Japanese localization guide

Use these rules with the localization principles, Qt interface rules and Japanese language guide. Examples name their source (Glyphs 3, Font Book, CoreText, Qt's qtbase_ja catalog) or are marked constructed. They show grammar; the term table decides terms.

Locale and register

• Locale ja, Qt catalog ja_JP: standard written Japanese.
• Leave the user unnamed: Japanese drops the subject. Never あなた, 私たち, 弊社 or お客様; your font is フォント.
• Labels are noun phrases or plain-form verbs. Every full sentence is です・ます style, never だ・である.
• Polite, not deferential. A sentence that asks the user to act ends in 〜してください: あとでやり直してください。 (Please try again later., Glyphs). Never 〜していただけますか, お願いいたします, ご〜になる; never ください in a label.

Grammar of interface strings

String	Form	Example
Menu command	object + を + action noun without する, or a dictionary-form verb; no 。	アンカーを追加, 開く (Add Anchor, Open, Glyphs)
Command that opens a dialog	the same, with the source's ellipsis	フォントを追加… (Add Fonts…, Font Book)
Button	as a command, shortest form	保存, キャンセル (Save, Cancel, Font Book)
Checkbox or toggle	as a command; negative in 〜ない	製品用グリフ名を使わない (Don't use Production Names, Glyphs)
Panel or dialog title	noun phrase	フォント情報 (Font Info, Glyphs)
Progress message	〜しています + the source's ellipsis	アップデートを確認しています… (Checking for updates…, Glyphs)
State label	〜中, 〜済み	ダウンロード中 (Downloading, Font Book), 編集済み (Edited, Glyphs)
Success	〜を〜しました	フォントを書き出しました。 (Fonts exported., constructed)
Cannot (now)	〜できません	フォントを登録できません (Cannot Register Fonts, Font Book)
Failed attempt	〜できませんでした	フォントをダウンロードできませんでした。 (Font Download failed., CoreText)
Not found, none	〜が見つかりません, 〜されていません, 〜なし	フォントが選択されていません (No Font Selected, Font Book)
Confirmation	〜しますか?	選択中のフォントを削除しますか? (Do you want to remove the selected fonts?, Font Book)
Tooltip, Quick Help	〜します, no subject	影響のあるレイヤーを新規タブに開きます。 (Opens a new tab with all affected layers., Glyphs)

• A dialog title repeats the command that opens it.
• Failed to… and Could not… are 〜できませんでした, not 〜に失敗しました. Are you sure…? is 〜しますか?, not 〜してもよろしいですか?; 本当に only for really.
• can is 〜できます, never 〜することができます; must is 〜する必要があります.
• The user's action is active (〜を選択します); what the application does unasked is passive (〜が表示されます).

Compact labels

Drop する after an action noun (追加, not 追加する) and の between nouns where the compound stays clear (フォント情報). Never shorten a term from the term table, clip a katakana word, or drop a counter after a count. Keep the Latin short forms the source uses (UC, lc, UPM, PPM). A kana or kanji is as wide as two Latin letters: count four characters as eight in a dense panel.

Plurals and placeholders

Qt gives Japanese one numerus form (nplurals=1; plural=0;); CLDR has only other. Write one <numerusform> that reads correctly for 0, 1, 2 and 100, and drop the source's (s): %n glyph(s) becomes %n 個のグリフ (constructed). Never mark a plural with たち or ら; write 複数の only for multiple.

A count takes a counter, then の, then the noun. 個 is the default for objects: %@ 個のペア (%@ pairs, Glyphs). 件 counts issues, errors and results: 件の問題 (issues, Font Book). Also 回 (times), 行 (lines), 種類 (kinds). A unit needs no counter: %1 バイト (%1 bytes, qtbase_ja). Add a counter to %1 only when you know it is a count.

A particle follows a placeholder directly and never changes with its value: %1 を隠す (Hide %1), %1 について (About %1, both qtbase_ja). Japanese is verb-final and puts the modifier first, so reorder numbered placeholders: %{value2}@ の %{value1}@ (%{value1}@ of %{value2}@, Glyphs).

