You too can find work as a programmer in Japan!
For this purpose, I have gathered notes during my four years working in the Japanese mobile software industry, from real business and technical conversations, e-mails, and countless software specifications. All material on this page comes from real-world usage by Japanese native speakers. Of course, I have edited it a little to not reveal any business secrets. :)
Essential Japanese programming vocabulary
These words are core to our profession as software developers. Let's memorize these first before moving on to the heavier stuff.
変数 (hensū) variableRelated words:
- 割り当てる (wariateru) to assign
Useful derivatives:
- 環境変数 (kankyō hensū) environment variable
- 外部変数 (gaibu hensū) external variable
- 共用変数 (kyōyō hensū) shared variable
- 局所変数 (kyokusho hensū) local variable
- グローバル変数 (gurōbaru hensū) global variable
- 静的変数 (seiteki hensū) static variable
- 定義済み変数 (teigi-sumi hensū) built-in/predefined variable
- 変数名 (hensū-mei) variable name.
Related words:
- 呼び出す (yobidasu) to call (also just 呼ぶ (yobu))
- 引数 (insū/hikisū) argument (i.e. to a function)
- 返却値 (henkyakuchi) return value
(Also 戻り値 (modori-chi))
Useful derivatives:
- 再帰関数 (saiki kansū) recursive function
(再帰 (saiki) in itself means recursion, and 末尾再帰 (matsubi saiki) is tail recursion) - 定義済み関数 (teigi-sumi kansū) predefined function
- メンバー関数 (membā kansū) member function (in C++ or Java, for instance)
- 関数呼び出し (kansū yobidashi) function call
- 関数名 (kansū-mei) function name
- 復帰する (fukki suru) to return
Related words:
- 確保する (kakuho suru) to allocate (memory/resource)
- 獲得する (kakutoku suru) to acquire (memory/resource)
- 解放する (kaihō suru) to release/free (memory/resoruce)
- 漏れ (more) a leak (watch out for these!)
(Also メモリリーク (memori rīku) memory leak)
- 列挙 (rekkyo) enumeration
- 配列 (hairetsu) array
- 文字配列 (moji hairetsu) (character) string
- 記述(子) (kijutsu(shi)) descriptor (e.g. file descriptor/handle)
- 演算 (enzan) operation (e.g. 浮動小数点演算 (fudōshōsūten'enzan) floating point operation)
- 差分 (sabun) a diff
- 例外 (reigai) exception
(例外を投げる (reigai o nageru) throw an exception) - ホゲ (hoge) foobar
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This book is the best general-purpose business Japanese book out there. It's situation-based, covering typical business/sales situations. It will give you a solid foundation to stand on in customer-facing situations and contains essentially all the basic vocabulary you need to know - as well as a hassle-free overview of the politeness levels used when speaking business Japanese (keigo).
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Expressions for communicating technical issues
This is a collection of useful expressions for communication technical issues in Japanese to clients, customers, and superiors. Memorize these expressions and then adapt them to the situation you're in, and you will be able to communicate effectively.
Bugs and corrections- 本修正は、次回リリースに含まれる予定です。
(Hon-shūsei wa jikai-rirīsu ni fukumareru yotei desu.)
This modification/fix will be included in next release. - 技術的には可能ですが、かなりのリスクを伴う仕様変更となりますので、スケジュールの観点からは無理だと思います。
(Gijutsu-teki ni wa kanō desu ga, kanari no risuku wo tomonau shiyō-henkō to narimasu node, sukejūru no shitek kara wa muri da to omoimasu.)
This is technically possible, but it would mean a change to the specification that involves quite a risk, so from a scheduling viewpoint it is not possible. - 問題の原因が特定できました。弊社側にて修正いたします。
(Mondai no gen'in ga tokutei dekimashita. Heisha-gawa ni te shūsei itashimasu.)
The cause of the problem has been determined. We will fix it on our side. - 本件、弊社製品の仕様となります。
(Honken, heisha seihin no shiyō to narimasu.)
This issue is according to our specification.
- 追加された機能、既知の不具合、未実装の機能につきましては、同梱のrelease-note.txtをご参照ください。
(Tsuika sareta kinō, kichi no fuguai, mi-jissō no kinō ni tsukimashite wa, dōkon no release-note.txt o go-sanshō kudasai.)
Please refer to the included release-note.txt regarding added features, known bugs, and not yet implemented features. - ZIPファイルには次のものが含まれています。
(Zip-fairu ni wa tsugi no mono ga fukumareteimasu.)
The following items are included in the zip file. - ご不明点などありましたらお手数ですがご連絡ください。
(Go-fumeiten nado arimashitara, o-tesū desu ga go-renraku kudasai.)
If there are any points that are not clear, sorry to bother you but please get in contact. - 弊社にてこちらをサポートするにはかなり時間を要するため、今回のリリースにて対応することは難しい状況です。
(Heisha ni te kochira o sapōto suru ni ha kanari jikan o yō suru tame, konkai no rirīsu ni te taiō suru koto ha muzukashii jōkyō desu.)
