this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2025
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were electronic dictionaries a bigger deal in japan than elsewhere? as far as i know, in america they were never anything more than novelties even before everyone had a computer in their pocket. i did a little googling and it seems like they were/are more common in japan but couldn't find any reference as to why. my only guess is that it has something to do with keeping track of kanji but in the 80s they probably weren't even capable of displaying kanji so /shrug
Yes! Another big deal in Japan is (yes, still is) translation devices. While some people there move over to Google Translate, many old-fashioned ones still rock those gadgets that look like voice recorders but with a screen, and translate your dialogue. Japan, as a country in general, is known for not so good English skills among the population: as I understand many people don't really see a need to learn that language. Especially given that those devices to deal with foreigners are available.
There are many gadgets (including specialized ones) in Japan that have been produced for the domestic market only.