It wasn’t until last December that Studio Ghibli started an official Twitter account. It’s no surprise that an anime studio that often and unabashedly does things the old-fashioned way would arrive late to the social media party, but now that they are on the platform, fans are happy for the chance to connect directly with the company co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki.
Really, there’s only one problem with the arrangement. Ghibli, as a Japanese company, understandably sends out its tweets in Japanese, but the studio’s inimitable anime films have won fans around the world. By the company’s estimation, the Ghibli Twitter account now has followers from 57 different countries, which means 56 of those are places where Japanese isn’t the population’s native language.
So how is the language barrier for Ghibli’s tweets being cleared? By international fans translating them into the local language, something that Ghibli is not only aware of, but thankful for.
The official recognition came in a tweet sent by the Ghibli account on Monday, and was followed by another in which the studio said it hopes the people will continue in the future.
"Thank you for following us from all over the world. It looks like we have followers from more than 57 countries. May we ask you to translate our tweet in your own language and reply to us?"
A number of the account’s overseas followers were quick to heed the call, and the tweet’s reply thread now contains translations into languages such as Spanish, French, Hindi, Norwegian, Arabic, and and even Basque, from a region where localized releases of Ghibli anime are still few and far between.
Of course, there are still several languages left to go before all of the Ghibli account followers’ are represented, so now’s your chance to add your linguistic skills to the reply thread, and make sure to keep an eye out for the next time Ghibli gives followers the opportunity to ask them whatever they want about some of the greatest anime every made.
Source: Twitter/@JP_GHIBLI
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6 Comments
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Jtsnose
My family and I very much the anime, Studio Ghibli has produced over the years . . . something sweet!
jerry
how about learning more english?
Baradzed
To be honest, this should be embarrassing. It is difficult to understand why Japanese companies don’t like to hire professional translators to translate one or two sentences properly. In our world full of freelancers its one of the cheapest services.
BertieWooster
As they are trying to be more international, I wonder why they pronounce their name "jibli?"
"Gh" in English can be silent, as in "throuGH," as "f" as in "rouGH," "j" as in "giant," or the hard "g" in "spaGHetti."
But "gh" is never pronounced "j" in English or Italian.
John Doe
Typical Japanese company attitude that wants free English work, as if English is the language of Mars or something. Studio Ghibli, stop being cheapskates and hire a professional translator.
KariHaruka
Ah yes. Because everyone in the world speaks English.....
The article quite clearly states that fans from all around the world are translating Studio Ghibli's tweets into their own local language.