Japanese Guidelines for Transcription and Subtitles

I.14. Line Limitation

• Maximum two lines.

I.15. Numbers

• Horizontal subtitles
• Single-digit numbers should be written using full-width alphanumeric characters
• Double-digit and higher numbers should be written using half-width characters
• Numerical punctuation should be written in the following format
• For decimal points, use half-width period for horizontal, and half-width nakaguro for vertical:
• (e.g. 1.5 should be:１.５ in horizontal, and１･５ in vertical)
• For decimal separators, do not use a comma. Numbers up to 4 digits should be written without a comma. Numbers bigger than 4 digits should use Japanese characters:
• 1,500 should be 1500 in horizontal and １５００ in vertical
• 12,345 should be １万2345 in horizontal and １万２３４５ in vertical
• Do not convert currency

• Dates:
• Convert dates to Japanese layout (Year/Month/Day, e.g. 2008年12月31日)
• Abbreviated years are acceptable if abbreviated in the original language
• Time: 12-hour clock and 24-hour clock time are both acceptable as long as it is consistent throughout the program (unless plot-pertinent)
• Convert temperature, height, weight, etc. to the metric system, unless it's plot pertinent to remain in the imperial system

I.17. Punctuation

• Do not use (。) or (、) punctuation
• Instead of (、) – use half-width character space
• Instead of (。) – use full-width character space
• Exception: If subtitle contains an official translation of a book, movie, film title etc. that contains punctuation (i.e.,「食べて、祈って、恋をして」 for “Eat, Pray, Love”).
• (？) and (！) should be written as full-width characters, and followed by a full-width space when a new sentence starts on the same line:

まさか？　そんな！

I.18. Quotes

• Subtitles for signs, newspapers, written letters should use double quotation marks (this includes when it's read aloud)
• Use half-width double quotation marks (“”) without spaces for citations
• Unicode values: U+201C, U+201D
• Full-width hook brackets (「」) for album, book, film, songs, and program titles
• Quotes should be used at both the start and end of the subtitle, even when quote extends beyond more than one event

I.19. Reading Speed Limits

• Up to 4 characters per second (CPS)
• Between 13 and 16 characters per line (CPL)

I.20. Ruby（ルビ）

• For single line subtitle with horizontal alignment – position ruby above character
• For single line subtitle with vertical alignment – position ruby on right side of character
• If ruby is present on second line of a two-line horizontal subtitle – position ruby below ruby base
• If ruby is present on second line of a two-line vertical subtitle – position ruby on left side of ruby base
• Do not overuse ruby to describe/explain jokes, puns, mishear, etc. unless absolutely necessary
• Ruby should be added for the first instance when the term appears only
• Exception: For kids contents, apply ruby for every instance repeatedly

I.21. Songs

• Only subtitle plot-pertinent songs if the rights have been granted
• Italicize lyrics
• Punctuation: do not use punctuation during song subtitles
• Use Chidori-style placement for song lyrics and poetry
• Full-byte spaces should be used to implement the Chidori formatting. The correct space to use that is the size of a glyph is the Ideographic Space (U+3000).
• Example:あきらめない　明日の太陽

I.22. Title Treatment

• Main titles: Subtitle the on-screen main title for branded content when the approved title for Japanese is available in KNP/Terminology and it does not match the title which appears in the card. Do not translate the main title from scratch: always use the approved title provided.
• Do not subtitle when the on-screen main title and the approved title for Japanese are identical and fully match. (e.g. the on-screen title is already in Japanese, both read with the exact same words and spellings, etc.)
• Subtitle when the approved title for Japanese contains a part that is transliterated/translated/transcreated/edited and does not fully match the on-screen main title. (e.g. when the on-screen title is Passing but the approved title for Japanese is PASSING －白い黒人－)
• When the provided translation of the main title does not work with a line break in a way that fits within the limit, the maximum character count per line or maximum line limit can be exceeded. Do not split the provided translation into multiple subtitle events.
• If the approved title for Japanese uses symbols, punctuation, characters that are against the Japanese TTSG (e.g. full-width nakaguro, half-width question mark, etc.) correct them to adhere to the TTSG unless instructed otherwise.
• Do not italicize the main title event.
• Episode titles: Do not subtitle episode titles if they do not appear on screen/are not voiced-over. If on-screen (either as part of the principal photography or burned into video) or voiced-over, please reference the KNP tool for approved translations.
• Titles of movies, TV shows, books, etc., use official or well-known translations

I.23. Special Instructions

• Dialogue must never be censored. Expletives should be rendered as faithfully as possible.
• Plot-pertinent dialogue always takes precedence over background dialogue
• Always match the tone of the original content, while remaining relevant to the target audience (e.g. replicate tone, register, class, formality, etc. in the target language in an equivalent way).
• Deliberate misspellings and mispronunciations should not be reproduced in the translation unless plot-pertinent
• For whispering dialogue or mouthed words that are plot-pertinent, use full-width parentheses （）
• Do not use colloquial spelling (e.g. ダーメ！, ありがと, ってか, わぁ, etc) unless it’s absolutely effective to convey the creative intent.
• When brand names or trademarks appear, you may either; use the same name if it is known in the territory you are translating for; adapt to the name that the brand or product is known by that the territory you are translating for; or use a generic name for that product or item. Avoid swapping out names of brands, companies or famous people for other names.

I.24. Children's Content

• Vocabulary and kanji usage should be age-appropriate for kids content. Please seek age tag information from Netflix.

Ages 0-6 : Vocabulary and kanji usage should be appropriate for up to age 6 (1st grade).Ages 7-12 : Vocabulary and kanji usage should be appropriate for up to age 12 (6th grade).

• Use of 常用外 kanji is prohibited. Please refer to 「NHK漢字表記辞典」 and 「朝日新聞の用語の手引き」 for more information.
• Rubies should be used sparingly - age-appropriate vocabulary and kanji take precedence.
• When ruby is necessary, it should be added to every instance when the term appears.