Paper long abstract

In the Japanese Studies program at a university in Belgium, a subtitling project for Japanese short films is conducted annually for first-year master’s students and third-year undergraduate students. In this project, students create English subtitles for a Japanese film approximately 30 minutes long, and the completed work is screened at a Japanese film festival in Germany. The project is carried out over a period of five weeks. Each week, students attend an online session led by a Japanese audiovisual translation company, and in subsequent classes they work in groups on the subtitling task. The company provides basic instruction in subtitling, film analysis, and professional feedback on the students’ translations.

After the completion of the 2025 project, a survey was conducted among the students. All respondents evaluated the activity positively, describing it as enjoyable. The reasons included group collaboration, participation in subtitle production for real-world use, recognition of the usefulness of their own abilities, and the novelty of the learning activity. In terms of difficulty, many students described the project as slightly difficult or not very difficult, suggesting that it presented an appropriate level of challenge.

The survey results also suggested that the subtitling process promoted deep engagement with language. Students repeatedly reflected on the meaning of a line and exchanged opinions with their peers. This process appeared to have led to a deeper understanding of the intended meaning of the utterances. Their lexical choices in translation were also revised repeatedly through discussion and reflection.

The learning outcomes that students perceived from the project were diverse, but they can be categorized into six areas: understanding conversational expressions, vocabulary, and their meanings; selecting appropriate speech styles; recognizing the importance of naturalness; understanding Japanese cultural events, Japanese ways of thinking, and cultural differences; recognizing the importance of context; and learning subtitling methods.

Overall, the project was perceived by students as a new and enjoyable form of language training. It also fostered students’ sense of self-efficacy and awareness of the social significance of contributing to an authentic project. Furthermore, collaboration with others appeared to enhance students’ motivation to learn.

Paper long abstract

When considering approaches to Japanese language education, many Japanese language teachers would likely agree that it is important not to confine learning to the classroom alone, but rather to connect it with social activities beyond the classroom in ways that allow learners to make effective use of their language abilities. This presentation reports on a practical case study conducted from October to December 2025, which aimed to connect the classroom and the museum through activities involving audio guide translation and interpreting during museum visits.

The participants were second-year master’s students at a national university in Poland with advanced Japanese proficiency (JLPT N2–N1 level). The project involved translating a Japanese audio guide for the Warsaw Uprising Museum, which documents the historical uprising in Warsaw during World War II, as well as conducting interpreting during a subsequent museum visit. The students translated the original Polish texts collaboratively, with revisions provided by the teacher and further refinement carried out through in-class discussion. This presentation will report on the challenges encountered and the learning outcomes observed through this process. Near the completion of the translation work, the students visited the museum together with five exchange students from Japan and engaged in practical interpreting of explanations given by a Polish guide. The presentation will also introduce findings from questionnaires administered to Polish participants in the project.

Initiatives that connect the classroom and the museum yield significant benefits. First, they provide Japanese language learners with opportunities to apply the language skills they have developed in authentic settings, through which they acquire substantial linguistic and experiential knowledge. Second, the availability of Japanese-language audio guides is highly beneficial for both museums and Japanese-speaking visitors. From these perspectives, this presentation advocates for activities that link the classroom with the museum.

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References

霜崎實（2014）「翻訳ワークショップにおける協同学習の試み」『慶應義塾外国語教育研究』11, pp.71-96.

西畑香里（2018）「コミュニケーションの気づきを促す通訳クラスの実践―ディスカッション通訳ロールプレイ演習の事例からー」『通訳翻訳研究への招待』19, pp.197-216.

Paper long abstract

Effective communication in disaster zones is a matter of critical importance, as it directly impacts the success of search-and-rescue operations and the provision of life-saving medical care. This study examines the extent to which undergraduate Japanese language programs at Turkish universities prepare graduates for post-disaster interpreting, using the February 2023 Türkiye–Syria earthquakes as a case study. Data collection began with semi-structured interviews with nine volunteer interpreters—comprising six undergraduate students and three graduates—who provided Japanese–Turkish interpreting for the Japan Disaster Relief (JDR) Rescue and Medical Teams during the immediate response phase (February–April 2023). Although no prior information was provided regarding whether written or oral translation would be required, the volunteers were confronted in the field with predominantly real-time oral interpreting. Participants consistently reported two primary challenges: a near-total lack of disaster-related and medical terminology in Japanese, and recurrent misunderstandings stemming from the Japanese teams’ consensus-based and hierarchical structure, which led to protracted decision-making processes. Several interviewees noted that the limited compulsory courses on Japanese society and culture proved surprisingly useful in navigating intercultural obstacles. Building on these findings, and to assess the academic foundation for future disaster interpreters, a systematic curriculum analysis was conducted across all five Japanese Language departments, using publicly available syllabi. Findings starkly confirmed the volunteers’ concerns: Translation and interpreting courses constitute only a minor part (19–27.8%) of compulsory credits, disproportionately focused on written translation. Dedicated culture courses account for a negligible share (0–5.6%) of credits, being entirely absent in two programs. Our findings lead us to conclude that current compulsory curricula leave graduates significantly underprepared for disaster-context interpreting. We, therefore, recommend the immediate introduction of a new course provisionally entitled “Disaster Interpreting” which should include specialized terminology and intensive consecutive practice under simulated stress, and training on Japanese communication norms in emergency settings. However, successfully implementing such a course would require addressing potential challenges, such as sharing the experiences of volunteers with field experience in a classroom setting and designing realistic emergency simulations.