Japanese interpreters and translators for manufacturers, banks, law firms, hospitals, schools and families anywhere in the UK, with face-to-face, telephone and video interpreting, certified translation between Japanese and English, and bookings taken 24 hours a day, whether the job is a board meeting, a plant visit or a family register extract.
- 8,000+ linguists
- 350+ languages
- Bookings 24/7, every day of the year
- Free quotes
Japanese interpreting services
Standard Japanese, based on the speech of Tokyo, is understood throughout Japan, so dialect seldom decides a booking, although Osaka and the wider Kansai region sound quite different and some older people from rural areas keep strong local speech. Register decides far more. Japanese grammar shifts with the relative standing of speaker and listener, through the respectful and humble forms called keigo, and a senior executive will expect the interpreter to handle them without being told.
Choose consecutive interpreting for negotiations, interviews and appointments, and simultaneous for conferences and training. Because Japanese puts the verb at the end of the sentence, the interpreter often has to wait for the meaning to arrive, which makes simultaneous work between Japanese and English unusually tiring; for a full day, book two interpreters who take turns.
Face-to-face interpreting
The interpreter comes to you: a hospital ward, a courtroom, a council office, a home visit or a business meeting. It is the best choice when people need to read expressions as well as words, or when the conversation is long or sensitive.
Telephone interpreting
The quickest option to set up. It works well for short calls, triage, appointment reminders and quick checks with a client.
Video interpreting
A Japanese interpreter joins by video for remote hearings, consultations and meetings, which helps when there is no interpreter near you.
We also provide medical interpreting and conference interpreting.
Certified Japanese translation
Our Japanese translators work only into their native language, so a Japanese certificate is put into English by a native English speaker. Japan does not issue birth certificates in the British sense: births, marriages and divorces are entered in the koseki, the family register kept by the local municipality, and people prove them with a certified copy of the whole register or of their own entry. Proof of address comes from the jūminhyō, the residence record. Many documents carry the impression of a registered personal seal, the hanko, rather than a signature.
Dates are often given in imperial eras. Heisei ran from 1989 to April 2019 and Reiwa began on 1 May 2019, so Reiwa 5 is 2023; we give the Western year for every date. Japanese passports normally leave out long-vowel marks, so a name like Ōno can appear as ONO or OHNO, and we follow whichever the passport uses.
- Certified translation of birth, marriage and death certificates, passports, driving licences, degree certificates and bank statements, for the Home Office, courts, universities and employers.
- Legal translation: witness statements, court bundles, contracts and immigration papers.
- Document translation of medical reports, letters, leaflets and patient information.
- Urgent translation when a deadline is close.
- Transcription of Japanese audio and video recordings, with an English translation if you need one.
English to Japanese translation
For Japanese readers in the UK, use the polite desu and masu style of public notices and the normal mix of kanji and kana. If some readers are children or grew up outside Japan, add furigana, small kana printed beside the harder kanji to show how they are read. Horizontal text, read left to right, is standard for leaflets, forms and websites. British names and place names go into katakana, and we keep each one spelt the same way across all your material.
Japanese court and police interpreters
Japanese is rare in UK criminal courts, but it turns up in commercial disputes and arbitration, and in family cases where a child has moved between Japan and Britain; Japan has been a party to the Hague Convention on international child abduction since 2014. Our first choice for a hearing is a Japanese interpreter who has done legal work before and, if one is available in this language, who holds the Diploma in Public Service Interpreting (Law) or is on the National Register of Public Service Interpreters (NRPSI). One trap is grammatical: Japanese often drops the subject of a sentence, so the interpreter must not add a "he" or an "I" the witness never said, and should ask for clarification instead.
How to book a Japanese interpreter
- Tell us about the assignment: the date, time and address, or that you need telephone or video; how long it should last; and what it is for, such as a hospital appointment, a hearing or a business meeting.
- Tell us about the speaker: their country or region and, if you know it, their dialect. Mention any preference for a male or female interpreter.
- Get your quote. We email you a quote, with no obligation to book.
Call 0800 2425 125, email info@uklinguisticservices.co.uk or request a quote online.
About the Japanese language
Japanese is a Japonic language, spoken mainly in Japan. It is the national language of Japan.
Japanese is written in a mix of kanji (Chinese characters) and the hiragana and katakana syllabaries.
At the 2021 Census, 22,548 usual residents of England and Wales aged three or over gave Japanese as their main language. The local authorities with the most were the London borough of Ealing (2,755 people), the London borough of Barnet (1,653) and the City of Westminster (1,420). Source: Office for National Statistics.
Before you book: A Japanese name written in kanji can have more than one reading, so for a certified translation send us the romanised spelling from the person's passport.
| Name in Japanese | 日本語 |
|---|---|
| Language family | Japonic language |
| Where it is spoken | Japan |
| Writing system | Mix of kanji (Chinese characters) and the hiragana and katakana syllabaries |
| Language code | ja |
| Main language in England and Wales (Census 2021) | 22,548 people |
Related languages
Japanese interpreters near you
Outside London, Japanese work follows industry. Nissan's car plant in Sunderland, Toyota's at Burnaston in Derbyshire and Hitachi Rail's train factory at Newton Aycliffe in County Durham bring managers and engineers from Japan, often for assignments of a few years, and their families with them.
Japanese interpreter and translator FAQs
How quickly can I book a Japanese interpreter?
We take bookings 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Telephone and video interpreting are usually the quickest to arrange. For a face-to-face appointment, give us as much notice as you can: same-day cover is often possible, but it depends on where you are and how many Japanese interpreters work nearby.
How much does a Japanese interpreter cost?
The price depends on the type of interpreting (face-to-face, telephone or video), how long the appointment lasts, where it is and how much notice you give. We quote before anything is booked, and quotes are free: call 0800 2425 125 or use our online quote form.
Can you certify Japanese translations for a UK visa or immigration application?
Yes. We translate and certify documents such as birth and marriage certificates, passports and police certificates for visa, settlement and citizenship applications. UK Visas and Immigration asks for each translation to confirm that it is accurate and to show the date and the translator's full name, signature and contact details, so tell us when you order that the document is for an immigration application. Because Japanese is not written in the Latin alphabet, send us the passport spelling of every name so the translation matches it.
Do you provide Japanese interpreters for courts, tribunals and police interviews?
Yes. Tell us the setting when you book, for example a Crown Court trial, an immigration tribunal hearing or a police interview under caution, so we can match a Japanese interpreter with the right legal experience and qualifications.
How many people speak Japanese in the UK?
At the 2021 Census, 22,548 usual residents of England and Wales aged three or over gave Japanese as their main language. The local authorities with the most were the London borough of Ealing (2,755 people), the London borough of Barnet (1,653) and the City of Westminster (1,420). The census asked for each person's main language, so people who speak Japanese at home but gave English as their main language are not in that figure. Scotland and Northern Ireland count languages in their own censuses.