Numbers, punctuation and spacing

• Numbers: 1,234,567.89; 25% and 45° without a space; a space before a unit symbol (12 pt). Digits and Latin letters are half-width, never ＡＢＣ１２３; katakana is full-width, never ｶﾅ.
• Japanese–Latin spacing: put one half-width space (U+0020) between a kana or kanji and a Latin letter, a digit or a placeholder: PostScript ヒントをコピー (Copy PS Hints, Glyphs). Microsoft, Adobe and Qt's catalog do this, and Glyphs mostly; Apple and the JTF style guide write no space. No space beside 、 。 「 」 （ ）, before (&X), before a final : ? …, or around /.
• Full-width in Japanese text: 、 。 「 」 （ ） ・. List items with 、.
• Half-width, with no space before: : ? ! / +, as macOS, Windows and Qt write them: ファイル名(&N): (File &name:, qtbase_ja). Put one space after a : or ? that more text follows.
• Quotation marks: a source 'x', "x" or “x” around a name becomes 「x」 with no spaces: グリフ「{glyphName}」 (Glyphs). Straight quotes stay in code and inside HTML tags.
• Ellipsis: copy the source's ... or … unchanged, in the same position.
• Final period: 。 where the source ends with a period, none where it does not. A source ! is dropped in a label and becomes 。 in a sentence.
• Katakana: keep the long-vowel mark of -er, -or, -ar loans (レイヤー, フォルダー, ユーザー), as the Cabinet notice 外来語の表記, Microsoft and JTF do; Apple and Glyphs often drop it. Write compounds solid, without a space or ・ (メニューバー); ・ joins coordinated items (大文字・小文字, Case, Glyphs).
• Whitespace: keep the source's outer spaces, \n and \t. Never add a space, a break or U+3000 to shape a line.

Mnemonics and key names

• Append the source's mnemonic letter, uppercase, in half-width parentheses with no space before it: 開く(&O) (&Open, qtbase_ja). It goes before a final colon or ellipsis: 色相(&E): (Hu&e:, qtbase_ja); C&ustom... becomes カスタム(&U)... (constructed).
• Write exactly (&X), four characters: Qt strips that pattern on macOS.
• Keep the source's letter, so sibling items stay unique. Never put & before a kana or kanji; add no mnemonic the source lacks. A label that stays Latin keeps its & in place (&OK).
• && is a literal ampersand: write と or keep &&, never a single &.
• Key names stay in Latin script as the source spells them: Shift, Ctrl, Alt, Option, Cmd, Enter, Esc, Tab, Delete, Backspace, Space. Arrow keys are ←, ↑, →, ↓ (qtbase_ja). Keep Ctrl+S as written. In a sentence add キー after a single key, as Microsoft and Apple do: Shift キーを押しながら (constructed).

Names and loans

• Latin script, exact case, no katakana: product, company, typeface and personal names (FontLab, OpenType, Unicode), format names (VFJ, UFO), feature and table tags (kern, OS/2), glyph names, extensions, unit symbols and code.
• Embed a Latin name with a space on each side and its class noun after it: kern テーブルを出力 (Export kern Table, Glyphs).
• Translate language and script names: アラビア語, アラビア文字 (Arabic, the language and the script, Glyphs).
• Keep the katakana loans the term table lists; coin no kanji replacement. Do not turn an ordinary English word into katakana where a plain word exists: 設定, 追加, 幅; not セッティング, アド, ウィドス.
• Never append the English original in parentheses.

Script-specific rules

• Kana, not kanji, for すべて, ください, できます, および, または (not 全て, 下さい, 出来ます, 及び, 又は).
• No furigana; no italics that the source's markup does not carry.

False friends and traps

The term table gives the term. These are the senses to reject:

• glyph is not 文字 (a character); 字形 is a shape, not the glyph slot.
• script is a writing system or a Python script: read the control.
• hint is not a tip; outline is not 概要; a font table is not 表; an OpenType feature is not 特徴; weight is not 重さ or 重量; master is not 主人 or 原本; instance is not 実例; stem is not 茎 or 幹; case is not ケース or 場合; family is not 家族; a style named Bold or Italic is not the word processor's 太字 or 斜体.
• kerning, tracking and spacing are three things.
• Machine-translation habits to remove: あなた; 〜を行います for a plain verb; passive for the user's action; それ, これら for it, these; 〜のための for every for; の three times in a row; full-width ？ ： ！; a missing counter.

