Website translation from Japanese to English – a real English version of your site

Two ways to translate a Japanese website

There are two basic approaches to website translation from Japanese to English. The choice affects how your business comes across and whether English speakers can find you in search.

• Show machine translation on the fly: add a translate button or plugin that converts the page when someone views it. Quick and cheap to set up
• Build an English version: publish translated and edited pages under their own address, such as /en/. You control every sentence, and the pages can appear in English search results

Machine translation is fine for internal documents or pages where a rough idea is enough. For a site that should bring inquiries, bookings or sales, a real English version is the safer choice. If you are starting from scratch, see English website development.

The limits of Google Translate and other widgets

"Just add Google Translate" sounds like an easy fix, but in practice it runs into the same problems again and again. Google has also stopped offering its website translator widget to new sites.

• Context gets lost: Japanese often drops the subject and relies on polite forms and industry terms, so meaning shifts. Shop and product names sometimes get translated literally
• Search engines rarely index it: text translated in the browser does not exist as an English page that Google can list
• Text in images stays Japanese: menus, price tables and banners made as images are skipped entirely
• You cannot fix mistakes: errors stay on the page, and the output can change from one visit to the next
• Trust drops: clumsy English makes prices, booking rules and other key facts look unreliable

Visitors can already translate any page in their own browser. What your site can add is a clear, readable English version that covers what automatic tools get wrong. A quick test: open your main pages with browser translation to English and note where the message breaks down.

Which pages to translate first

You rarely need to translate every page. Focus on what English readers actually look for and you save budget, launch sooner and keep the English side easy to maintain.

• Home page: who you are, what you offer and who it is for, at a glance
• Key service or product pages: your main offers, with prices, duration and other facts people need to decide
• Access and hours: the address in English format, directions from the nearest station, a map and closing days
• Booking and contact: a form that accepts English, the language you reply in, the channels you support
• FAQ: payment methods, cancellations, whether staff speak English and other common sticking points
• Terms: for online stores, shipping, returns and the legally required seller information in English

News and blog posts can stay Japanese-only at first; add them once you see demand. If more languages are on the roadmap, our guide to multilingual website development covers language choice and site structure.

How to get natural English, step by step

Good web translation means an English reader gets the same message, with the same tone, as a Japanese reader. These steps keep the result consistent:

• Build a glossary: fix the English spelling of your company, shop, product and service names first and use it everywhere
• Know the reader: tourists, foreign residents in Japan and overseas buyers need different wording
• Translate, then rewrite: treat the first translation as a draft and reshape it into natural English order and length
• Explain Japanese conventions: reservation-only, tax-included prices, cover charges – add a short note where a foreigner would be confused
• Use English formats: address order, +81 phone numbers, dates, currency and opening hours
• Get a native read: before launch, have a native English speaker read the pages and flag anything that sounds off

Recreate image-based text for the English version or replace it with real text, which also makes later edits easier. Keep the glossary after launch – it pays off when you add pages or run ads in English.

Checklist before you hire a translator or agency

Treat "translating the text" and "publishing English pages" as two separate jobs and quotes become much easier to compare. Translation agencies typically price by character count, while web studios usually quote per page.

• A list of pages to translate and a rough idea of how much text each one has
• The URL structure for English pages (for example a /en/ folder) and where the language switch sits
• Whether English page titles, meta descriptions and hreflang tags are included
• Who replies to English inquiries, and in which language
• How the English side gets updated when the Japanese site changes – in-house or by the provider
• Whether your CMS supports a second language (a multilingual plugin for WordPress, built-in language features in Shopify)

Getting found by English searchers also depends on English keywords and an English Google Business Profile – see English SEO for the details. Rankings are decided by search engines, so after launch the right move is to watch Search Console and adjust.

How UNANOBO handles website translation: a free demo of your English version

UNANOBO builds a free demo of the English version of your current site, based on your existing content and brand. You see the English copy, your names and address in English format and an English contact form on a working page, on your computer and phone. The English side can match your Japanese design, or become the starting point for a wider refresh.

The process is simple: free demo, feedback, launch, growth. The founder handles every project personally, from the first demo to English SEO and ads after launch, and everything runs by message in Japanese or English. That means you can discuss the nuance of a single phrase directly with the person writing it.