Japanese Translation Research Articles

Cross-language facilitatory and inhibitory effects in the naming of Japanese words by Chinese-Japanese bilinguals

Abstract This study investigates the effects of orthographic and phonological overlaps between the first language (L1) and the second language (L2) during word naming by adult Chinese-Japanese bilinguals, in the light of the Orthographic Depth Hypothesis which posits that the processing of printed words depends on the extent of grapheme-phoneme correspondence in the language. We compared their naming performance of L2 Japanese words written in moraic hiragana which is not used in their L1 Chinese, morphosyllabic kanji utilized in L1, and a mixed condition. Results indicated a longer latency for naming L2 Japanese words with kun-reading which has no phonological overlap with L1, particularly when written in kanji, which has orthographic overlap with L1. Consistent with the Orthographic Depth Hypothesis, participants performed better for words in hiragana as a shallow orthography than for words in kanji as a deep orthography. Furthermore, this study examined the priming effect of L2 Japanese translation equivalents on L1 Chinese targets. We found more accurate and faster naming of L1 words semantically exposed by L2, suggesting that L2 semantic representation facilitates L1 translation equivalence.

Implementation and Effectiveness of Project-Based Learning in the Japanese-Indonesian Translation Course

This study aims to describe two primary issues in the following case study: (1) how Project-Based Learning (PjBL) is applied, and (2) whether students can implement “proactive learning,” “interactive learning,” and “authentic learning” through PjBL. Based on the findings, we also explore an outline and framework for PjBL, specifically in a Japanese Translation course. The study examines the effectiveness and implementation of PjBL by analyzing observations and interviews with students during the project “Translation and Japanese-Indonesian Subtitling for Occupational Safety Training for Indonesian Workers in Japan's Manufacturing Industry.”The results indicate that PjBL was conducted in five steps: (1) connecting to the problem, (2) setting the structure, (3) revisiting the problem, (4) producing the product, and (5) evaluation. We conclude that by following these steps, students effectively implemented “proactive learning,” “interactive learning,” and “authentic learning.”.

The Transitional Period in Japanese Translation: Children’s Literature

ABSTRACT This article focuses on a study of the transitional period in Japanese translation that was initiated by Yuri Furuno in 2002. This transitional period refers to a time when Japanese-speaking translators shifted their approach from adequacy to acceptability in translation. Specifically, my study examines the situation with children’s literary fiction translation during the transitional period identified by Furuno. It conducts an analysis of the translator’s afterthoughts and a comparative analysis of the translated texts to gain a better understanding of whether or not Furuno’s transitional period is applicable to children’s literature translation in Japan. The analysis conducted in this research reveals that while both translators, whose works are investigated, claimed they opted for acceptability in their afterthoughts, only one of them managed to achieve that goal in their actual writing. In this article, I conclude that my findings align with Furuno’s, and the transitional period could be applied to other genres of literature in Japan, including children’s literature. In light of these findings, this study creates a basis for further research on transitional periods in Japanese book history.

Psychometric Properties of the Japanese Translation of the Parent Overprotection Measure for Mother and Father Reports.

The Parent Overprotection Measure (POM) is a promising scale to measure parent overprotection toward a child from the parent's perspective. However, no Japanese translation of the scale has been developed, and whether the POM can be applied to a Japanese population is unknown. This study translated the POM into Japanese and examined its psychometric properties. Parents of 380 children aged 4 to 7years (including 190 mothers and 190 fathers) completed online questionnaires. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) indicated that the Japanese translation of the POM has a bi-factor structure, including one general factor (general overprotection) and two specific factors (care/attention and control/prevention). The measurement invariance of reports from mothers' and fathers' perspectives was confirmed by multiple group CFA. The McDonald's Omega was acceptable for all factors, but the general overprotection factor explained most scale variance. Pearson's correlation coefficients were more than .20 between the control/prevention factor and child anxiety symptoms in both mother and father reports. The correlation between the control/prevention factor and parent anxiety according to fathers' reports also exceeded .20. These results provided the factor structure and supported the reliability of the POM among a Japanese population; however, further investigation of the validity of the scale is needed.

