Japanese localization is about voice as much as meaning. Who speaks to whom, and how politely, is encoded in every sentence — and the UI has to handle a writing system without spaces.
1What makes Japanese localization hard
- Character voice and keigo. A king, a merchant and a system message each need their own register; we build a register chart per character.
- Line breaking. Japanese has no spaces, so text wrapping follows different rules; we check where your engine breaks lines.
- Fonts. Your font must support kana and kanji; we flag missing glyphs early.
- Width, not length. Japanese uses fewer characters than English, but each is wider — buttons are checked visually, not by character count.
2How the work is done
Every line goes through five passes, and a person owns each one: we mark the jokes and wordplay, do an early pass for terminology, rewrite by hand whatever sounds translated, run a late pass against your UI limits, and finish with a final read. Tools keep terms consistent; a translator reads every line in context.
3Price, timing and what you get
- €90 per language, fixed, for up to 5,000 words — agreed before we start.
- 1–7 working days per language, depending on volume. You get a firm date with the price.
- Free test first: up to 600 words translated within five working days, no payment, no obligation.
- 30% upfront, 70% after you have run the localization in your own build.
- Free corrections for as long as the game is yours — patches, new lines, renamed items.
Your files come back in the structure you sent: JSON, CSV, XLSX, PO/POT, XML, RESX, YAML, XLIFF, Unity or Unreal string tables. Keys, tags and placeholders like {playerName}, %s and <color> stay untouched, so the build drops straight in. A glossary of the terms we settled comes with it.
4Start with a free test
Send us the passage you care about most — the tricky joke, the tutorial, the item descriptions. Up to 600 words, back within five working days. Use the contact form or write to contact@traled.eu. We usually reply within two hours.
5Questions
How much does Japanese game localization cost?
€90 per language for up to 5,000 words, fixed and agreed before we start. Larger scripts get a firm quote with the date.
Can I get a free Japanese test translation?
Yes. Send up to 600 words and get them back translated within five working days, with no payment and no obligation.
Will my file format and placeholders survive?
Yes. You get your own files back in the same structure; keys, tags and variables are never changed.
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