Can someone explain this to me? (JP games w/ some English)

Why do JP text games have SOME English in them but are otherwise 99% in JP? For example the "press start to begin" title screens are always in English, but then text in the game itself would be Japanese.. with some occasional SP/HP or some such intermixed. Why do they do that?

Maybe it is because English is their second language? A lot of stuff in Japan is in english.

Here's a perfect example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUlaw3UZ-4Q

For example in there specifically at 1:52. Says "smaaaaash" and stats are all in English. Otherwise the storyline and all are in JP. But then in the spells list all are in JP except some random ones, like it says PSI in English again... really kinda weird. Why not just have 100% Japanese, what is the reason here?

Theres 3 written languages in Japan

Katakana, hiragana, Kanji

I'm sure the japanophiles argue with me and thats fine my japanese is 10 years rusty. Katakana is purely japan stuff. Usually terms originating in japan or asia. Hiragana is mainly words not derived locally. Pi-za is a hirogana word meaning exactly what you think it does. Kanji is a pictographic language freeflowing and made up of pictures. I know 0 of that something like a 1 million of those. I wanna say the terms for rice is some Kanji situations is a rice field patten. a square with an cross in it.

newspapers can alternate or sometimes be written in all 3 systems. Sometimes you'll look at a sentence and it has a combination of different styles to it. You might see very shapely characters, then straight, pictures and even some in english. Especially proper nouns. Many times they can't really translate it properly and just say screw it and put the english words.

English especially american and not the queens is very very hard to translate to or from.

piscian18 said:

Theres 3 written languages in Japan

Katakana, hiragana, Kanji

I'm sure the japanophiles argue with me and thats fine my japanese is 10 years rusty. Katakana is purely japan stuff. Usually terms originating in japan or asia. Hiragana is mainly words not derived locally. Pi-za is a hirogana word meaning exactly what you think it does. Kanji is a pictographic language freeflowing and made up of pictures. I know 0 of that something like a 1 million of those. I wanna say the terms for rice is some Kanji situations is a rice field patten. a square with an cross in it.

newspapers can alternate or sometimes be written in all 3 systems. Sometimes you'll look at a sentence and it has a combination of different styles to it. You might see very shapely characters, then straight, pictures and even some in english. Especially proper nouns. Many times they can't really translate it properly and just say screw it and put the english words.

English especially american and not the queens is very very hard to translate to or from.

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Theres also a 4th one, Romaji which is Latin/Roman script so it looks a lot like english but some things are different (like A is always a long A, you say E like a short A and I like short E or something like that). So its easier for english speakers to read so its used for street signs, passports, stuff like that and typing, Thats the one that could actually be written like Pi-za, hiragana, katakana, and kanji look much more foreign.

And I think you have Hiragana and Katakana mixed up. Hiragana is the one used for Japanese stuff, and also used in place of Kanji. Katakana is the one used for foreign stuff.

dario03 said:

Theres also a 4th one, Romaji which is Latin/Roman script so it looks a lot like english but some things are different (like A is always a long A, you say E like a short A and I like short E or something like that). So its easier for english speakers to read so its used for street signs, passports, stuff like that and typing, Thats the one that could actually be written like Pi-za, hiragana, katakana, and kanji look much more foreign.

And I think you have Hiragana and Katakana mixed up. Hiragana is the one used for Japanese stuff, and also used in place of Kanji. Katakana is the one used for foreign stuff.

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huh not not familiar with that one. Yeah I had about 4 years of jp but that was literally 12 years ago and I haven't kept up since the anime scene went to shit.

English is taught as a second language in their schools alongside Japanese. In many anime shows with a high school setting, you will often times see English literature as one of the courses undertaken by the student. (And, many times, doing poorly in it unless they're the high school "ace" that excels in everything including sports.)

Many English words do not have a Japanese equivalent so it's spelled out in Katakana usually.

For example, Start would be spelled out sutaato or tsutaato, with the first "t" being silent.

スタート is START in Katakana because it's pronounced as closely as how it is spelled out and pronounciated. There isn't a Japanese equivalent to it unless it's a verb then it's an entirely differently spelling.

In many games, it's up to the game developer(s) to use either the Katakana spelling or the actual English spelling. Either way, the Japanese players will understand it. Or, they'll understand something like "Press START to begin." It's pretty much ingrained in their minds like how many of us know what "bonjour" is and "adios" is.

And, then again, there isn't a purely Japanese equivalent to "Press to START to begin," anyhow. It'd probably look like something from Google translate such as "You push your button that is START to begin playing." (Or, something like that.)

