Japanese → English Translation
Japanese to English translation on macOS - understands kanji, kana, keigo, and cultural context for natural English output.
How It Works
Select your text
Highlight the text you want to translate in any application - email, a document, a browser tab, or a chat window.
Press the shortcut
Hit your configured Echoo keyboard shortcut. Nothing is copied to the clipboard and no window opens.
AI translates
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite resolves the subjects Japanese omits, which are recoverable from context in Japanese but compulsory in English.
Result appears inline
The English is pasted back in place with subject-object-verb order rebuilt into English subject-verb-object.
Example Translation
Japanese (Original)
この度は弊社の製品をご購入いただき、誠にありがとうございます。ご不明な点がございましたら、お気軽にお問い合わせください。
English (Translated)
Thank you very much for purchasing our product. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Translating Japanese to English
Japanese omits whatever the context makes obvious, and that routinely includes the subject - so a sentence perfectly clear in Japanese has no stated actor at all, and English requires one. Choosing wrongly between I, you and they changes who did what. Word order is subject-object-verb, so the sentence has to be rebuilt rather than mapped. Politeness is grammaticalised in verb endings, and all of it disappears into flat English unless the register is rebuilt through word choice. Japanese also has no plural marking and no articles. Long noun modifiers precede the noun, sometimes for an entire clause, and have to be turned into English relative clauses that follow it instead.
Recommended Setup
Best model for this pair
Claude Sonnet 4.5 handles Japanese to English best in our testing. Any provider you have configured will work - this is the one to pick if you have a choice.
Voice dictation
Dictation is supported for Japanese, so you can speak instead of typing and have the result translated in the same step.
Tips for Better Translations
Echoo detects the politeness level (casual, polite, honorific) in Japanese and adjusts the English register accordingly.
Mixed-script text (kanji + hiragana + katakana + romaji) is handled seamlessly.
Japanese context-dependent meanings (e.g., implied subjects, omitted pronouns) are inferred naturally by the AI.
For manga, anime, or casual Japanese with slang, the AI produces appropriately casual English.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Echoo detects keigo levels in the source text and produces English with an appropriately formal or polite register.
Yes. Echoo seamlessly handles text mixing kanji, hiragana, katakana, and romaji - all common in modern Japanese writing.
Yes. Select the Japanese text in Apple Mail, Outlook, or any other email client, press your Echoo shortcut, and get instant English translation.
AI models infer implied subjects and pronouns from context, which is essential for translating Japanese where subjects are frequently omitted.
Explore More
OpenAI Integration
Connect Echoo to OpenAI GPT models for powerful AI text transformation on macOS. Use GPT-4, GPT-5, and more with keyboard shortcuts.
Anthropic Integration
Connect Echoo to Anthropic Claude models for thoughtful, nuanced AI text transformation on macOS. Claude Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku.
Google Gemini Integration
Connect Echoo to Google Gemini AI for free, fast text transformation on macOS. Gemini Flash Lite offers a generous free tier.
Ready to Try It?
Download Echoo and start translating text with AI shortcuts.