English speakers generally do not understand Japanese

Peter M. Grilli grilli at us-japan.org
Wed Dec 7 12:40:55 EST 2005


Cheers to Aaron for re-stating the problem so clearly... and so bluntly!

To the "incompetence" that Aaron points to, I would add sheer laziness on
the part of
the major studios in exploring and developing international markets that
were ripe and ready
for creative marketing of Japanese films.  The studios all had (and have)
so-called "Kokusai-bu" or
"International Departments" -- but their interpretation of "kokusai" was
terribly limited:  they seemed to invest their principal energies in
distributing their films to overseas communities of Japanese, rather than
providing good English subtitles and seeking out non-Japanese-speaking
international audiences.

There have been a few exceptions.  
To point to only one: look at the great international success of Itami
Juzo's films in the 1980s and early 90s.
I would have thought that the Japanese studios might have learned from the
example of Itami, who -- largely through his own personal marketing talents
and those of a few creative colleagues -- went out and found large
(and profitable!) international markets for his films.  

Also, something needs to be said about the quality  of English translations
on Japanese films.   Good film translation is a true art in itself, and
requires a special kind of genius.  It should never be left to incompetents.
In the old days, unless a studio or distributor was clever enough to bring
in Donald Richie to do the English subtitles singlehandedly (or to supervise
the translation), the English titles were notoriously bad.  Great original
scripts were regularly brutalized by Japanese translators who, though might
have had some rudimentary competence in text-book English, had absolutely no
talent or sensibility for translation.   There's nothing like a clumsy
translation or an incomprehensible one for killing a film's chances at
international success.

I suppose it should be noted (in fairness to the studios) that in the "old
days" there were fewer native English translators living in Japan (other
than Richie) -- but even in the 1950s and 60s there were others  available
had the studios taken the trouble to seek them out.   Today, there are many!
To give a single shining example:  over the last decade or so, Linda
Hoaglund has been doing exceptional work in translating (and marketing) the
films of independent Japanese directors.  She is no doubt terribly underpaid
and underappreciated for her extraordinary dedication and for the quality of
her translations.  But -- again -- her example should show the studios (as
well as independent filmmakers) that it doesn't take a huge investment to
get films translated well and to score real success in the international
marketplace.

Peter Grilli


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
[mailto:owner-KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu]On Behalf Of Aaron
Gerow
Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2005 11:21 AM
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Re: English speakers generally do not understand Japanese



> 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'm afraid there is just too much evidence from the 70s to the 90s that 
many Japanese film companies don't know their market, or if they do, 
they don't do much to exploit it. Just look at some of the MITI reports 
on the industry from that period, or more recent books like Nihon eiga 
sangyo saizensen, and you can see how much the industry was criticized 
for not investing in new talent or new technologies, not opening up new 
markets, for engaging in restrictive and self-defeating practices, etc. 
Things have been shaken up in the last few years, but there is still a 
lot of incompetence out there.

That doesn't necessarily mean that putting subtitles on the DVD is 
"competent," but first it is clear that Japanese companies have largely 
ignored the possibilities of DVD technology. Few releases have audio 
commentaries or any decent kind of extra features (when they do, it is 
in the "special edition" you have to pay twice the price for), even 
though Japanese DVDs are still very expensive as it is. Not adding even 
Japanese subtitles (which is the case with a lot of releases) is part 
of this attitude. It may be due to economics--make it cheap and sell it 
dearly--but I still feel that many companies have little imagination in 
trying to develop this market.

As for English subtitles, I wonder if one factor isn't the fact that 
more Japanese films are being released on DVD in English speaking 
countries. Can the decision not to include subtitles, in some cases, 
have to do with the hope, or genuine plan, to sell it abroad? Perhaps 
not releasing an English subtitles DVD in Japan--especially in the age 
of the Internet--makes it easier to sell the DVD right abroad? I wonder.

That said, there are still a lot of DVDs of recent films with English 
subtitles. I just did a search on DiscStation of DVDs of Japanese films 
released with English subtitles since September 2004 and the result was 
129. Though that includes some doubling (the standard plus the special 
editions), that is still a decent number. The problem for many of us is 
that barely any of these are films from before 1990.

Aaron Gerow
KineJapan owner

Assistant Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University

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