Do I need to make Western addresses easier to understand for Japanese readers?

[John Lemon]

Case in point: a friend of mine's parents run a hotel business in a smallish town and he asked me to translate his web site into Japanese. The site also contains their contact address. I started wondering if I should "japanesify" it somehow. Would you do the same?

I assume there'd be not much point in changing the address's structure to the Japanese format, as we don't really have this block/building sort of thing over here. Am I right?

So, would adding a katakanafied version of the city and street name in brackets be a good idea, perhaps? What do you think? Are there any other "modifications" I should make? Thanks in advance.

 

[Mike Cash]

I think you should write it the same way a person in your country would write it on an envelope when mailing the hotel.

 

[lexico]

A Hotel in Sydney, Australia...

Look at a Sydney Sheraton web site in Japanese here Hotels.com - Cheap Hotels, Discount Rates & Hotel Deals
With Romaji all over, Japanese customers shouldn't have any problem, I guess!
Good luck!
PROSIT NEUJAHR!!
But if you want more sites for reference, try search keyword "marriot hotel" in Google or whatever.

 

[John Lemon]

Thanks for the advice, guys. lexico, could you correct the Korean I tried to PM you when you get around to it?

 

[NANGI]

Konnichiwa John Lemon-san!

So, would adding a katakanafied version of the city and street name in brackets be a good idea, perhaps? What do you think? Are there any other "modifications" I should make? Thanks in advance.

I think it is good idea that adding a katakanafied version of the city and street name. But you should write hotel address in your country way(German). Because if guest lose his way on the city, the guest will ask hotel address to near person. Of course those around people are all German.

In Japan, most of all Japanese hotel present the map of hotel and circumference. I suggest that you should present simple map to guest.

NANGI

 

[lexico]

Just to make sure you get it before the magic three days are gone!!

You're welcome! 새해복만에바... I give up. I don't know much about Korean and my computer won't let me type

"Sae Hae Bok Man Ee Baud Eu Sae Yo" which, according to Google, means "Happy New Year" in Korean in Hangul.
Perhaps I'll figure it out some day. Anyway, happy new year to you, too!

Hey, hey, pretty good! Here are the three most popular forms of new year's greetings.

Basically say it with a smile and a gentle bow! (if greeting face to face)

1. polite informal (used most often; use this when in doubt!!!! )
saehae pokmani paduseyo!
새해 복많이 받으세요!
NEW YEAR--LUCK MUCH--RECEIVE *OPTATIVE ENDING (polite informal)


2. polite formal (ceremonial :genji: )
saehae pokmani padushipshiyo!
새해 복많이 받으십시오.
NEW YEAR--LUCK MUCH--RECEIVE *OPTATIVE ENDING (polite formal)


3. casual (between close friends or to one's junior. Be careful with this one. Never to an elder or someone you've just met. Can be considered quite rude if you don't know the person. :win: )
saehae pokmani pada!
새해 복많이 받아!
NEW YEAR--LUCK MUCH--RECEIVE *OPTATIVE ENDING (casual)

All vowels are pure monophthongs, not glided diphthongs. For example,
/a/ as Japanese A
/e/ as Japanese E
/ae/ as "cat"
/i/ as Japanese I
/o/ as Japanese O
/u/ without lip rounding, as in Mandarin "si," "shi," "ci"
/km/ as in "sing me"
/p/ without heavy breathing
/sh/ without lip rounding.

If in doubt, and have no one to confirm,
just read it as it's written real fast.
Nobody will notice!
Good luck! PM me for more questions!

if guest lose his way on the city, the guest will ask hotel address to near person.
Of course those around people are all German.
(Also)...simple map to guest.
NANGI

Quite right! You should never leave out the German address according to German custom. Hmm...I never thought about the guest getting lost! And think about mail getting lost!