Since supporting this requires quite some time, the circumstances are such that supporting it in this release would be hard.
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This book takes a no-nonsense approach to learning essential office vocabulary and expressions. The level is from intermediate and above, but all new vocabulary introduced has English translations, so you can use this book even if your kanji reading isn't yet 100%. If office lingo is driving you nuts, then this book is for you. It's fun to work with for learners at an intermediate level. The examples are realistic and occasionally even entertaining.
Amazon Price: $17.21 (as of 11/10/2009)
Get some Japanese gear!
You know you want it ;)
More useful Japanese expressions
These expressions come in handy especially when communicating with customers. In Japanese, you can essentially never be too polite!
Expressing thanks, courtesy, and apology- お忙しい中資料を送付いただきましてありがとうございます。
(O-isogashii naka shiryō o sōfu itadakimashite arigatō gozaimasu.)
Thank you for sending the materials while we know you are busy. - 初めてご連絡させていただきます。よろしくお願いたします。
(Hajimete no go-renraku sasete itadakimasu. Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu.)
This is the first time I contact you. I look forward to working with you. - お忙しい中ご回答いただきましてありがとうございます。
(O-isogashii naka go-kaitō itadakimashite arigatō gozaimasu.)
Thank you for providing us with an answer while you're surely busy. - お約束していたご連絡が遅くなり大変申し訳ございません。
(O-yakusoku shite ita go-renraku ga osoku nari taihen mōshiwake gozaimasen.)
I am terribly sorry for the delay in the promised communication. - ご了承頂き、ありがとうございます。
(Go-ryōshō itadaki, arigatō gozaimasu.)
Thank you for understanding.
- またご確認頂き、こちらで問題がないかご連絡頂けますでしょうか？
(Mata go-kakunin itadaki, kochira de mondai ga nai ka go-renraku itadakemasu deshō ka?)
Could we ask you to reconfirm and then inform us whether there are no problems here? - 説明が不十分でしたら、ご指摘お願いいたします。
(Fumei ka fujūbun deshitara, go-shiteki onegai itashimasu.)
If there's anything unclear or unsatisfactory, please indicate it to us. - 差分情報がいただけるのであれば頂きたいという要望を以前から致しておりますが、ご検討をお願い致します。
(Sabun jōhō ga itadakeru no de areba itadakitai to iu yōbō o izen kara itashite orimasu ga, go-kento o onegai itashimasu.)
We have made the request before to receive information regarding changes, so please consider it. - 現在弊社内で解析を行っておりますが、まだ結論に至っておりません。アップデートあり次第、ご連絡させていただきます。
(Genzai heisha-nai de kaiseki o okonatte orimasu ga, mada ketsuron ni itatte orimasen. Appudēto ari shidai, go-renraku sasete itadakimasu.)
An analysis is currently being conducted in our company, but we have not yet arrived at a conclusion. We will contact you as soon as there is an update.
- ご提案いただいた日程で進めたいと思います。
(Go-teian itadaita nittei de susumetai to omoimasu.)
We would like to proceed according to your suggested schedule. - ただ今調査中でございますが、いつごろまでに回答ができそうか確認、ご連絡差し上げます。
(Tada ima chōsa-chū de gozaimasu ga, itsu-goro made ni kaitō ga dekisō ka kakunin, go-renraku sashiagemasu.)
We are currently investigating it, and we will contact you regarding when it looks like we can provide an answer. - 弊社都合ばかりで申し訳ございません。
(Heisha tsugō bakari de mōshiwake gozaimasen.)
I am sorry for being selfish all the time. - ご多忙中とは思いますが、調査をよろしくお願いいたします。
(Go-tabō-chū to wa omoimasu ga, chōsa o yoroshiku onegai itashimasu.)
I think you are very busy right now, but please investigate it.
Kanji literacy is essential
Not being able to read is called illiteracy - and it's not for you!
A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters (Tuttle language library) (Japanese Edition)
This book is nothing less than an etymological kanji dictionary of all the 2000+ joyo (everyday use) kanji! For each kanji character, it presents its history in brief, references it to associated characters, tells its story of how it has evolved into its current form, and also its readings (both kun and on readings) and three example words/compound words written using the character. Of all the Japanese learning-related books I own, this one is by far the one I've gotten the most out of. I heartily recommend this one!
Amazon Price: $19.77 (as of 11/10/2009)
Remembering the Kanji, Vol. 1: A Complete Course on How Not to Forget the Meaning and Writing of Japanese Characters
This book is really popular among Japanese learners. Its philosophy is that you study the meanings of the kanji characters first, before you associate them with sounds and vocabulary. Heisig advocates using a memorization technique that associates stories with each character. Some people claim this works wonders, and although to me the above book by Henshall is much better, I am willing to concede that this book might work better for some people - so please have a look at both and consider which method you think will work for you - or do both! (I did!)
