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Post by jitenshaa on Mar 6, 2015 12:45:42 GMT 9
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Post by songbanana on Mar 24, 2015 15:44:32 GMT 9
Similar topic so thought I'd add instead of making a new thread. Maybe a mod can change to topic to "Embassy/偉い人 protocol" or something? Edited this post for accuracy, please comment with any mistakes! List of ranks in an embassy: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_rank#Modern_diplomatsIn order of rank/偉さ | English title | Japanese title
| Notes
| | Ambassador (Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary) | (特命全権)大使 | Highest rank, 1 per country, address as "Your Excellency" (means they can represent the govt)
| Chargé d'affaires (ad interim)
| (臨時)代理公使 | temporary replacement for Ambassador. Pronounced (US) /ˌʃɑːr.ʒeɪ dæfˈer/ or if you can't read IPA シャージェイ・ダフェーア
| Minister
| 公使・大臣
| Seems to be Embassy=公使 Ministry=大臣 also addressed as "Your Excellency"
| Minister-Counsel(l)or
| 公使参事官
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| Counselor (US)/Counsellor (Commonwealth)
| 参事官
| "Council(l)or" is one who sits on a council.
| First Secretary
| 一等書記官
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| Second Secretary
| 二等書記官
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| Third Secretary
| 三等書記官
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| Attaché
| ex. 陸軍大佐
| a diplomatic agent who doesn't fit into standard ranks (usually military)
| Assistant Attaché
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| Envoy (Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary)
| (特命全権)公使
| English term is outdated. Ranked between Ambassador and Minister-Resident, was used for "less important" countries prior to WWII.
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| embassy | 大使館
| permanent diplomatic mission, has the ambassador, so 1 per country (or 1 for multiple countries).
Building is called the "Chancery"
| consulate
| 領事館
| lesser rank than embassy, usually handles visas, etc. Has the Consul
| Consul-General
| 総領事
| government representative, multiple per country, plural=consuls-general
| Consul
| 領事
| lesser rank than Consul-General
| Acting Consul
| 代理領事
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| Vice-Consul
| 副領事
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Post by ザ・penguin54 on Sept 14, 2015 10:51:17 GMT 9
we should make this the general thread for diplomatic title-related questions  歌バナナ that chart is wonderful! Two questions: 1. has anyone ever encountered the title 首席参事官? I have no idea what rank that is and google searches all seem to turn up police-related things. the list that I have to check translates it as "1st Counsellor" (a term that also doesn't really turn up many hits in Google). For reference, this is someone at the Djiboutian embassy. 2. since chargé d'affaires is a French word, would a female officer be called a chargée d'affaires (like how fiancé/fiancée are different based on gender)? WordReference says yes, of course. Wikipedia says some people do it but it's unusual and non-standard. Anyone have a reliable/official source, I would be most ありがたい. ETA that for the same list of diplomats, I changed attaché to attachée for a female attaché (since Wikipedia didn't seem to have a problem with that hue). I'm guessing I should be consistent but I'm not sure in which direction... YOROSIK |
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Post by snell_mouse on Sept 14, 2015 10:59:27 GMT 9
Err I can't really help but I did change the name of the thread to something more general!
My opinion on 2 would be that if you do it for 3 then you might as well do it for 2 as well? It probably doesn't make much difference but if it were me and I noticed that somebody had paid enough attention to do that, I would probably appreciate it.
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Post by Shimanchu 2024 on Sept 15, 2015 12:47:39 GMT 9
Sapen I dunno about 参事官, but the 首席領事 for the American Consulate Nagoya is called a Principal Officer
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Post by ザ・penguin54 on Sept 15, 2015 12:49:45 GMT 9
Thanks Island Person. Apparently they 確認ed with the embassy and the official title is First Counsellor. Still have no idea what that is though.
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Post by Caic on Sept 24, 2015 15:34:51 GMT 9
How to address peoples? Specifically Deputy ambassador man (actual title Deputy Head of Mission). Like Mr. O'Leary? Or do I call him a title or something. I find this confusing as real life/college doesn't prepare you for these situations. Also I've met him in a much more casual setting before so I don't know if that'll make a difference. Irish people are usually super casual anyway so it'll probably be fine but still I don't know how to deal with 偉い人
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Post by ザ・penguin54 on Sept 24, 2015 20:42:24 GMT 9
According to this site you'd just go with Mr. Though it's also specifically for Americans so can't say 100% |
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Post by songbanana on Sept 28, 2015 14:04:48 GMT 9
Does your office have a book on protocol? Here's what mine says, abbreviated: | Title | 2nd person | 3rd person | | King | Your Majesty/Sir | His Majesty The King of 国名 | | Queen | Your Majesty/Ma'am | Her Majesty The Queen of 国名 | | Prince/ss | Your Royal Highness | His/Her Royal Highness | | President | Your Excellencyまたは Mr./Madam President | His/Her Excellency 名前 President of 国名 | | President's spouse | Mr./ Mrs. | Mr./Mrs. (ex. His Excellency 名前 the President of 国名 and Mrs. 名前) | | Prime Minister | Mr./Madam Prime Ministerまたは Sir/Madam (probably Your Excellency is OK too) | His/Her Excellency 名前 the Prime Minister of 国名 (spouse is same as president) | | Other 偉い人, ex. Minister | Excellency (I've also seen Your Excellency)またはMr./Madam Minister | His/Her Excellency 名前 Minister of Foreign Affairs of 国名 | | less 偉い ex. Mayor | Mayor 名前またはMr./Madam MayorまたはSir/Madam | The Honorable 名前 Mayor of 市 |
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Post by Caic on Oct 19, 2015 11:31:07 GMT 9
Ok so letter addressed to ambassador should be your excellency not her excellency right? These things confuse me and google wasn't helping. I'm pretty sure but just checking cos I don't wanna do a stupid
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Post by CaptainSeery on Oct 19, 2015 11:46:12 GMT 9
Yes, if you're addressing the ambassador directly it would be your. If you're speaking about the ambassador to a third party it would be her.
