Japanese Students Debut English Subtitles for 'April, Come She Will' at U of A

Six students in the course Japanese Movie Subtitling (JAPN 39803/WLLC 5750V) presented their completed English subtitles during a free screening of April, Come She Will (2024) on Friday, April 24, at the Arkansas Union Theatre. The collaborative, semester-long project showcased their work as scriptwriters and translators.

To complete the project, students were divided into two groups: scriptwriters and translators/subtitlers. They watched the film in 15-minute segments using Adobe Premiere, a video-editing application. Scriptwriters produced Japanese scripts and checked them for accuracy. Translators/subtitlers then translated the scripts into English, reviewed them for length and cultural clarity, and added subtitles following guidelines established by Fotios Karamitroglou, a subtitling authority from Greece.

Tatsuya Fukushima, associate professor of Japanese and instructor for the course, said the project was both fresh and timely.

"This is the first time for me to do this project at the University of Arkansas because I believed it was the right time," Fukushima said. "The U of A has been a U.S. host institution of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test for more than 15 years, and we know what makes learners ready for a project of this kind."

Fukushima added that innovative technology also contributed to the project's success. "Technology has advanced much more than anticipated, with a dual-layer DVD easily accessible and information about subtitling readily available online," he said. "I really commend the students for such a high-quality subtitling task in English, and I am amazed that students in this class grasped Dr. Karamitroglou's guidelines and put them into action so quickly."

Following the screening, students held a question-and-answer session with the audience alongside Fukushima. The event highlighted their proficiency, cultural understanding and collaborative work.

Fukushima said he was impressed by the students' growth throughout the semester. "As the semester progressed, the students became more confident in their subtitling skills and proactive in promoting the event, such as distributing the flyer and getting its copies printed in color," he said. "I was pleasantly surprised to see the difference this project has made, and I was strongly determined to make it a success. It was the first time in many years I felt this way about the class I taught."

Looking ahead, Fukushima plans to offer the course again in spring semester 2027. "I hope that Japanese students will join this class next semester," he said. "I am confident they will learn a lot from this project in terms of Japanese language and culture as well as localization." The course will be open to students based on Japanese proficiency and instructor permission.

Fukushima noted that the field of subtitling may hold opportunities for future professionals. "With the retirement of the legendary English-to-Japanese subtitler Natsuko Toda — famous for subtitling a number of American movies into Japanese, such as the Columbo series, Pulp Fiction and the newer Mission: Impossible films starring Tom Cruise — a future U of A alumnus or alumna may fill her shoes one day," he said. "You never know."

For more information about the course Japanese Movie Subtitling and the Japanese program, contact Tatsuya Fukushima at tatsuya@uark.edu.