WTF? Does the person above even know how to speak/write Japanese? There are equivalents for all those things listed, even though they "literally" mean something else. This is the same for all language: literal translations =/= translations of meaning. Does it mean the same thing, though? Yes. You could say the same for idioms: while literally completely different in two different languages, they express the same basic meanings when used in context. For example, Spanish "en boca cerrada no entran moscas" and English "silence is golden".

I do not know the historical reasoning for Japanese software developers using English in their games as opposed to Japanese, but my first guess is that it's for marketing reasons and consumer appeal (ask a Japanese marketing executive, not me, but they seem to use English for advertising throughout all their industries, not just videogames).

Furthermore, there are many Japanese videogames which do not use English fonts for their menus. It could also just be a matter of taste on the producer's or director's side when developing the game. See: Tatsunoko vs Capcom for Wii, for a more popular recent title off the top of my head.

Larkin251 said:

Maybe it is because English is their second language?

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So is Spanish in American schools, but American developers don't include Spanish words here and there in American games.

English is taught as a second language in their schools alongside Japanese. In many anime shows with a high school setting, you will often times see English literature as one of the courses undertaken by the student. (And, many times, doing poorly in it unless they're the high school "ace" that excels in everything including sports.)

Many English words do not have a Japanese equivalent so it's spelled out in Katakana usually.

For example, Start would be spelled out sutaato or tsutaato, with the first "t" being silent.

スタート is START in Katakana because it's pronounced as closely as how it is spelled out and pronounciated. There isn't a Japanese equivalent to it unless it's a verb then it's an entirely differently spelling.

In many games, it's up to the game developer(s) to use either the Katakana spelling or the actual English spelling. Either way, the Japanese players will understand it. Or, they'll understand something like "Press START to begin." It's pretty much ingrained in their minds like how many of us know what "bonjour" is and "adios" is.

And, then again, there isn't a purely Japanese equivalent to "Press to START to begin," anyhow. It'd probably look like something from Google translate such as "You push your button that is START to begin playing." (Or, something like that.)

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Excellent reply, thank you

Why do Japanese pop songs feature 1 or 2 random lines of English in them? Why do restaurant signs and T-Shirts all have bits of Engrish in them? Because in Asia, having English in your product is seen as a hip thing to do in Asia, even if not executed properly.

Excellent reply? スタート is never pronounced "tsutaato" and never will be.

ス = su
タ = ta
ー = vowel lengthener for previous vowel (in this case, "a" in "ta" becomes "aa")
ト = to

The guy's talking out of his ass and knows about as much Japanese as any Bleach or Naruto fan whose Japanese vocabulary consists of "kawaii" and "Gackt"

I think it has alot to do with advertising as well as history. Ask yourself this, why do perfume bottles always have french, you know just some french, not all. It seems that to the common people of any country they feel like something is more legitimate if it has some language or markings which indicate it has influence from a place that is well known for that. In addition you have historical reasons obviously since most of what is computers originated in the USA english is the main language of computers. Often times a word which we know and use in computing, such as start or menu, can mean many things in the English language, but in other countries in Asian, if you spell that word out or use it, it means only 1 thing, the computer context of the term since they do not use the term in other parts of their language. It actually turns out to be very useful because the term does not have multiple definitions. AFAIK in Thailand server means only one thing, a computer server. But in english it could also be a person who serves you food.

Many countries have no direct word that means something so they often borrow a word from another language. Since America became the worlds greatest and most influential super power in recent times, you will find the English language sprinkled through almost every modern culture. Listen to people speaking in almost any language for a while and you will almost always pick out English words.

Is it wrong that this thread reminds of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW6M8D41ZWU

Wage said:

Excellent reply? スタート is never pronounced "tsutaato" and never will be. The guy's talking out of his ass and knows about as much Japanese as any Bleach or Naruto fan whose Japanese vocabulary consists of "kawaii" and "Gackt"

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Actually, I don't watch Bleach or Naruto. I never did like those kind of shows. They're wholly repetitive like how Dragon Ball series is. (I stopped watching Dragon Ball after Dragon Ball Z, and didn't bother with the movies or GT.) I'm glad they're bringing Bleach to a close in both anime and manga form.

Yeah, I admit I don't know much about the Japanese language, but I have taken a year of it in college. Not much to make me fluent, of course. And, I've learned most of my Japanese from watching anime since the early Gundam and Macross days. And, I've watched a lot of Japanese anime, dramas, and movies since the early 90s.

I can pick up some phrases spoken in anime without looking at subtitles. But, it has to be simple dialog and phrases. Complex stuff like what's spoken in more cerebral anime and movies, require subtitles for me. I'm probably better at listening to spoken Japanese than reading it.

I think I know more about the Japanese culture, lifestyle and its people than its language given that I've been studying a lot of things about Japan since high school. I actually intend to move there someday barring the fact that they don't allow dual citizenship. I'm thinking of some place in Tama New Town as shown in the Ghibli flim, "Whisper of the Heart."

