstrates the weird, yet somewhat sound logic behind the word usage.

While we don't use kanji / hanzi in the States, there are some situations where we do something similar. For example, I know a lot of people who equate the term "ramen noodles" and "instant noodles", or use sushi as a catchall for sushi and sashimi. Then again, I have a lot of friends and family who equate sashimi to fish exclusively, though my Japanese friend often mentions eating "horse sashimi" as she calls it in English, i.e. raw horse meat. It's an interesting topic.

 

[fcgamer | 4,754]

1 minute ago, Sumez said:

This is not a Japanese thing, it's true for literally any culture in the entire world that has regular exposure to the English language

Well another example would be that the Germans use (used?) the word Handy to mean cellphone...

[Tabonga | 2,345]

2 hours ago, Sumez said:

I'm confused. Why should they not use English in their titles?

 Despite the subsequent excursion to cloud cuckoo land I was merely asking why they would do it - not that they shouldn't.

[Tabonga | 2,345]

1 minute ago, fcgamer said:

Well another example would be that the Germans use (used?) the word Handy to mean cellphone...

     I used to work with a slew of newly arrived Vietnamese immigrants (they had their green cards and everything) and they didn't have a word for hamburger so they just started using that word.  

I always found it amusing to listen to them talk in Vietnamese  (which is a very smooth flowing language to listen to) and they would break their flow by interjecting hamburger mid-stream.

[Sumez | 2,995]

31 minutes ago, Tabonga said:

Despite the subsequent excursion to cloud cuckoo land I was merely asking why they would do it - not that they shouldn't.

Yeah, but when you're giving something a name or a title, you usually wanna focus just one something that sounds cool or catchy.  Using an English name isn't odd at all, unless you're expecting that they wouldn't. Hence my question.

It's probably less common to use other languages for things that are already in English because English speaking culture generally doesn't get exposed as often to foreign languages. There are definitely plenty of examples though, here's a few popular ones: 

Contra
Wolfenstein
Celeste
Ultima
Deus Ex
Disco Elysium

And that's just for video games

22 minutes ago, Tabonga said:

I used to work with a slew of newly arrived Vietnamese immigrants (they had their green cards and everything) and they didn't have a word for hamburger so they just started using that word.  

I always found it amusing to listen to them talk in Vietnamese  (which is a very smooth flowing language to listen to) and they would break their flow by interjecting hamburger mid-stream.

Thinking about it I don't think I'm familiar with any language where hamburger isn't literally called "hamburger". That's not the same as the word not existing in that language, there's just really no reason to invent a new one. Similarly, Americans will also use words like "macaroni", "pizza" and "pasta" (even though they are frequently used incorrectly). It's not really unusual for words to come from other languages. English is almost entirely comprised from that.

In general it seems to me that food items are among the words that most frequently don't get changed when adopted by other languages, and quite obviously the same is often true for tech-related terms.

Edited May 2 by Sumez

[Tabonga | 2,345]

5 minutes ago, Sumez said:

 It's not really unusual for words to come from other languages. English is almost entirely comprised from that.

 

English is probably the most polyglot language there is.  It is also very willing to readily coin new words/phrases - which is one of the reasons it serves as the scientific lingua franca.

 

[Tyree_Cooper | 777]

Japanese games for Japan, I understand why they don't mention it (they are in Japanese, what else), but at least SOME devs actually think of the confusion and mention the languages on the box, which is nice. Or maybe it's Sony that does it for those special games with languages you might not expect.

 

Though many PS2 games in Japan have full cover in Japanese and full manual in Japanese, but the game remains 100% in English (many EA games for example). So the opposite problem also exists

[Tabonga | 2,345]

17 minutes ago, Tyree_Cooper said:

Japanese games for Japan, I understand why they don't mention it (they are in Japanese, what else), but at least SOME devs actually think of the confusion and mention the languages on the box, which is nice. Or maybe it's Sony that does it for those special games with languages you might not expect.

 

Though many PS2 games in Japan have full cover in Japanese and full manual in Japanese, but the game remains 100% in English (many EA games for example). So the opposite problem also exists

Playasia is usually very good about saying what languages a game has on it.

[fcgamer | 4,754]

35 minutes ago, Tyree_Cooper said:

Though many PS2 games in Japan have full cover in Japanese and full manual in Japanese, but the game remains 100% in English (many EA games for example). So the opposite problem also exists

I don't know how they did their Japanese releases, but EA has a plant in Taiwan and a large portion of their releases were just USA versions with the occasional package tweak.

[Brickman | 4,020]

3 hours ago, fcgamer said:

At the end of the day, English has become somewhat trendy in other parts of the world, almost a fashion. Sometimes I sense it might be used to "show off" as if to say "Hey, I can speak another language with great fluency". I hear this sometimes on the local radio station here in Taiwan, or even sometimes when people speak Chinese, throwing in English phrases here or there, especially if they notice a foreigner is nearby.

Yes this is 100% a perfect summary of one of the main reasons the Japanese (and a lot of other foreign languages) do it. It’s seen as interesting, cool, smart, in fashion or whatever other adjective you want to use.

It’s funny that you mention about Taiwanese throwing in English words or speaking English when they notice a foreigner is near them. This exact same thing happens in South America. I’ve walked around rural areas where they’re speaking Spanish but then they’ll see me who is as pale and white and they come with my South American wife and they’ll instantly start throwing in English words while looking my way. My wife says it is very common for South Americans to do that when they see English speaking foreigners. So it’s interesting to hear the same happens in Taiwan.

Language is such a fascinating thing and I wish I had the time to study linguistics like yourself. For now, studying Japanese keeps me busy enough though