Japanese translation of the shortened information technology attitude scale for health: Evaluation of the reliability and validity of the translated version

Japanese translation of the shortened information technology attitude scale for health: Evaluation of the reliability and validity of the translated version

Public attitudes toward stuttering and cluttering in Chinese and Japanese speech-language pathology students

PurposeThis study utilized the Chinese and Japanese translations of the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA–S) and Cluttering (POSHA–Cl) to compare the differences in (a) attitudes towards stuttering versus cluttering in speech-language pathology (SLP) students in either China or Japan, (b) attitudes of SLP students in China versus Japan towards either stuttering or cluttering, and (c) attitudes of Chinese and Japanese students versus international databases for stuttering and cluttering. MethodThe POSHA–S and POSHA–Cl were both administered to 99 SLP students from six universities in China and 352 SLP students from two universities in Japan. ResultsAttitudes toward stuttering were markedly different for Chinese versus Japanese students. Overall, stuttering attitudes were slightly more positive than cluttering attitudes in both countries; however, compared to China, Japanese SLP students attitudes toward stuttering and cluttering were more disimilar. In addition, compared with the international database, the attitudes of Chinese and Japanese SLP students toward self-reactions to both disorders were more positive. ConclusionChinese and Japanese SLP students’ attitudes toward both stuttering and cluttering are likely to be influenced by geography, culture, education, and the “halo effect.” The attitudes of the SLP students in China and Japan are more negative than the attitudes as shown in the global data.

The Market Life of Japanese Literature in Postwar America: Knopf, Translation, and the Archives of Cultural Commerce

This article examines the aesthetic and economic forms of judgment that guided the Japanese literature translation program at the American publisher Alfred A. Knopf Inc. in the 1950s—1970s. During these years, the editor Harold Strauss coordinated Knopf’s ambitious translation program that made dozens of recently written Japanese novels available in English to an American audience. This article provides a fresh perspective on Knopf’s well-known Japanese literature translation program by understanding it to be an illuminating case study that reveals how the practical business of cultural commerce mixes aesthetic and economic modes of valuation, producing provocative connections that link what might otherwise seem to be the antagonistic realms of art and the market. Guided by documents held in the Knopf corporate archive, the article shows how the aesthetics of modern Japanese literature and the economics of publishing each encountered the other in the transactional territory of translation.

Infants’ early recovery from sleep disturbance is associated with a lower risk of developmental delay in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study

To examine whether patterns, such as the timings of onset or recovery from sleep disturbance, are associated with later developmental problems, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Mothers participating in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study with a child aged 3 years were included in the analyses. Children were assessed for short sleep and frequent awakenings at 1 month, 6 months, and 1 year of age. Developmental problems were evaluated at 3 years of age based on ASD diagnosis and developmental delay, using the Japanese translation of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) 3rd edition. Sleep disturbance patterns were classified by onset age, and developmental problem risks were examined based on onset/recovery ages. Among 63,418 mother-infant dyads, 0.4% of infants were later diagnosed with ASD, and 14.4% had abnormal scores on any ASQ domains. The later the onset of short sleep, the lower the risk of abnormal ASQ scores (RR of short sleep onset at 1 year: 1.41; 6 months: 1.52; 1 month: 1.57). The earlier the infants recovered from short sleep persistence, the lower the risk of developmental delay (RR of remittance of sleep problems identified at 1 month by 6 months: 1.07; 1 year: 1.31; not before 1 year: 1.57). Although not all patterns were significant, later short sleep onset and earlier recovery were associated with lower ASD risk. These findings may have significant implications for future interventions in infant development.

Dostoevsky in Japanese Translations: The Problem of Textual Images

Dostoevsky in Japanese Translations: The Problem of Textual Images

Japanese translation and validation of the 12-item Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale version 2

BackgroundDisability in ambulation has a critical impact on activities of daily living in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The 12-item Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale (MSWS-12) is a self-reported instrument developed to assess the impact of MS on walking. The scale's 12 items assess various aspects of walking-related tasks during the past 2 weeks. MSWS-12 has been used in multiple clinical studies and translated into several languages. In the present study, we translated the MSWS-12 into Japanese and evaluated its psychometric properties in a cross-sectional study. MethodsThe original English MSWS-12 version 2 (v2) was translated into Japanese through a standard procedure. Sixty consecutive Japanese MS patients completed the newly prepared Japanese MSWS-12v2 questionnaire and repeated the test 14 days later. Physical disability was assessed by the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), Timed 25-foot Walk (T25FW), and 9-hole Peg Test (9HPT). Cognitive performance was evaluated using the Processing Speed Test (PST). Fatigue and health-related quality of life were assessed using the Japanese versions of the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and the Functional Assessment of MS (FAMS). ResultsThe mean age of the patients was 42.5 years, with median disease duration of 10 years, and median EDSS of 2.0 (range 0, 6.5). Forty-seven patients (78.3 %) had relapsing-remitting, 9 (15.0 %) had secondary-progressive, and 4 (6.7 %) had primary-progressive phenotypes. The median score of the MSWS-12v2 was 5.95 (interquartile range 0, 50.6). Twenty-seven patients (45 %) scored the lowest possible score (0 points), while one (1.7 %) scored the highest possible score (100 points). Cronbach's alpha was 0.98 (95 % confidence interval [CI] 0.97, 0.98), and the test-retest intraclass correlation was 0.95 (95%CI 0.94, 0.96). MSWS-12v2 score was strongly correlated with EDSS (Spearman's ρ = 0.73 [95%CI 0.58, 0.83]), T25FW (ρ = 0.70 [95%CI 0.55, 0.81]), and total FAMS score (ρ = –0.80 [95%CI –0.88, –0.69]), and moderately correlated with 9HPT (ρ = 0.65 [95%CI 0.47, 0.77] for the dominant hand; ρ = 0.62 [95%CI 0.43, 0.75] for the non-dominant hand), PST (ρ = –0.65 [95%CI –0.78, –0.47]), and FSS (ρ = 0.68 [95%CI 0.52, 0.80]). Among the subcomponents of FAMS, the mobility subcomponent showed the most robust correlation with MSWS-12v2 score (ρ = –0.91 [95%CI –0.94, –0.81]). In patients with minimal or no objective disability (EDSS < 3.0, n = 40), only the mobility subcomponent of FAMS was strongly correlated with MSWS-12v2 score (ρ = –0.76 [95% CI –0.87, –0.58]). In contrast, correlations of MSWS-12v2 score with EDSS and T25FW were weak in this subgroup (ρ = 0.28 [95%CI –0.03, 0.55] for EDSS; ρ = 0.25 [95%CI –0.06, 0.52] for T25FW). Response patterns for the single items showed that 32.5 % of the patients with EDSS below 3.0 reported having problems with balance, followed by climbing stairs and standing while doing things (both 25 %). ConclusionThe Japanese version of the MSWS-12v2 developed in this study is reliable, valid, and helpful for screening walking disability in Japanese MS patients, including those with minimal objective disability.

