English speakers generally do not understand Japanese

[Jason Gray]

> There could be various reasons for this: maybe to
> stick it to the man and 
> the hegemony enjoyed by English speakers (/sarcasm),
> no one present to do 
> the subtitling (you'd be surprised)

As someone who makes part of my living creating English
subtitles for Japanese movies, there *are* enough people
to do them (though I wouldn't use the word "surplus"). A
large percentage of the films that have subtitles made for
them are never seen in that form outside of film markets
(AFM, Cannes, Berlin etc.), let alone festivals. The
subtitles are paid for in the hopes of selling the film
abroad, not the DVD. In the process of making subs that
will eventually be burned on a print (or two), there are 2
or 3 
仮ミックステープ (interim draft videos) with
computer-generated electronic subs. The final draft could
so easilly be ported to DVDs, but rarely is. Out of all
the films I've worked on (or collaborated on), only one
domestic (R2) release has had the subtitles extant.

I don't think there's any evidence to suggest that R2
Japanese DVDs with English subs generate any more profit
for companies than those without. Other than that, there
is no clear answer to the question. 

Most Japanese DVDs don't even have Japanese subtitles,
which I wish they did!

jason gray















the projected
> sales in the domestic are 
> low, the tested market historically runs without
> subtitles, etc...
> 
> The film industry is, after all, in the business of
> making money. It's true 
> that they are not gaining sales by releasing
> unsubtitled copies of films, 
> but you should ask yourself -- are they really
> losing any?
> 
> Due to the Hollywood system, almost anything
> produced outside of it is, 
> whether we like it or not, a "specialist market,"
> and specialist markets 
> have exceptions. Maybe that's even a reason for not
> including subtitles --  
> they know you're going to buy the DVD anyway. The
> most realistic reason for 
> all of this (assumptions aside) is that not
> including English subtitles 
> leaves the possibility open to sell licenses to a
> distributor abroad. I know 
> this because I've been involved in it, and in Japan
> it doesn't just apply to 
> film.
> 
> But again, to point to economics, the studio heads
> know their share of the 
> market, even if their business practices seem odd or
> as if they are "afraid 
> to make money" (this applies to almost all companies
> in Japan). If it didn't 
> work for them, the movies wouldn't get produced.
> 
> --
> 
> I don't think that Hong Kong fits into this model
> for several reasons; for 
> example, the fact that many pirated versions of
> films intended for export 
> are produced there, the fact that English is an
> official language in Hong 
> Kong, the fact that Hong Kong movies have had
> international success and been 
> exported for quite some time, etc...
> 
> I can't offer a solution for Korea. I don't keep
> tabs with their releases 
> but I can say that I have never seen a Korean movie
> with English subtitles. 
> In fact, I was just at a Korean movie store a few
> weeks ago (randomly) and I 
> was quite disappointed, but it makes perfect sense,
> all of their customers 
> are Korean, so why should they bother with English
> subtitles? (There is a 
> tone of sarcasm here but I think you'll get the
> point.)
> 
> 
> -d
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "J.sharp" <j.sharp at hpo.net>
> To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2005 5:05 AM
> Subject: Re: English speakers generally do not
> understand Japanese
> 
> 
> > >
> >>  That is not a matter of want or lack of
> interest, it's a matter of
> >> economics.
> >>
> >
> > In what way is it a matter of economics? Consider
> that English subtitled
> > prints of most films are prepared for overseas
> festivals, and the 
> > prevalence
> > of English subs on DVD releases from neighbouring
> countries such as Hong
> > Kong and Korea?
> >
> >
> 
> 
>