Japanese for Game Developers: Working in the Japanese Game Industry
If you want to work in or with the Japanese game industry, you need Japanese for daily development work: reading specs, discussing bugs, joining stand-ups and writing short chat messages. Many studios in Japan expect around JLPT N2 for programmers, artists and designers who join Japanese-speaking teams, and more for planners (game designers) and producers, who write specs and coordinate the team. Developers working with Japanese publishers or partners from abroad need less grammar and more of the right vocabulary and etiquette. Either way, the words for 仕様 (specs), 実装 (implementation), バグ and 締め切り come up every day.
Roles and the Japanese they need
| Role | Japanese used for |
|---|---|
| プログラマー / エンジニア | Reading specs and tickets, code reviews, stand-ups, chat. Code itself is in English. |
| デザイナー (artist) | Feedback sessions, art direction, asset requests. Note that “designer” in Japanese studios usually means an artist. |
| プランナー (game designer) | Writing 企画書 (concept documents) and 仕様書 (specs), balancing, explaining ideas to the whole team. Needs strong Japanese. |
| QA / デバッガー | Writing clear bug reports with steps to reproduce. |
| ローカライズ / プロデューサー | Coordinating teams, schedules and partners, often in both languages. |
See the Japanese level you need for jobs in Japan.
Vocabulary you’ll hear every day
- 仕様 / 仕様書 (shiyō / shiyōsho): specification, spec document
- 実装 (jissō): implementation; 実装しました (I’ve implemented it)
- 不具合 / バグ (fuguai / bagu): defect, bug
- 再現手順 (saigen tejun): steps to reproduce
- 修正 (shūsei): fix; 修正済み (fixed)
- マスターアップ: gold master, final build
- 締め切り / 納期 (shimekiri / nōki): deadline, delivery date
- 素材 (sozai): assets
- レベルデザイン, バランス調整 (balance tuning), 当たり判定 (atari hantei, hitbox)
Useful phrases at work
- この仕様について確認させてください (Let me check something about this spec).
- 不具合を見つけました。再現手順は以下の通りです (I found a bug. The steps to reproduce are below).
- 今日中に修正できると思います (I think I can fix it today).
- 少し遅れそうです。〇日までには対応します (It looks like it’ll be a little late. I’ll handle it by the Xth).
- レビューをお願いできますか (Could you review this?)
Report delays early and clearly; that’s part of 報連相 (hōrensō). See hōrensō and chat messages at work.
Getting hired
- Portfolio first. Studios hire on your work, but a Japanese CV and self-introduction show you can join the team. See how to write a rirekisho.
- Interviews may be partly or fully in Japanese, with questions about why this studio and which games influenced you. See the Japanese job interview guide.
- Engineers sometimes find international teams with English as the working language; Japanese still helps with daily life and career growth. See Japanese for engineers in Japan.
Working with Japanese publishers from abroad
If you’re an indie studio or outsourcer working with a Japanese partner, the priorities are polite email, clear schedules, written confirmation of decisions, and a good localisation partner. See game localisation for Japan and Japanese business email.
How Hanabuddies can help
Our native Japanese tutors teach one-to-one online, in English, and can build lessons around game development: specs, bug reports, stand-ups, portfolio presentations and interview practice. For studios, we also localise games and store pages, interpret meetings with Japanese partners, in person or online, and Takekuni proofreads our Japanese.