Сиро Хасэгава и фильм «Дерсу Узала»

The author of this article makes clarification of real relation between film director Akira Kurosawa and movie of "Dersu Uzala". A Japanese translator and writer, who liked Russia, was key person in this relation and the author attempts to write his biography.

Data mining based on computer game search algorithm in Japanese E-learning and multi context translation

With the continuous expansion of the translation market, users’ demand for translation tools such as computer software is also increasing, resulting in various machine translation technologies and methods. Japanese translation, as one of the important components of Chinese publicity work, has strong professionalism and complexity. In practice, how to effectively improve the translation quality of Japanese translation models using computer technology has always been a research issue of great concern. Based on this, we propose a game search algorithm and use it as a prototype to improve the algorithm. Then, a data mining model was established that can effectively improve search performance. This model solves the above problems by introducing genetic algorithms and dynamic programming theory. At the same time, in order to further improve the efficiency of existing data mining algorithms, we need to explore more efficient methods and strategies. After experimental verification, the four data mining models proposed in this article perform the best in numerical fitting. Overall, in Japanese multi context translation systems, the use of data mining techniques based on computer game search algorithms can provide more accurate and matching related translations. Compared to traditional Japanese translation software, it has higher quality and efficiency.

Revising the Japanese Translation of Anne of Green Gables: My Story

Until 1993, when I translated Anne of Green Gables, there were only abridged and altered translations in Japan. I have identified four major reasons for the deletions and changes made in these translations. My unabridged translations of the entire Anne series with hundreds of annotations in each book are revising the understanding and appreciation of Montgomery’s works in Japan.

Preventive effect of naldemedine for opioid-induced constipation in patients with cancer starting opioids: A multicenter, double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial.

LBA12014 Background: A peripherally acting μ-opioid receptor antagonist (PAMORA), such as naldemedine, could alleviate OIC in cancer patients. However, the evidence of PAMORA on OIC prevention in cancer patients starting opioid analgesia is limited. This clinical trial aimed to confirm the preventive effect of naldemedine for OIC in cancer patients who start daily strong opioid administration compared with placebo. Methods: We conducted a multicenter, double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial between July 2021 and May 2023 with four academic hospital in Japan (jRCTs031200397). Patients with cancer starting regular strong opioid for the first time for cancer pain, and age 20 years or older were included. The eligible patient was randomly assigned to the naldemedine (Symproic 0.2 mg) or placebo group in a 1:1 ratio. The protocol treatment period was 14 days after the start of naldemedine (or placebo) and the naldemedine group had Symproic at 0.2 mg once a day after breakfast for 14 days. The placebo group had the placebo once a day after breakfast for 14 days. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients with a Bowel Function Index (BFI) of less than 28.8 on Day 14. We conducted the safety assessments with the number of all adverse events occurring during the protocol treatment period using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v5.0 Japanese translation of Japan Clinical Oncology Group. Results: Of the 103 patients were assessed for eligibility, 99 patients were randomly assigned on a 1:1 basis to receive naldemedine (n = 49) or placebo (n = 50). The BFI score at Day 1 was 18.3±19.8 with naldemedine group and 18.2±20.0 with placebo. The proportion of patients with a BFI of less than 28.8 on Day 14 was significantly greater with naldemedine group (64.6% [31 of 48 patients]; 95% CI, 51.1% to 78.1%) than with placebo (17.0% [8 of 47 patients]; 95% CI, 6.3% to 27.8%) with a difference of 47.6% (95% CI, 30.3% to 64.8%, p&lt; 0.0001). There was no statistical difference in the proportion of adverse events; abdominal distention, abdominal pain, diarrhea, bowel obstruction, and nausea. However, there was a significantly lower proportion of vomiting in patients treated with naldemedine. During the treatment period, none of patients treated with naldemedine had diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting as adverse events causally related to protocol treatment (0.0% [0 of 48 patients] v.s 34.0% [16 of 47 patients]. Conclusions: Naldemedine is a valuable option with proven efficacy in preventing OIC in cancer patients starting regular strong opioids. Clinical trial information: 031200397 .

