Hello there, I am a foreigner in Japan and cannot speak Japanese. Sometimes, the place’s name or address is in Japanese and it is difficult for me to identify those places. With the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan, imagine how many foreigners will face the same issue if we don’t do something. So I am proposing an Englishnization meetup where we would add the following to the Google Maps 1) English names of the places we visit 2) Share information in review or images if the name is only written in Japanese on the shop’s board. Meeting Place: Near Hachiko Statue, Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo. Itinerary: 11:00 am - 11:15 am - Meet & gather.We will form pairs of 2 local guides to go together, preferably 1 Japanese &1 English speaking. 11:15 am - 12:15 pm - Map Edit walk. Each team will go to different nearby places and add their information. 12:15 pm - 12:30 pm - Gather back again near Hachiko and go to a restaurant for lunch. 12:30 pm -1:30 pm - Optional Lunch ( I will add the restaurant later depending on the number of people attending) 1:30 pm - Go back home It is a good opportunity to make English and Japanese speaking new friends. Please note that Meetup is free of cost and you will only have to pay approximately 1,500 yen if you decide to have lunch.
This is something I have been thinking about recently. I noticed that sometkmes under certain conditions both the local language name and English names are displayed. But other times it is only local name. I believe it is dependent on some form of language setting display but I am not sure how.
It is even more a challenge for Japan because as an English speaker I cannot read or pronounce the name when I see it in hiragana/katagana. And also the English name might be a totally different thing, which a local might not recognise. So that’s an issue. Same difficulty for me in Hongkong.
I would like to ask, as you are residing in Tokyo, how does it appear for you? Are English names displahed where available?
@JulienH That’s an interesting observation. What usually happens for me is that whenever the English name is available, it is displayed. Otherwise only Japanese name is displayed, which can be a little difficult for me to understand.
Adding the English names will help so many people, especially tourists. I hope have a productive day and want to share it with us in a recap afterwards.
It is always helpful having the name in multiple languages. But I think English is a must. But the problem is unlike Google Map Maker we can not choose to input names in multiple languages in Google Maps. The field for providing the name in a different language is only available depending on the language settings of our mobile phones. If the language setting is different than the language of the current name only then you will see that option. So if any of your meet-up attendees don’t see the English option when editing please tell him to change his phone’s language to English, at least for the period of the meet-up. @MortenSI I am not sure if there any way we can select to translate name without changing the phone’s language setting?
@HimanshiS Hope you will update a bunch of places and write a recap here so we can know what you did. Good luck!
You are right @SaifIS , this is a good thing to have in mind.
Currently it is not an option, but if you think it would be a good addition to Google Maps, there is an idea posted here where you can show your support.
I’m sorry. Because I am not good at English, I am using Google translation.
Thank you for inviting me.
I live near Tokyo, but unfortunately I can not participate for work. sorry… X (
@HiroyukiTakisawa and @user_not_found tag as a powerful localguides for both Japanese and English.
They do not live in Tokyo, but they may be a powerful help.
I wish I could join your Englishnization meetup. It sounds fascinating and interesting!!
Japanese language would be so weird for the visitors of Tokyo 2020.We Japanese use four different kinds of letters all the time. Kanji(漢字), Hiragana(ひらがな) Katakana(カタカナ), Romanization of Japanese(ローマ字)
「小平天然温泉テルメ小川」
How do you englishnize this place?
This place name consists of three parts.
小平： 地名(place name) Kodaira (I wonder it is Kohira, Kobira, …or? Because I am a stranger around here.)
天然温泉： 一般名詞(general noun) It means “Natural spa”.
テルメ小川： 固有名詞(proper noun) It’s Terume Ogawa
Terume? What’s that?
Terume is written by Katakana, because it is 外来語(foreign origin word). As you now, Katakana is almost always used for non-Japanese words. Terume comes from “Thermae” It means ancient Roman spa, maybe Latin.
These are my ideas of Englishnization for 小平天然温泉テルメ小川.
Kodaira Natural Spa Thermae Ogawa
Kodaira Natural Spa Terume Ogawa
Kodaira Tennenonsen Terume Ogawa
What is your favorite englishnization?
And one more thing. Can you pronounce “Terume” correctly like as other Japanese people? The similar pronunciation is “Tell May”.
My thought process here is to follow the following guideline:
English name of the place: Our intent is to help the person find the place so if there’s a name mentioned on the board or written on the property, that’s the first preference. It’s also correct to look for the name not mentioned on the board but sometimes these properties have internal English names, used on English brochures or menus.
Easy to communicate: In case, there’s no name on the board, I would prefer a name which is easy to understand or communicate if you have to ask someone. Ex Kodaira Natural Spa Onsen Ogawa. In this case, someone can understand that it’s Spa or Onsen in Ogawa or Kodaira, then we can put it as same. Putting words which do not belong to English or do not make sense to an English speaking person would only confuse them.
Exact transliteration: If there is no board or English translation, we can just use Google Translate and convert it as it is. I believe something is better than nothing, a name which a person can read and try to match is still better than no name I believe. Ex - Kodaira Natural Onsen Therme Ogawa
But my aim is to use the boards as much as possible and then as a next step, talk to place’s staff to understand what they want to call the place. We would also offer them suggestions to add English Boards so customers can easily discover and visit their property.
That’s my thought on this. Please share your suggestion?
@user_not_found I would love it if you can make it. It will be wonderful.
Thanks for pointing out a unique problem.
I wish to follow the below guidelines to add the most correct name for other foreigners.
The official English name : First preference is given if the place has an English name on boards outside the property. In some cases, there is no English board outside but they have an internal English name which is used in the property’s brochures or internal branding or English menu. Whatever name Property owner wants to be branded as that’s the first preference. We will talk to the property owners and confirm the names with them, so it shouldn’t be a problem. We would also educate them to use English names to cater to a wider audience and increase discoverability.
Logically acceptable English name: 2nd preference is to be given to a name which roughly translates the name of the place while keeping the context in mind. The idea is that using words which will help a person identify a name by asking someone else. For example - Kodaira Natural Spa Onsen Ogawa. In this case, you would notice that I have removed the Thermae with the word Onsen. As the word Thermae doesn’t make sense in the English language, having it in the name will not help an English speaking audience. However, having the word Onsen can help a person identify the place with a little help or asking around.
Transliteration of the Japanese Name: Last preference is to be given to an exact translation of the place name if the logical name cannot be understood. I am hoping with the help of English speaking and Japanese speaking guides, we can overcome this issue. For example - Kodaira Natural Onsen Therme Ogawa.
Please give me feedback on how did you find the suggested guideline.
