Generate Japanese captions or translate Japanese speech
Create an editable subtitle draft from Japanese-language video or audio, then check the words and timing against the recording. For Japanese captions, choose Japanese as the spoken language. For English subtitles of Japanese speech, keep Japanese as the source and add English as the translation language.
Choose the right task: Transcription writes down what is spoken; translation changes the language. Selecting English as the source for a Japanese recording is not a way to request an English translation.
How to generate Japanese subtitles in EasySub
- Open a subtitle project. Upload video or audio you own or have permission to process. Start with a clear recording where possible; music, overlapping voices and distant speech can make the draft harder to review.
- Select Japanese as the spoken language. For Japanese-only captions, leave translation off. If you also need English subtitles, enable Add translation, choose an available translation model and select English as the target language before generating.
- Review the Japanese draft and any translation. Listen to the recording while checking names, wording and cue timing. Read the translation separately: correctly transcribed Japanese can still produce an unsuitable English phrase.
- Download the appropriate result. Choose Download subtitles and select SRT, VTT, ASS or TXT. When the selected track contains a translation, choose Source only, Translated only or Bilingual. Test the downloaded result with the matching video.
What to check in Japanese subtitles
- Kanji and names: Check homophones against the sentence meaning. Verify the spelling of people, places, products and specialist terms using your source material.
- Kana, letters and numbers: Keep hiragana, katakana, Latin-letter names, dates and units consistent. Check spoken numbers and negative expressions carefully.
- Line breaks and timing: Read each cue as a phrase. Avoid splitting a name or leaving a short grammatical fragment on a separate line; replay cuts and speaker changes to check when captions appear and disappear.
- Translation and tone: Compare translated lines with the recording and context. Check implied subjects, names and polite or informal language instead of accepting a fluent-looking sentence without review.
- Japanese text display: Preview the final file in its destination player or editor. If characters look wrong, check text encoding and font support rather than changing the file extension.
Choose a Japanese subtitle file or a captioned video
- SRT: Text with timestamps for a destination that accepts a separate SRT subtitle track.
- VTT: Text with timestamps when a web player or publishing platform requests WebVTT.
- ASS: Text, timestamps and styling for compatible players and editors. Test the destination's rendering.
- TXT: A plain transcript without subtitle timestamps, suitable for reading or editing the words.
A separate subtitle file is not a video with captions rendered into the picture. Use the separate video export workflow if that is your intended deliverable, and review the current account options before exporting.
If your track includes an English translation, Source only keeps Japanese, Translated only keeps English, and Bilingual includes both. These choices do not generate a missing translation. Check line length and placement when displaying two languages.
Start with your Japanese recording
Check the current pricing and account allowance before processing media. Available minutes, translation models and video export options depend on your account; a free start does not mean unlimited processing.
