AI Translation [Case Study]
Kinryuzan Senso-ji

Non-English translation can also be reviewed quickly.
Easy to create a multilingual website that requires timely publishing of information.

Senso-ji Temple is one of the leading tourist spots in Tokyo. Timely information is required to accommodate visitors from around the world.

We spoke with Mr. Furukawa of Senso-ji Temple’s Educational Department.

Interviewee

Mr. Masao Furukawa Educational Department
	Mr. Furukawa is a member of a department that publishes monthly magazines, holds lecture meetings, and gives lectures on Buddhist culture, while also being responsible for information publishing tasks such as operating a homepage and lending stock photos.

■We are one of Japan’s leading tourist spots, and it is essential to provide multilingual information to worshipers from around the world. We are aiming to publish information in multiple languages on our website.
– In what situations do you need translation?

Mr. Furukawa: Information in multiple languages needs to be provided for visitors and worshipers from overseas. Until now, we have been creating pamphlets in English, Chinese, and Korean, but the opinion was raised that, from now on, we should publish the latest information on our homepage instead of providing printed material. As the Olympic Games were scheduled to occur, it was urgent to create our website in multiple languages.

In addition, it was necessary to prepare multi-lingual signboards and posters in the temple to alert people to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

■We used to order the production company to create the pamphlets, but they could not confirm translated content other than English, and it took a lot of time to create.
– How has it been translated so far? Did you have any challenges?

Mr. Furukawa: We usually asked a production company to make our multilingual brochures. We could review the content of the English translations by looking up words in the dictionary, but it was difficult to review Chinese or Korean translations.

Finally, we ask the chief priest for approval, but as he is busy with scheduled Buddhist memorial services, it is difficult to take time for that. There are a lot of checking processes, and when there were replacements, it could easily take half a year or a year and the information was not provided in a timely manner. As a result, we spent a lot of time but completion was delayed.

■We decided to adopt T-tact AN-ZIN® because of its high translation quality and clear pricing for easy annual budgeting
– Why did you consider introducing AI translation?

Mr. Furukawa: It takes a lot of time to create pamphlets, and the chief priest said that it would be more appropriate to provide information on the Web from now on. So we thought that AI translation would shorten the production time and allow us to update our website in a timely manner, then we started to consider introducing it.

– What made you decide to choose T-tact AN-ZIN®?

Mr. Furukawa: We examined several services and compared their results. Investigating the translation results of other companies’ free services, we were not satisfied. I also checked the translation results of the paid service using the same engine, but it was exactly the same as the translation results of the free service.


On the other hand, the translation results from “みんなの自動翻訳”(*1), which is open to the public by NICT, were good. So I contacted TOIN who was introduced on the NICT’s website.

*1 “みんなの自動翻訳” is a machine translation site developed by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT). Use of this site is limited to non-commercial purposes. T-tact AN-ZIN® is a service that makes “みんなの自動翻訳” available for commercial use.

– Have you considered other services that use NICT’s translation engine?

Mr. Furukawa: No, we haven’t. Only TOIN’s T-tact AN-ZIN® had a clear fee structure on its homepage, and it was easy to make an annual plan, so I consulted with TOIN.

■Publishing multilingual websites while checking the translated content with the back translation function
– You have published a multilingual website using AI translation. How did “T-tact AN-ZIN®” feel?

Mr. Furukawa: After translating the text, we used the back translation (*2) function to improve the accuracy while checking the result, and finished one page in about 1 or 2 days. There are some Buddhist terms, but I could feel relieved because I was able to check the results of the back translation myself.

*2 You can simply click on the translated text to back translate it, then confirm that the text has been translated correctly.

– On the top page of your website, there is a note that the content to follow is translated by machine translation.

Mr. Furukawa: On the advice of TOIN, we put a note that the content therein is translated by machine translation. Visitors can click the OK button to go to each language page.

■Content on overseas websites can be quickly confirmed and the efficiency of work is improved. Looking forward to creating European websites in the future
– Have there been any changes in your work since you introduced AI translation?

Mr. Furukawa: The smooth introduction of multilingual websites is a major change. Also, at the request of travel magazines and tour companies, we apply AN-ZIN to translate the content published in foreign language magazines and homepages for the purpose of checking whether there are any problems therein. We are able to not only check the content, but also make our work more efficient.

In the future, we plan to prepare homepages in European languages.

Senso-ji Temple, which values tradition, is continuing to take on new challenges such as AI translation to protect tradition. It is communicating the charm of Senso-ji Temple through its website to people from overseas who want to visit Japan.
TOIN’s AI translation “T-tact AN-ZIN®” is helping them introduce timely updates for people all over the world.

TOIN, with 58 years of trust and achievement, focuses on supporting customers before and after the introduction of AI translation. Please feel free to ask if you have any plans for AI translation in the future.