Review

1. Placeholders, markup and \n match the source.
2. Mnemonics: exactly (&X), the source's letter, before the colon or ellipsis; none added, none lost.
3. Each numerus entry: one form, with a counter, right for 1 and for 100.
4. A space between Japanese and Latin or digits, none beside 、。「」（）; half-width : and ?; no full-width Latin.
5. Form by role; no だ・である, no あなた, no excess 敬語.
6. Terms match the term table.
7. Would a Japanese type designer say it this way?

FontLab terminology and compact labels

Preserve deliberately uppercase source labels using the language’s case rules. Keep numeric controls compact with UPM, PPM and LSB/RSB (French AG/AD); explain the full terms in help. The Family Dimensions “Units Per eM:” label is an intentional expanded exception.

Use the current core memory and its approval status. OpenType lookup defaults to the translation of procedure, with a different term only when strong OpenType-specific evidence supports it. Explicit choices are German Lookup, French lookup, Polish procedura and Russian процедура. Ordinary searches, individual rules and OpenType features are separate concepts. Preserve literal code keywords and identifiers.

Translate Fusion with the fallback Welder. Use the core's phonetic FontAudit transliteration in non-Latin scripts, including Chinese; preserve FontAudit in code. Proposed spellings remain proposed. Before rebuilding a QPH, recover team edits and import their terms and notes into the core memory.

Compare mnemonic-split terms with unmarked labels. Keep labels compact, aiming for 120% of the English length in Dimensions and Glyph Window preferences without losing meaning. Omit redundant font, color or command wording when context supplies it. TTH labels can omit “use” and abbreviate TrueType hinting; help can explain more. A full harmonization requires three complete catalog reviews, then reconciliation of help with the final UI and verification of generated resources.

Current terminology

The Japanese term table, generated from localization/ja-core.tmx, is the terminology authority. Use its definitions to select the right concept and its notes for grammar and usage. Check each entry’s status: team-approved decisions and proposed translations are distinct. A proposed term still stays consistent across the interface and help; consistency does not confer approval. For a missing term, translate the fallback original term and record the proposal with its reason.

The terms that other strings are built from:

English	Japanese
glyph	グリフ
character	文字
family dimensions	ファミリーの寸法
master	マスター
instance	インスタンス
interpolation	補間
axis	軸
variable font	バリアブルフォント
kerning	カーニング
kerning pair	カーニングペア
kerning class	カーニングクラス
tracking	トラッキング
metrics	メトリクス
sidebearing	サイドベアリング
left sidebearing	左サイドベアリング
right sidebearing	右サイドベアリング
advance width	送り幅
UPM	UPM
font unit	フォントユニット
baseline	ベースライン
x-height	x ハイト
cap height	キャップハイト
ascender	アセンダー
descender	ディセンダー
overshoot	オーバーシュート
stem	ステム
counter	カウンター
serif	セリフ
terminal	ターミナル
contour	パス
node	ノード
handle	ハンドル
segment	セグメント
extremum	極点
element	エレメント
component	コンポーネント
reference	参照
layer	レイヤー
anchor	アンカー
guide	ガイド
hint	ヒント
hinting	ヒンティング
autohinting	オートヒンティング
feature	フィーチャー
lookup	ルックアップ
OpenType class	OpenType クラス
mark	マーク
ligature	合字
smart	スマート
Smart Corner	スマートコーナー
Power Brush	パワーブラシ
Power Guide	パワーガイド
Power Nudge	パワーナッジ
Power Stroke	パワーストローク
Nudge	ナッジ
Servant node	追従ノード
Genius node	ジーニアスノード
Tunni line	Tunni 線
cousins	いとこ
Sketchboard	スケッチボード
Skin	スキン
Matchmaker	仲人
match	一致させる
True Fill	本塗り
Dream Up	思い描く
Remove Overlap	重なったパスを合体
decompose	分解
panel	パネル
property bar	プロパティバー

Rapid tool and Quick Help references

The tool name is ラピッド. Use ラピッド描画 for Rapid draw and ラピッド編集 for Rapid edit. Keep the name distinct from ordinary descriptions of speed and from the Vertical rapid and Horizontal rapid contrast classifications. Do not use Rapidograph as the tool name.

