Translate a Specification Document into Japanese

What changes when a specification goes into Japanese

In Japan a specification is usually called 仕様書 (shiyōsho) or, for a requirements document, 要件定義書 (yōken teigisho). The body is normally written in the plain written style (である), terse and factual. Honorific language (keigo) belongs in the cover letter or introduction, not in the requirements themselves.

Three things need care:

• Requirement keywords. If your source uses shall / should / may, each maps to its own construction: 〜しなければならない or 〜すること for mandatory, 〜することが望ましい for recommended, 〜してもよい for optional. If the source drifts between “shall”, “must” and “will” without intent, Japanese cannot recover the distinction you meant.
• The subject. Japanese readily drops the subject. “Validates the data before sending” becomes ambiguous: the system or the user? State the actor in every requirement.
• Plurals. Japanese has a single form. “The user can upload files” no longer says whether one or several files at a time. Where the number matters, write it out: “one or more files”, “up to 10 files”.

Numbers, dates, katakana and typography

Specifications are full of values. In Japanese:

• Numbers: comma for thousands, point for decimals, so 1,500.5 ms (sources using European notation, such as 1 500,5, are converted). Large figures may be expressed in man (10,000): 1,000,000 can appear as 100万. Check that no contractual value has shifted by an order of magnitude.
• Dates: the usual forms are 2025年3月31日 or 2025/03/31. Some public-sector buyers use the imperial era (令和); if yours does, check every date.
• Loanwords: technical terms often go into katakana, with competing spellings: インターフェース or インタフェース, サーバー or サーバ. Both are correct; what matters is one spelling throughout.
• Typography: full-width punctuation (、。（）), but IDs and Latin letters stay half-width: REQ-012 is unchanged.

On layout, Japanese has no spaces between words and can break lines almost anywhere, except before certain marks. If your template font has no Japanese glyphs, the word processor will substitute one: set a Japanese font if the document must look polished.

What Manuce delivers, and what it does not do

Your specification goes to Dédale, Manuce’s technical specialist. Upload a Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, plain text, Markdown, HTML, RTF or CSV file and it comes back in the same format, layout included: numbered headings, requirement tables and bullet lists stay where they were. A typical document is translated within minutes and kept in your client area.

Before paying, you get a free sample: one paragraph of your file translated at the level you choose. Pick a paragraph dense with requirements, keywords and figures. The Professional level suits a document going to a Japanese supplier. Japanese carries a ×1.6 coefficient on the per-word rate.

What Manuce does not do:

• it cannot read a scanned PDF (an image with no selectable text);
• it does not produce certified or sworn translations: if the spec is annexed to a procedure requiring one, use a sworn translator;
• it does not take glossaries or terminology instructions: for an in-house term, check the sample and then the translation.

Preparing the source file

A few fixes in the source remove most Japanese ambiguities:

• Standardise requirement keywords: one word for mandatory, one for recommended.
• Name the actor in each requirement: “The system sends…”, “The administrator approves…”.
• Spell out quantities wherever the plural carried meaning.
• Put units next to values (ms, GB, °C) rather than in a separate note.
• Make sure diagram labels are text, not images: like a scanned PDF, an image holds no readable text.
• If you can, upload the original Word file rather than an exported PDF; tables rebuild more cleanly.

Checking before it goes to Japan

When the Japanese file arrives, check that:

• every requirement ID (REQ-001 to REQ-250) is present and unchanged;
• numerical values match the source, especially where 万 appears;
• product, module and standard names you wanted kept as-is are intact;
• katakana spelling is consistent from one chapter to the next;
• tables do not overflow and the Japanese font renders properly.

For a binding document, such as a supplier brief or the basis of a contract, have the Japanese version reviewed by a Japanese-speaking engineer on your side or at your partner.

In practice

1. Standardise requirement keywords and name the actor in each requirement.
2. Upload the file (Word if possible): the quote appears at once, based on the exact word count.
3. Read the free sample, ideally taken from a requirements table, then confirm.
4. Download the Japanese file from your client area and check IDs, figures and katakana.