Amazon Price: $26.48 (as of 11/10/2009)
Kanji Dictionary: Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten
A more new school alternative is to get this kanji dictionary and study tool for your Nintendo DS. Using this, you can look up unknown words by simply writing the word with the stylus - no more looking through indexes trying to find one with a matching stroke count/radical, etc.
Amazon Price: $108.99 (as of 11/10/2009)
A look at a software specification
This is an excerpt from a real Japanese software specification, just somewhat anonymized, but the wording is untouched. Have a look and see how much you understand. Below is an explanation of the content.
A file read interface specification
So this is a specification for the function IFile_read, part of the IFile interface. There are 5 subheaders: 説明 (setsumei) - explanation, プロトタイプ (purototaipu) - prototype, i.e. the C declaration for the function, パラメータ (paramēta) - parameters to the function, 戻り値 (modori-chi) - return values, and コメント (komento) - comments. Pretty straight-forward stuff, huh?
The description says that this function reads out data from a file pointer to the target file. It also adds that if the this function (本関数) returns EWOULDBLOCK, then the device should be activated by running IFile_acquire.
The comment sectionThe comment section begins with a note on the buffer size. It says that when this function is executed (本関数実行時 (hon-kansū jikkō-ji)), the application (アプリ (apuri)) must specify the size of pBuf in pBufSize. When the function returns (関数復帰時 (kansū fukki-ji)), the size of data actually read in (実際に読み込まれたサイズ (jissai ni yomikomareta saizu)) is stored (格納 (kakunō)) in pBufSize.
The last bit of the comment section deals with how to detect that the end of file has been reached (ファイル終端まで読みきったかどうかの判断方法 (fairu-shūtan made yomikitta ka dō ka no handan-hōhō)). When this is the case, the following requirement/condition (条件 (jōken)) holds: The return value of this function (本関数の戻り値 (hon-kansū no modori-chi)) is SUCCESS, and pBufSize is 0. The comment section ends with a note that not being able to read the whole specified buffer size (指定したバッファサイズ未満しか読み込めなかったこと (shitei shita baffa-saizu miman shika yomikomenakatta koto)) and having read until the end of the file are not equivalent (等価 (tōka)). The last sentense says that this is for performance reasons (パフォーマンス等の理由から (pafōmansu nado no riyū kara)), after a fixed time (一定時間後 (ittei jikan-go)), the function may return.
New technical vocabulary used- 対象 (taishō) target, object (of something), subject (of something)
- 読み出す (yomidasu) to read out (data)
- 有効化 (yūkō-ka) to make effective/available
- 読み取る (yomitoru) to read in (data)
- 格納 (kakunō) storage (especially in computer memory)
- 実行 (jikkō) execute (function, program, etc)
- 不正 (fusei) invalid (parameter, etc)
- 指定する (shitei suru) to specify (a value, parameter, setting, etc)
- 状態 (jōtai) state (of things)
- 外部メモリ (gaibu memori) external memory
- 未挿入 (mi-sōnyū) not inserted
- アプリ (apuri) application (short for of アプリケーション (apurikēshon))
More cool stuff
I want one of those kanji clocks.
Share your thoughts!
Let's share our experience and any tips we have on learning useful Japanese for programmers. Also, if there's something you think is missing from this page that you'd like more information on, please do let me know!
bennroy wrote...
Great! Given you 5 stars. Independent Software Testing and QA
Posted October 26, 2009
sami wrote
Hi Henrik, your blog is awesome! I am a student of Japanese and I am now determined to complete level 1 this year. Keep up the good work.
Posted October 08, 2009
boku wrote
apparently the comment system doesn't support japanese input :) but thanks! will prove useful when/if i get to chance to work in japan. your blog is great too
Posted September 26, 2009
boku wrote
%u7D20%u6674%u3089%u3057%u3044%uFF01%u6975%u713C%u304F%u7ACB%u3064%uFF01%u3042%u308A%u304C%u3068%u3046
Posted September 26, 2009
Jola wrote
Fantastic, thank you!
Posted September 25, 2009
Suresh wrote
in reply to hefa
hi hefa ,
something happened with my internet connection for a month ..... im really happy to to see ur reply...... u r doing a great job.... :-)
Posted September 20, 2009
hefa wrote...
Thanks Suresh! Maybe I'll start another page for Japanese job interviews in the technical/software field. I hope you find a great job in Japan!
Posted July 29, 2009
suresh wrote
Its a great work dear.... :-) :-) It will be useful for many bilingual japanese professionals...
Thanks for graet work....
Can you help in handling japanese job interviews ...... like how to tell jiko shoukai
(Self introduction)........ and some questions that can be freuqenly asked in interview ... especially for japanese interviews..... it ll help for job seekers like me who is looking for job in japan.....
Posted July 29, 2009
Safiq wrote
We want some writing for those who are planing to work in Japan as IT professional specially programming career. Thank.
Posted June 30, 2009
Safiq wrote
Great work Henrik!!!
Posted June 30, 2009
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