This is the local-script transliteration of Rapid. Its spelling follows the current TS catalog; the core records its review status separately.

For Quick Help, match tool, panel, option and command references to the current TS catalog in the same control context. Keep inflection natural in sentences. If a core entry differs, reconcile it with the catalog before regenerating phrasebooks. A compact UI label and its full prose explanation can differ. Check the current English conditions and consequences: disabling Cloud also disables mark/mkmk generation, and mark generation requires Cloud. Preserve mark and mkmk as literal OpenType feature tags.

Quick Help: control contexts and explanations

Use 送り幅 for advance width, including a short Width label that names this metric. Keep geometric width as 幅. When both English names translate as 送り幅, state the Japanese heading once. Preserve formula syntax such as width("spec").

Match each control's context. ActionAdjustMetrics uses メトリクス線を使用; ActionSetMetrics and ActionLockMetrics use メトリクスラインを使用. The View menu uses メトリクス線. SetMetrics fills its menu at runtime with 次と同じ値に設定, 自動+調整, 次の値だけ増加, 次の値だけ減少 and 何もしない. Designer sample text does not override these choices. The panel is 計測, while its menu entry is 計測値.

Bar_Ellipse uses 曲線テンション付きのオーバル and 消去用の長方形. Bar_Shape uses アンカー付きコンポーネント, 位置をリセット and 拡大縮小をリセット. A reference to the Elements panel's scale reset uses ライブ拡大・縮小をリセット. Keep 自動スペーシング and リアルタイム更新 in their corresponding control and menu references.

Describe force as a magnitude in explanatory prose. Do not change 強さ to 強制 merely because the latter occurs in the ActionParameter catalog. A legacy Scribble Shift control has no matching translated label and is hidden; do not borrow the name of a separate Shift action or infer its units. Likewise, preserve an accurate descriptive heading when no matching control label exists.

Bar_SingleNode's 1 点に揃える aligns selected nodes in both dimensions; it does not fold the toolbar. Bar_Pin's mark-generation option requires グリフの構築に使用 to be enabled. Preserve the current versus draft source conditions: older help without that dependency must not acquire it by copying a newer alias. Keep literal shortcuts and complete unit explanations.

Quick Help: dialogs and runtime labels

Use グリフを追加 for the Add Missing Glyphs dialog's Add Glyphs button. The separate Compare Fonts dialog changes its button between 不足グリフを追加 and 閉じる, depending on font selection and the add-missing-glyphs option. Read the runtime label before matching a heading. The glyph-building dialog uses グリフを構築; its menu command uses グリフをビルド. Keep 簡易構文（FLS5）を使用 in option references.

The script selector uses 用字系, 自動 and デフォルト. Script names supplied by ICU, such as Latin, remain literal English choices. Find and Replace section titles are 検索 and 置換; the preview areas may use 検索プレビュー and 置換プレビュー in descriptions.

DlgNameSuffix labels use サフィックス, while ordinary explanatory prose may use 接尾辞. Similarly, the Paste command is ペースト, while 貼り付け remains valid prose. DlgLinkMetrics uses キーグリフ and 視覚的アルゴリズム. Match メトリクスを保持 in Add Element Reference; the separate Replace Component dialog uses メトリクスを維持.

The miter limit is a multiplier relative to width, not a distance in font units. Expand Contour labels it マイター. Preserve the difference between an actual control label and a descriptive term: DlgKerningFilter is カーニングペアを削除, and its cleanup explanation may use ordinary prose. Warning-suppression checkboxes in the feature-change and glyph-deletion dialogs say 今後このメッセージを表示しない.

Quick Help: naming, views and glyph widgets

Font naming commands change the metadata of selected fonts. Describe those changes explicitly: Separate Families sets family and styling-group names from each font's full name and resets the style to Regular; Separate Styling changes the styling group and style linking. These commands do more than rearrange a panel. Keep runtime style values such as Regular, Normal, Plain, Italic and Oblique in English.

