To attract Japanese customers and clients, you will have to familiarize yourself with the idea of Japanese localization. Japanese localization is the process of adapting the language, appearance, and functionality of a product or website for the Japanese market. A complex Asian language, Japanese presents a variety of unique challenges to Japanese localization professionals.

Japanese consumers are known to have high standards for the performance and appearance of products. To ensure a positive reception for your software, website, and documentation, it is a good idea to work with an experienced localization company. Your localization service provider should employ Japanese, native speaking teams of localization specialists who understand how to anticipate and solve the myriad of potential Japanese globalization issues.

Some examples of globalization (G11N) issues include:

Website Issues	Localization Requirements
Fonts	Double-byte enablement
Color scheme	Inoffensive colors (e.g. minimal white, which represents mourning)
Tone	More formal than English source
Date, time, currency formats	Change to standard Japanese formats
eCommerce payments	Enable various payment methods such as bank transfers

 

Software Issues	Localization Requirements
Time to market	Translation memory tools help speed translation
High user expectations	Testers should be Japanese

 

Documentation Issues	Localization Requirements
Text length	Accommodate possible text expansion
Printing Japanese fonts	Embed fonts in PDF file for printer
Font direction	Determine if client prefers left-right or top-bottom directionality

 

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