By the way, Katakana is used to spell out and pronounce as closely as possible their English equivalents:
If there isn't a Japanese equivalent for an English word, then there will be a Katakana spelling of it.

私の日本語悪いです。ごめんなさい。
"My Japanese is bad. I'm sorry."

日本語ちょっとわかりません。
"I understand a little Japanese."

Also, I'm not a fan of Gackt. My favorite Japanese musicians, groups and singers are:

• Angela Aki
• Ayumi Hamasaki ("Ayu")
• Utada Hikaru ("Hikki")
• Asian Kung Fu Generation
• L'arc en Ciel
• Aoi Teshima
• supercell
• Rie Fu
• BUMP OF CHICKEN

ありがとうございます！
"Thank you." (Or, thank you very much.)

Also, my favorite anime shows and movies are the following: (Not complete since I have a lot more than this list.)

• Anything from Studio Ghibli like "Whisper of the Heart" and "Naucissca"
• Ah! Megami-sama (Oh! My Goddess!)
• Gundam series
• Love Hina
• Higurashi no koro ni
• Last Exile
• Neon Genesis Evangelion
• Onegai Teacher
• Code Geass
• Suzimiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi)
• Fate series such as Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero
• Bakemonogatari
• Kanon and Clannad
• Fruits Basket
• Anything from Makoto Shinkai like "Voices of a Distant Star" or "5 centimeters per Second"

There's more on MyAnimeList as well.

So, yes, I'm not very knowledgeable in Japanese, but it's enough for now and I'm not talking out of my ass as you say.

I know there is a vowel lengthener such as "aa" and one that doubles consonants such as "tt." "Thank you" is either "arigatou" or "arigatoo" from what I was taught. I usually spell it "arigatou" nowadays.

octoberasian said:

Television (terebi)
テレビ

Hamburger (hanbaagaa)
ハンバーガー

Start (sutatto) [Friend corrected me on this one. The "t" is doubled, not the "a."]
ツタっと

Love (rabu)
ラブ

Or, "あい" (ai) or ”だいすき" (daisuki), which should actually be "I love you."

Coca-Cola (koka-kora)
コ日-コラ

Or, it could just use the English spelling since it's widely known.​

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You're mixing some Hiragana and Kanji in with your Katakana. Start, which you've spelled as Tsu-ta in katakana and then you've added in hiragana at the end to make your -to, would look like　スタット　(su-ta-tto) in Katakana. The "u" sound in ス is essentially silent in this case, giving you s-ta-tto. Your Coca Cola has a Kanji character thrown in it for no reason, and should be コカ　コラ (Koka Kora, as you correctly stated).

To the OP: As has been said before, there are three character sets:
Kanji -borrowed Chinese characters, usually denote verbs or nouns

Hiragana - essentially traditional characters that are used to make up the Japanese alphabet, each Kanji character has a Hiragana spelling [this is referred to as Furigana, but that's not imortant]. Used for articles and modifiers (and in rare cases, nouns and verbs).

Katakana - foreign words or words that don't have a traditional Japanese spelling. Foreign names and nouns are usually what falls here (if you learn the Katanana alphabet, you can navigate around Japan extremely easily based on just signs, things like Hotel are often spelled in Katakana).

Then English is considered to be Romaji. Since the Hiragana/Katakana characters all have (essentially) one sound that corresponds to them, many Japanese people approach English the same way (which is why it's difficult for many of them to get over their Japanese accent, they don't have the mouth muscle strength required for many of the sounds they don't have, and have a hard time reading/hearing English because of the MANY different sounds that can all correspond to the same letter).

As to WHY there's a small English mix-in? I'm not exactly sure. The teachers at the high school I'm at today say that it's probably because English is thought of as cool. Much in the same way that Chinese and Japanese are thought of as interesting in America (Americans get tattoos of Chinese characters all the time, Japanese people use English in comics and television).

The compulsory English education could be a reason, but honestly the students learn very little actual in the way of English usage until the University level (unless they go to an English focus school). Most students brush by English in Japan much more so than American high school students do with their foreign languages. Many of the students I teach just learn basic phrases and how to read, then rely entirely on repeating the teacher until they get a grade (REALLY annoying, but it won't change any time soon since Japan's entire High School education is geared at teaching towards University entrance exams [thing no Child Left Behind but on a crap-ton of crack]).

octoberasian said:

English is taught as a second language in their schools alongside Japanese. In many anime shows with a high school setting, you will often times see English literature as one of the courses undertaken by the student. (And, many times, doing poorly in it unless they're the high school "ace" that excels in everything including sports.)

Many English words do not have a Japanese equivalent so it's spelled out in Katakana usually.