The View menu uses 定規 for Rulers. EditingLayersPanel uses 別の表示, ノードを提案, ガイドを提案 and the other 提案 control names. The current preference page is グリッド、ガイド、ヒント. Explain reduced opacity as 不透明度を下げる, and include zones among guide-suggestion sources. The Fonts panel's legacy filter actions need a handler check before help can promise that they apply an effect.

Import classes to the feature prefix uses selected Classes-panel definitions; it does not load an external @include file. In GW_Component, X オフセット and Y オフセット set the live transform. 変形をリセット resets the full transform; this widget has no Center in metrics or Reset shift control. GW_Glyph uses バインド for toggling a numeric sidebearing's leading =; リンク解除 resolves a linked metric expression to its current numeric value. Sidebearing values independent of the Metrics Line can be negative: English absolute here means the bounding-box measurement, not absolute-value arithmetic.

FontWindow's flag label is 青のフラグ, while the color-flag widget uses 青フラグ. Preserve each context. The Glyph window's text controls use グリフの前の文字列, グリフ後の文字列, 表形式で折り返し and テキストサイズ; keep the point-unit explanation for text size.

Quick Help: font dimensions and inspectors

GW_Nodes uses 垂直（Y）サイズ, 水平（X）サイズ and 等比拡大縮小. GW_Transform instead uses 縦横比を保って拡大縮小. Info_Axes uses the full 自動一致時にマスターの形状を確認 and マスターの自動一致時にパスと開始ノードを並べ替え labels. The Variations panel uses the shorter マスターの形状をチェック and パスと開始ノードを並べ替え. Preserve those context differences.

Use 製作者 for Info_Creator's Manufacturer field and フォントのバウンディングボックスを更新 for the bounding-box button. Zone controls use トップゾーン and ボトムゾーン. GW_Shape has the same live-offset and full-transform reset behavior as GW_Component.

InspectorGlyph binds a sidebearing with 左サイドベアリングをパスに連動 or 右サイドベアリングをパスに連動. Its OpenType class choices are 単純, 合字 and マーク; retain protected code literals when these choices occur in code-formatted source text. 肌の色の修飾子 switches the inline variation-sequence editor mode. It does not open a separate picker.

The node inspector inherits 結合, バランス and ノードをハーモナイズ from MainWindow actions. Do not substitute names from ThePropertyPanel. Its current curve-tension field uses percentages and affects selected curve segments. The graph displays both handle tensions. Older incoming/outgoing field aliases need their own behavior check.

The Lookups panel title is ルール, but individual lookups and lookup data use ルックアップ. Keep ルックアップを追加 and ルックアップを削除 distinct from feature commands. Match フィーチャーを更新… and 選択したフィーチャーをコンパイル & 更新… when naming those controls. MainWindow uses アンカー付きコンポーネント and 複合グリフを検出 in the corresponding tooltips.

The legacy frame-format selector offers literal text, frame and table layout modes. A description of plain versus styled text would misstate its behavior. Preserve accurate descriptive terms when a legacy control has no active canonical label.

Quick Help: menu labels and repeated entries

Check mnemonic-bearing tool names as well as tooltips. The Rapid menu label is ラピッド (&D); its Latin source Rapi&d must not bypass the name review merely because the accelerator interrupts the word.

MainWindow's Power Guide command is パワーガイドのリンクを解除. Its Delta filter retains Delta. The image Despeckle command uses ごみを取る. A menu command and its dialog can differ: 形式指定でフォントを書き出し opens フォントを書き出し; 特殊貼り付け opens 特殊ペースト; 書き出しプロファイル opens プロファイルを書き出し. Use the relevant context in each reference.

The current node inspector inherits 分割, 結合, 単純化 and ノードをハーモナイズ. Older Sketchboard controls have their own action mappings; a matching English word in another context is insufficient evidence. Detach Serifs separates selected contour portions into additional contours within the same element. It does not create Smart Corner elements.

The View panel's curve-tension toggle is テンション. MainWindow's live update toggles are ライブ自動レイヤー and ライブメトリクス. Grid references use グリッド、ガイド、ヒント and フォントのイタリック角度に従う. Ruler coordinates use font units.