Overview and Recent Status of the Japanese Translation Project of ICRP Publications: Translation Process of the ICRP Publication 138

Overview and Recent Status of the Japanese Translation Project of ICRP Publications: Translation Process of the ICRP Publication 138

The Translator’s Visible Touch in the First-person Narrative: On the Example of the Japanese Translation of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

The translators have an ambiguous role in the process of a literary translation – they have to be as transparent as possible, though they must often interpret the text before translating it. In fact, they present their own dialogue with the author to the reader and thus, it is difficult for them to not influence a narrative with their presence (Venuti 1986: 182). Translators can, however, choose how and where they are visible. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the way a literary translator becomes visible to the reader through the translation. Three short stories – in first-person narrative – from the novel Hyperion by Dan Simmons and translated by Sakai Akinobu are discussed. The article focuses on the analysis of translator’s choices regarding vulgarisms and emotional load in a text generally, that influences the way the reader understands the text.

The effect of parental age on child development at 36 months: Insights from the Japan environment and children's study

BackgroundThe impact of parent-childbearing age on child development at 36 months of age is controversial. AimsWe used data from a large cohort study with multiple imputation and mediation analyses of variables. Methods and ProceduresA total of 72,606 parent–child pairs from the Japan Environment and Children's Study were included in the study. Parents' ages were categorized into five groups. We used five domains of the Japanese translation of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Third Edition (J-ASQ-3). Scores below the cutoff value at 36 months were defined as developmental delays in each domain. We used three logistic analysis models. In Model 3, we analyzed maternal and paternal age using other variables and covariates. Outcomes and ResultsThe outcome was a developmental delay in the five domains of J-ASQ-3. In Model 3, ORs for the developmental delay scores regarding parental age were significantly associated with all five domains of J-ASQ-3. The mediation analysis showed a significant mediation interaction effect for mothers but localized for fathers. ConclusionAdvanced paternal and maternal ages were associated with developmental delay in children. Awareness of the risks of childbearing at an advanced age is crucial. What’s the paper addsThis manuscript used data from a large cohort study with multiple imputation and mediation analyses. With these analyses, we identified the pure effect of advanced parental age on their children’s development at 36 months.

Bringing Anne Close: Early Visualizations of Anne of Green Gables in Japan

Anne of Green Gables has enjoyed well over a dozen major Japanese translations since its first in 1952, and Prince Edward Island is an ever-popular tourist destination for Japanese fans of Anne of Green Gables. This paper examines how early illustrations of Anne draw on the pre-established history of girls’ literature in Japan while also making space for contemporary readers to discover points of self-identification.

Orhan Pamuk Literature in Japanese

This article gives an account of the paratexts of the Orhan Pamuk translations into Japanese between “2004-2024” and is based on my “descriptive and product-oriented” paratextual research on the Japanese translations of Pamuk literature (Oğuz Baykara, Orhan Pamuk Japoncada, Forum Tauri Press, İstanbul). This study has four basic aims: The first aim is to identify the paratexts of Pamuk Literature in Japanese and create a corpus. The second aim is to obtain empirical data from the Japanese paratexts inside the Orhan Pamuk translations (peritexts: such as the book cover, dust jacket, bands, introduction, preface, epilogue, etc.) and some paratexts outside the book (epitexts: such as translation-related articles, translation criticisms, promotional texts, etc.) and translate them into Turkish. The third aim is to present the translated empirical data to the readers in the form of texts, diagrams, tables, and statistical figures. The fourth and final aim is to determine the position of Orhan Pamuk Literature in the “Turkish Japanese Translation History” in the last 100 years and evaluate its contributions to the global visibility of Turkish Literature in the Japanese context.

An Overview of the Japanese Translations (Japanese Reprints) of Huang Di Nei Jing in the Edo Period

Please refer to the URL that includes this article for the abstract.