Dubbing in Japan?

[Chipi]

This might seem to be an irrelevant and "stupid" question, but it’s something I just got to wonder.

Are the tv-series, that are originally foreign (for example american) dubbed in Japan? How about movies etc?

 

[budd]

i saw cagney and lacey dubbed in japanese on the late night.
somebody in some forum somewhere once said there's a button to switch between orig english to jpn dub and vice versa, but i dunno... somebody else will have better info (sorry).

 

[mdchachi]

Yes, foreign tv shows are normally dubbed. Movies may be either dubbed or subtitled. In the days of VHS videotapes you had the option of buying/renting dubbed versions or subtitled versions of movies. Now, with DVD, the DVD normally has both options.

In Japan they also have "bilingual" tv. It's basically stereo. Some shows will play the Japanese dubbed track on one channel and the original foreign track on the other. There are also some news programs where they have real-time English translation on one channel. Most shows/movies don't have dual languages but it's very handy when they do.

 

[Ninja Rock Star]

Japanese sub-titles are GREAT! Great for reading practice, and great for a good laugh now and then! Sometimes they're so, so incorrect!