# Help me translate this Japanese!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 17, 2002, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-translate-this-japanese/124392 "2002-08-17T21:15:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-translate-this-japanese/124392/1 "2002-08-17T21:15:35Z")
This is a souvenir brought back from Nagasaki, Japan shortly after the end of WWII: [WWII Japanese Chart Paper?](http://web.acsalaska.net/~fmurtley/wwiijapanpaper.htm) Can anyone here translate the Japanese writing? ---
**Author:** ![brandiwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@brandiwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brandiwine)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-translate-this-japanese/124392/2 "2002-08-18T00:24:20Z")
I can’t - but you could try here. [http://college.hmco.com/languages/japanese/resources/japanese.htm](http://college.hmco.com/languages/japanese/resources/japanese.htm) [http://www.thejapanesepage2.com/kanji/kanjimenu.htm](http://www.thejapanesepage2.com/kanji/kanjimenu.htm) [http://enterprise.dsi.crc.ca/cgi-bin/j-e](http://enterprise.dsi.crc.ca/cgi-bin/j-e) ---
**Author:** ![brandiwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@brandiwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brandiwine)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-translate-this-japanese/124392/3 "2002-08-18T00:27:27Z")
Ooh. Oops. Do you have a Japanese restaurant in your area? I’d bet someone there would be willing to look & tell you, since it appears to be only a small amount of writing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-translate-this-japanese/124392/4 "2002-08-18T03:35:59Z")
Jeepers. Fully expecting to get skunked, I put “kenai alaska japanese restaurant” into Google, and this turned up… [The Soldotna Lodge](http://www.soldotnalodge.com/), advertising, “Hosts fluent in German, Japanese, French: of course English!” And the [Young’s Downtown Inn](http://www.alaskais.com/youngs/), in Homer, advertising Chinese and Japanese food. I love the Internet. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-translate-this-japanese/124392/5 "2002-08-18T04:27:51Z")
One thing to note, the top row appear to be written right-to-left, while the smaller rows are written left-to-right. Just to make it more challenging, I guess. Gimme a minute, I’ll ask my wife. ---
**Author:** ![puubs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/779978/32.png) [@puubs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puubs)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-translate-this-japanese/124392/6 "2002-08-18T04:30:28Z")
Here’s the writing in pinyin, written right to left (it’s in chinese characters [kanji], so I have an idea): Top ri4 ben3 biao1 zhun3 gui1 ge2 A lie4 3 fan1 yong4 japanese standard specifications, A list, 3 kind Bottom tie3 bi3 teng2 ban3 yong4 yuan2 zhi3 This part i’m not so sure of, but i think it lists specifications for a printing press plate. So now, they’re definitely not charts. Seems like forms of some kind, maybe from some engineer? Just a guess. I’ve never seen something like that before, of course. Feel free to correct. ---
**Author:** ![puubs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/779978/32.png) [@puubs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puubs)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-translate-this-japanese/124392/7 "2002-08-18T04:38:24Z")
Actually, upon closer look I can see why they would look like charts. I guess a better word would be plans, specification type papers. Engineers may have a better term. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-translate-this-japanese/124392/8 "2002-08-18T04:41:38Z")
D’oh! :smack: No deep secrets, it’s just a description of the type of paper, I think. Top: (Commerce and Industry Ministry [doesn’t exist anymore] Standard) For use with Japanese A3 type. 1st line: for use with B4 257x364mm 2nd line: for use with A3 297x420mm 2nd paper: Several of the characters haven’t been in standard use since the 1950’s, but it looks like it says “Carbon copy orginal paper”. ---
**Author:** ![puubs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/779978/32.png) [@puubs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puubs)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-translate-this-japanese/124392/9 "2002-08-18T04:50:21Z")
You don’t want to know what the literal translation of the second headline is. Carbon copy sounds fine. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tarokaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@tarokaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarokaja)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-translate-this-japanese/124392/10 "2002-08-18T04:59:53Z")
And, what hasn’t been mentioned by anyone else is the line of characters at the bottom of the “Peace from Nagasaki” stamp. They say: “Nagasaki Tourism Memorial” (or “Nagasaki Sightseeing Memorial”). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-translate-this-japanese/124392/11 "2002-08-18T05:01:25Z")
Thanks guys, that narrows it down. I thought it might have a military connection, but it looks like it could be anything. It is printed on very thin onionskin paper, very lightweight and virtually transparent, but it feels tough. It is about 11x17, and is like graph paper, marked off in little squares.