Japanese place names to note for inbound translation and multilingual text-to-speech narration

What do you think are some of the things to watch out for in inbound translation?

Before we begin, let's review the expression "inbound.
Simply put, it is often used to mean "travel by foreigners visiting Japan. As we often translate publications and websites for foreign visitors to Japan, we need to be very careful not only to avoid mistranslating proper nouns such as place names, but also how to read them.

For example, how do you read the place name "Shinjo"?
If you pronounce it "Shinjo", it is a place name in Aomori and Kanagawa Prefectures,
"Shinshiro" is a place name in Aichi Prefecture, and
"Aragusuku" is a place name in Okinawa.
The same kanji can be read very differently in different regions.

If an address or place name is included in the original Japanese text, our translation experts will research it thoroughly before translating it correctly. It would be easier if the reading had been assigned in advance, but such cases are extremely rare.

The same applies to software text-to-speech narration, which requires great care when place names are included. While many text-to-speech software dictionaries have one type of reading, they do not cover the different readings for each region. In such cases, human tuning is required to achieve the desired reading based on the content of the original text.

Since there are even multiple patterns in Japanese alone, as described above, and moreover, when it comes to reading it correctly in multiple languages, it is the turn of native writers of the country's language to do the job.

For example, Shibuya can be translated as "Shibuya" in English, "시부야" in Korean, and " " in Chinese. When this is read out loud using text-to-speech, the English and Korean readings are both "Shibuya," but the Chinese word that at first glance seems to read the most like "Shibuya" is actually read differently, as "sugo. In China, which is a Chinese character country and does not use the alphabet as extensively as Japan, it is necessary to make adjustments in consideration of the cultural background, such as the use of Chinese in the notation and pronunciation of place names.

We also offer a multilingual text-to-speech service in which our staff members, who are experts in each language, actually listen to the text and check for correct reading and intonation, making our company a bit like a multinational corporation.

Thus, it can be said that the unique knowledge of native speakers is essential for multilingual voice tuning.

Recently, we have been receiving an increasing number of requests for work from railroad companies, so sometimes when I am in a station or on a platform, I am made to feel, "Oh, is that the speech synthesizer from that time? I sometimes get a feeling of "Oh, is that the voice synthesizer from that time? Moments like that are one of the things that make me happy in this job.
Now, I am looking forward to seeing where I will encounter the work I was in charge of next.