Translate Japanese Audio to English

Turn Japanese speech in a video, podcast or voice recording into an English transcript and English subtitles you can download.

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Free to start — no credit card required.

Japanese recordings come in as product reviews, tutorials, interviews with Japanese partners and vlogs, and English subtitles open them to viewers in the US.

Exemplary AI writes the Japanese transcript, translates it in the Translations panel and exports the English as PDF, SRT, VTT, TXT, Markdown, JSON or DOCX.

Japanese to English at a glance

Facts checked October 2026.

From: Japanese (日本語), detected or picked by name
To: English, or any of the 116 languages in the translation list
You get: English subtitles on the video, and PDF, SRT, VTT, TXT, Markdown, JSON or DOCX downloads
Voice: No dubbing or English voice-over
Long recordings: Over 30 minutes, it asks before translating
Free plan: 500 one-time credits; files up to 500 MB and 30 min long; 720p video exports with a watermark

How it works

How to translate Japanese audio to English

A Japanese recording added, with its language detected

A line of Japanese, and its English

From the scene above: a camera review

ただ、重さは少し気になりますね。

EN  The weight bothers me a little, though.

Three scripts and no spaces

Written Japanese mixes kanji, hiragana and katakana and puts no spaces between words, so a Japanese line holds more meaning per character than an English one. Expect the English subtitle for a short Japanese line to run longer on screen.

Japanese often leaves out who is doing something when it is clear from context, and English needs a subject in every sentence. That is where a translation can guess wrong between "I", "we" and "they", so read the English of key statements against the video.

Names, honorifics and big numbers

Names come family name first, and many kanji names can be read more than one way, so check how each name appears in the Japanese transcript. Honorifics such as -san, -sama and -sensei have no English equivalent; decide whether your English keeps them or drops them, and stay consistent.

Japanese counts large amounts in units of 万 (ten thousand), so 3万 is 30,000 and 100万 is a million. A slip there changes a price or a view count, so check figures in the English. For the Japanese transcript itself, see Japanese transcription.

What it does

Japanese In, English Out

The Japanese transcript comes first, so you check it before it becomes English.

Both languages, line by line

Each English line sits under its Japanese line, with the same timestamp.

English subtitles on the video

Show English as subtitles plays the translation over the recording before you download it.

Every line keeps its timing

Each English line sits under the Japanese line it came from, with the same timestamps, so long lines still line up with the speech.

Names checked at the source

Kanji names can be read several ways; correct them once in the Japanese transcript and the English uses your spelling.

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Questions

Common questions

How do I translate Japanese audio to English for free?

On the Free plan (500 one-time credits; files up to 500 MB and 30 min long; 720p video exports with a watermark): upload the Japanese recording or paste its link, translate the transcript into English in the Translations panel, and download it.

Does it dub Japanese audio into English?

No. You get English text: a transcript and subtitles for the Japanese recording, with no synthetic voice.

Is the Japanese transcript written in Japanese script?

Yes. The transcript is written in Japanese as it is spoken, and the English is translated from it, line by line, so each English line keeps the timing of the Japanese one.

Does the English keep -san and other Japanese honorifics?

English has no direct equivalent, so a translation may keep a name with -san or drop the honorific. Pick the style you want for your audience and check the names in the English before you publish.

Why are the English subtitles longer than the Japanese lines?

Written Japanese packs more meaning into fewer characters, and English needs words Japanese leaves out, such as the subject. The English for a short Japanese line is often longer on screen.

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