The Metrics Data panel edits spacing, including 送り幅. Pairs import reads a pairs list or sample text file despite its old 開いているフォント tooltip. MeasureWidget labels are supplied dynamically and toggle the associated view option; テキスト in the UI file is only sample text. The Measurement panel's labels button is ラベルを表示.

Quick Help: preferences and runtime labels

Use テーブル, セルを小さく and セルを大きく for the Pins panel. PanelTransform distinguishes 水平傾斜 from 垂直方向の傾斜; do not borrow the longer horizontal label from another panel.

Curve-conversion preferences use 許容値, while the export-profile control is 変換許容誤差. With short-curve insertion off, the conversion can produce consecutive オフカーブポイント, not consecutive on-curve nodes. The curvature view path is 表示 › パス › 曲率.

Use スクリプト for the Scripting panel and タブを使う for its indentation choice. The font-window 標準 cell size is unrelated to literal style-name values such as Normal. Use メモ for glyph notes. A composite-layer description can retain 複合; exact controls differ: the opening preference and Preview panel use 合成グリフ.

The フォントウィンドウを 1 つ以上 preference governs window lifecycle: it opens a Font window with the font and closes the font when its last Font window closes. Turning it off allows fonts to remain open without a Font window. Do not describe it merely as showing or hiding a window.

Spacing preferences use 自動スペーシング方式, オートカーニング方式 and カーニング監査の最小距離. Keep オプティカル, ニューラル, タイト, カスタム and ジオメトリック aligned with their actual choices. MainWindow's Paste command is ペースト.

Opening preferences use わかりやすい名前, 製品用名 and 代替名. The new-glyph naming preference instead uses フレンドリー, 製品用 and 代替. The menu command グリフをビルド and the dialog title グリフを構築 retain their own contexts.

The class-import selector uses フィーチャープレフィックス, but the Features panel section is the literal PREFIX. Its current preference fields are 一定以上の大きさのクラスの配置先 and クラスあたりの最小グリフ数. Do not translate the runtime section name.

Use レイヤーとマスター for panel references and マスターのプレビュー色 for the preference. Preserve formatted shortcuts while correcting those names. The Preview panel toggle is テキストを反映/カスタムテキスト.

Quick Help: toolboxes, hinting and stroke ends

Preview labels come from PreviewPanel: プレビューを塗りつぶし, 中太のアウトライン, 伸縮をプレビュー, コンテンツ設定 and テキストを合わせる. Its References list includes the current glyph and glyphs sharing selected shape data; it is not limited to components. ShapesPanel reset controls are ライブ移動をリセット and ライブ拡大・縮小をリセット.

Keep toolbox contexts distinct. The toolbar uses 消去長方形, Bar_Ellipse uses 消去用の長方形, and WidgetEllipse uses 長方形で消去. WidgetEllipse's tensioned oval is カーブテンション付きの楕円. The Font Info field is カーブテンション. Rapid's WidgetSmartPen subtools use カーブポイント and タンジェントポイント.

TthDlgAlign uses ポイントを揃える; TthDlgAlignTop uses 揃え先 and ゾーンに揃える. Zone alignment uses the specified zone, not the nearest boundary. TTHPanel uses 最終デルタ and 中間デルタ; WidgetTTH uses ファイナルデルタ and ミドルデルタ. Unicode tooltip script and category values come from ICU in English. Do not infer translated runtime values from translated UI sample text.

Stroke ends use 線端. Square caps are 突出, flat caps are 平ら, and round caps are 丸型. Runtime fields distinguish 線端の形状, 線端のテンション, 線端移動量 and 線端の角度を固定. Horizontal and vertical cap shaping accepts −100% to 0%; flat, square and fixed-angle shaping accepts −100% to 100%. Use 線端をリンク for the toggle and 線をアウトライン化 for Expand stroke. The drawing tool is ステム.

The color wheel's triangle controls both saturation and lightness. Arrange controls change stacking order; copied alignment descriptions are incorrect. PinsPanel's mark-feature option requires グリフの構築に使用, which is distinct from the anchor-cloud view toggle.

Preserve context-menu labels such as ハンドルを調和 when that is the actual action text. MainWindow's corresponding tooltip uses ハンドルをハーモナイズ. Shared explanations must follow the control they describe, rather than borrowing a similar label from another widget.