Current and Future Challenges of Translation Policy in Japan

A View from Japanese Statutory Provisions

Abstract

Despite a growth in translation policy studies, there has been no systematic study of how Japanese statutes and municipal ordinances stipulate hon’yaku (translation) and tsūyaku (interpreting). This paper first reviews these terms’ usage therein and finds that, overall, Japanese statutory provisions fail to encompass rights to language access for foreign residents having language difficulties. It observes that translation and interpreting services are more often prescribed in the guidelines of selected local governments, leading to vast regional differences in the availability of such services. Finally, the paper calls for Japan’s national government to collect statistics on foreigners with limited Japanese proficiency. It also suggests that translation scholars research more deeply how foreign residents’ language rights are guaranteed in other nations, such as the language access progress in the United States achieved by Executive Order 13166.