I had initially entered my first job as a translator / interpreter on a remote island in Nagasaki with the knowledge that I would have to surmount the hurdle of learning the local dialect. I was familiar with an array of Japanese dialects through reading fiction set in places like Kumamoto or the Kansai region, which made this prospect more so exciting than daunting. However, it was far more of a challenge than I had anticipated.

The thing about dialects depicted in media meant for general consumers is that, outside of when used for comedic effect, dialects are usually “toned down” in a sense to make them comprehensible to the average person. There’s a large variance in dialects even within the same region where that dialect is used, so writers typically compromise on using more obscure terms for the sake of readability without causing too much eyebrow-raising by people who are actually familiar with that dialect.

In reality, there’s a lot of variance not just in the words used, but in people’s way of speaking. Some dialects have notoriously fast speakers, and in the specific case of the Goto Islands, speakers tend to speak in quick, short phrases which can be difficult to parse for those unfamiliar with the dialect. There’s also much more subtle differences in pitch accent which can also vary by region.

Certainly, you’ll see some similarities between the differences in dialect in Japanese and dialects / accents in English. British English alone features a plethora of different slang words and pronunciations between regions. American English also features many different accents and dialects, like the ever recognizable southern twang. It makes sense why the go-to for a lot of translators is to try and find some kind of coordinate dialect in English to translate dialectal Japanese into. But this has time and time again raised the same question: is there even such a thing? How could a dialect of English be comparable to one in Japanese, when the origins of those dialects are so fundamentally different?

For an example, one such Japanese dialect that comes up frequently is that of the Kansai region, specifically the Osaka dialect. A very common method of translating this dialect to separate it from standard Japanese is to translate it into Southern U.S. English. This approach, from a readability perspective, makes sense. English isn’t a phonetic language, and thus using a dialect which has distinctly different turns of phrase and word choice makes the dialect instantly recognizable even when read off paper. It’s also internationally recognized among English speakers due to its prevalence in American media. You’re much more likely to find a British reader familiar with the Southern accent than an American reader who knows what a “Brummie” or a “Scouse” is. However, due to the origins of the dialect, it comes with certain stereotypes that do not necessarily apply to the Osaka dialect. Southern US accents tend to be associated with rural folk or cowboys, especially among non-Americans. Osaka, being the second-largest city in Japan, doesn’t exactly fit this image. I’ve had conversations with translators who suggest it’s more like a city-slicking Bostonian accent, but not only does this come with its own set of implications, it’s also a much harder dialect to depict through text.

But as with all things in translation, it’s up to the translator to consider all avenues towards creating texts that faithfully reproduce the feeling of the original. English dialects are just another tool for doing so, and like every other tool in a translator’s toolkit, requires careful thought to the specific context of what you are translating.