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So far President Trump’s interaction with the Japanese has been encapsulated by an awkward, seemingly endless handshake with Prime Minster Shinzo Abe. But that puzzling encounter is indicative of an emerging and profound cultural rift between the new leader and Japan.
Namely, Japanese translators are having a very difficult time interpreting Trump’s comments in a logical way. That’s not to say they’re having trouble finding logic and reason in the things he says – which, yeah – but rather, they don’t know how to frame his comments in the Japanese language, one embedded in structure, formality, and simplicity. Speaking to The Japan Times, professional translator Chikako Tsuruta didn’t pull any punches in describing how she and her peers view the task of presenting Trump’s speech in a Japanese context.
It’s not the words he uses, since Carnegie Mellon’s Language Technologies Institute put Trump’s vocabulary at a sixth-grade level, but rather the construction and syntax he uses. That said The Japan Times cite his casually racist and sexist terminology as another obstacle towards conveying his words. His familiar use of names, a hallmark of his Twitter use as well as his speech, further confuses live translators who may not pick up his off-the-cuff references. Says Miwako Ibi, a 20-year-veteran of broadcast interpretation:
Clearly, the issue is a frustrating one for translators from the traditionally polite nation, since just one month into Trump’s presidency, they’re dropping the pretense that he just has a different way of doing things. Says Kumiko Torikai, another translator:
The American media is probably falling over itself to agree.