The Japan Tourism Agency Writing and Style Manual is an important guide for anyone who writes or translates tourism content.
Over the last few years the Japan Tourism Agency, with the help of a small army of researchers, writers and editors, has been working on a massive project to improve English signage in Japan. And when I say “improve,” in perhaps the majority of cases, this has meant creating the first ever information in well-written native English.
The project is in response to Japan’s incredible inbound tourist boom, which seems to have started about the time that I left Japan for the UK (no connection, I hope).
In 2012, Japan had about 8 million overseas visitors a year. In 2024 that figure was an all-time record of 36.9 million. The Japanese government’s target for 2030 is 60 million!
And you were wondering why there are so many TV programmes about travelling to Japan recently.
Enter the style guide…
I’ve been involved with the project several times, working on everything from articles on ukiyoe woodblock prints to a fantastic trip to Okinawa to research and write about awamori. Along the way, I’ve become quite familiar with the Japan Tourism Agency Writing and Style Manual, a style guide for the whole project.
The latest February 2024 edition extends to 78 pages and is full of useful tips for anyone writing about Japan. In this blog post, I have highlighted a few that caught my eye.
I have included my opinions, but they are only that. I am well aware that the guide was compiled by a crack team of editors far more experienced than me!
1. Keep it simple for foreigners!
The manual makes it clear that writing for non-Japanese is NOT the same as writing for Japanese people.
“Information that is easily understandable to Japanese with historical and cultural background knowledge may not be so easily grasped by visitors from overseas.”
In fact, this is the reason why so many translations of tourist texts fail. Few overseas tourists have the same knowledge of Japanese culture and history that Japanese people do.
When translating texts, explanations and careful editing are in order. When writing new English texts, both readers’ likely knowledge and interests should be considered.
2. Remember that readers may not be native speakers
Not only are non-native speakers of English likely to be reading the texts, the English content is also used as a base for translation into other languages.
“Use plain language: prefer simple, well-known words,” as the manual puts it.
The Economist Style Guide (my favourite) and lots of other style guides, would certainly approve.
3. Use Japanese words sparingly
This is interesting because it goes against the general trend, which is a stream of new Japanese words entering the English language. Japanese novels in English translation especially seem to use more and more Japanese words, often without explanation and not particularly common Japanese words at that!
Nevertheless, the manual’s advice is to:
“Only include [Japanese words] when an English term is insufficient or the terms are needed for enjoyment or understanding of the site.”
4. Mt. Tsukuba, Tsukubansan, or Mt. Tsukubasan?
This is a head-scratcher. Many Japanese mountain names have “-san” at the end, which means mountain. So in English, Mt. Tsukubansan literally means “Mount Tsukuba mountain.” (There’s a similar problem with temples and rivers, e.g. Kinkakuji Temple = “Kinkaku temple temple” or Arakawa River = Ara river river.)
In time-honoured Japanese fashion, the manual advises a “case-by-case” approach. Mt. Tsukuba is OK, but Kinkakuji should be Kinkakuji temple, then just Kinkakuji after.
5. Japanese name order, unless, erm, people are famous
Another tricky one. The manual recommends using Japanese name order, i.e. surname followed by given name. But what if the person’s name is well known in English already? Which sounds more natural in English, “Murakami Haruki” or “Haruki Murakami”?
In those cases, according to the guide, it’s OK to use the Western order. Confusing? Language is messy.
6. Go easy on the “Japan”s
A little surprising perhaps, but since the people reading the signage are probably in Japan, or at least well aware that the texts are about Japan, there’s no need to write “Japan” too often times when writing about Japan.
I’m not sure I followed that advice in this blog!
The 2024 edition of the Writing and Style Manual English for Sightseeing Destinations around Japan can be accessed here.