For example, Start would be spelled out sutaato or tsutaato, with the first "t" being silent.

スタート is START in Katakana because it's pronounced as closely as how it is spelled out and pronounciated. There isn't a Japanese equivalent to it unless it's a verb then it's an entirely differently spelling.

In many games, it's up to the game developer(s) to use either the Katakana spelling or the actual English spelling. Either way, the Japanese players will understand it. Or, they'll understand something like "Press START to begin." It's pretty much ingrained in their minds like how many of us know what "bonjour" is and "adios" is.

And, then again, there isn't a purely Japanese equivalent to "Press to START to begin," anyhow. It'd probably look like something from Google translate such as "You push your button that is START to begin playing." (Or, something like that.)

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At first read that made sense, but after thinking about it for a minute, no, it doesn't make sense

Personally I'd think the reason it says "press start to begin" is because the controller has a START button on it. Whoever designed the controller decided to call it a START button, and its a START button both on controllers out here and also in Japan. You say there's no Japanese equivalent for start... really? There's no word or group of words that means to commence something? Begin, go, start, commence. In English, START is a verb, its literally a verb which means to commence something, it was then printed on a controller as the "START button" and became a noun. I don't know Japanese, but I'm sure they could come up with some sort of word/s that means to begin, to commence, whatever, that could have been printed on the controller instead of START.

Tudz said:

At first read that made sense, but after thinking about it for a minute, no, it doesn't make sense

Personally I'd think the reason it says "press start to begin" is because the controller has a START button on it. Whoever designed the controller decided to call it a START button, and its a START button both on controllers out here and also in Japan. You say there's no Japanese equivalent for start... really? There's no word or group of words that means to commence something? Begin, go, start, commence. In English, START is a verb, its literally a verb which means to commence something, it was then printed on a controller as the "START button" and became a noun. I don't know Japanese, but I'm sure they could come up with some sort of word/s that means to begin, to commence, whatever, that could have been printed on the controller instead of START.

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I laughed a bit at first, but then actually thought about it, and this is probably the most likely reason for the Push Start. I can almost guarantee (and I think I'll actually try this with one of my students) that if I asked why it said Push Start, they would answer "beause it's the start button".

But his explanation stands for the reason why it's the start button and not one of the 8 different ways of staying start/start-up/begin button in Japanese. The words exist, but the context of labelling a button as the "Verb Button" wouldn't be quite right. Button itself doesn't have a kanji either (at least, I don't think it does, I'm not even near a decent number of Kanji to pretend to be proficient), and instead has a katakana spelling of　ボタン　(bo-ta-n). Since video games are pretty universal, and the word Start is on (for at least the last 20 or so years) every controller, it's probably easier for a Japanese developer to just put the English phrase Push Start. Since even writing スタット would still be confusing due to it not being what the controller says (Start).

It's partially because Modern Japan are America-philes, and because it's easier to express/code in engilsh.

Anime nerds lol

C'mon guys, you have turned it into a huge argument that is far to over excessive.

The bottom of the nerd bucket.... so cliche to Wapanese kids, it's become as shallow as shallow will get.

Remember space nerds from the 80s? Anime nerds have gone beyond those guys.....

They just do it to mess with our minds.

Greene420 said:

Anime nerds lol

C'mon guys, you have turned it into a huge argument that is far to over excessive.

The bottom of the nerd bucket.... so cliche to Wapanese kids, it's become as shallow as shallow will get.

Remember space nerds from the 80s? Anime nerds have gone beyond those guys.....

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I don't watch anime. I'm an English teacher who currently lives in Japan, and I offered insight on a video game related question that the OP posted.

I fail to see how your post contributes.

I don't watch Anime either and don't even play Japanese games. Just curious - guess the question is more culture related than gaming related.

But very childish comment.

I don't watch anime either... never understood the appeal of it actually. I was just commenting on why I think Japanese games would say "push start to continue", and that's because the controller has a "start" button (and I googled Japanese versions of controllers and as far as I can see, they all have "start" buttons ). You don't see english games saying "push begin to continue", because its not a "begin" button, its a "start" button

As for the other English in the Japanese games, meh, I dunno... of all the weird things those crazy Japs do, this seems like an odd thing to question. But you can look up pictures of Japan and see plenty of english text mixed in with the Japanese, just like most other countries, so it doesn't seem surprising to see it mixed in with video games too.

I'd be guessing it has to do with tradition.

Back when video games were first being made in Japan, English was pretty much the international language for video games, and having limited memory, I'm guessing it was probably easier just to just use English, for cost (due to international selling). Remember, back then, most video games were programmed via hardware and not software.

People got use to it, and it became part of the culture. Well, that's my best guess. (And I see plenty of Japanese games today without any Romanji).