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Post by ザ・penguin54 on Oct 19, 2015 12:46:08 GMT 9
Ok so letter addressed to ambassador should be your excellency not her excellency right? These things confuse me and google wasn't helping. I'm pretty sure but just checking cos I don't wanna do a stupid The way I do it (based on how my very experienced and knowledgeable sempai did it) is, in the upper left corner where you write the address you call them His Excellency Mr. XYZ and then write the salutation as "Dear Ambassador XYZ" |
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Post by Caic on Oct 19, 2015 13:10:05 GMT 9
Yeah the top left bit is what I was wondering about. There is no address under it though, it just has the title. So was confused.. hm
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Post by ザ・penguin54 on Oct 19, 2015 13:32:09 GMT 9
His Excellency Mr. Graeme Howard Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Of Canada to Japan 12-34 Roppongi 6-chome, Minato-ku Tokyo 123-4567 Dear Ambassador Howard: That's how I'd write it. Hope Graeme Howard is pleased with my protocol |
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Post by Caic on Oct 19, 2015 13:48:26 GMT 9
His Excellency Mr. Graeme Howard Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Of Canada to Japan 12-34 Roppongi 6-chome, Minato-ku Tokyo 123-4567 Dear Ambassador Howard: That's how I'd write it. Hope Graeme Howard is pleased with my protocol ok so I've included a picture cos I'm still confused. The top left part I should put as her excellency. And the title sort of part in the centre under who the letter'S from also should I put that as Her Excellency? I feel like this is less of a translation thing and just me being ignorant of grammar and formal letter writing thing.  merci monsieur penguin |
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Post by CaptainSeery on Oct 19, 2015 14:32:40 GMT 9
Skip the title thing. It would be weird to get a letter that has a title, right? Just leave that out and start with the Dear Ambassador.
Especially in formal situations like this, it's best to get the formal letter format correct or at least looking normal. There's lots of online resources for business letters - find one you like and copy their format.
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Post by songbanana on Oct 20, 2015 11:01:13 GMT 9
Yeah honestly that title looks like what you'd save the document as in your internal file system, not what you'd actually send out to foreign dignitaries.
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Post by ザ・penguin54 on Nov 11, 2015 13:04:23 GMT 9
Slightly weird question: if you will be announcing ambassadors' names at an event is it rude to ask them to pronounce their name for you in advance (in private obviously)?
ETA I have the katakana for their names but still not confident about pronouncing them correctly
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Post by snell_mouse on Nov 11, 2015 13:06:27 GMT 9
I don't think so? Maybe ideally you could ask somebody else in their group(s?) so you don't have to admit to the ambassadors that you don't know how to pronounce their names, but I think it's better to ask in advance than to get it wrong in the announcement and they might appreciate it too.
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Post by ザ・penguin54 on Nov 11, 2015 13:08:42 GMT 9
Thanks for the 早速の返事! I think most of the ambassadors are coming unattended, so I'll ask them when they check in |
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Post by CaptainSeery on Nov 11, 2015 13:24:30 GMT 9
I agree. It would be more rude to mess up their names, so I would definitely 確認 with them (or someone in their entourage).
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Post by BlueKat on Dec 7, 2015 16:55:21 GMT 9
I just got handed a letter from the Abbot of an Italian monastery to the Governor of Fukui and was told to translate it into Japanese "when I have time" hue. My new supervisor certainly has a different way of doing things.
Anyway I believe this is actually my first-ever English to Japanese translation job (outside of little things here and there) so there are a lot of things about protocol I'm not sure of.
What are your thoughts? The governor's letter to this dude started with 拝啓 晩秋の候 ますます御清祥のこととお慶び申し上げます which is pretty much expected I would guess, but in translating a letter into Japanese would you preserve this customary greeting or leave it out and just translate the letter as is?
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Post by snell_mouse on Dec 7, 2015 17:00:03 GMT 9
I think when translating into Japanese you should include some sort of seasonal/traditional greeting, or make the existing greeting into something that is normal in Japanese, since it's one of those things where you should preserve the meaning/intent rather than the words themselves. Chances are it's an empty greeting in both Japanese and English, but not including something could make the writer come off as rude, which I think you would want to avoid.
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Post by hinats on Dec 7, 2015 17:03:54 GMT 9
when I am tasked with those particular kind of WAYAK I translate it pretty directly without adding in any of the flourishes they use in Japanese,
Then if it's something that's going to get 回覧ed or shown to the higher ups (which I'm assuming this one is) I show it to my supervisor and we decide together what to add specifically that wasn't in the original to make it sound like its following the protocol for written Japanese correspondence.
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Post by ザ・penguin54 on Dec 7, 2015 17:57:04 GMT 9
I'm part of the snell_mouse派 on this one similarly maybe add a 末筆ながら貴県の皆様のご健勝とご多幸をお祈り致します type of thing at the end? |
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Post by BlueKat on Dec 7, 2015 21:54:41 GMT 9
The writer actually did put something about wishing for the prosperity of the prefecture or something at the end, so it wouldn't be unnatural at all to put something like that at the end. Since this guy works at a zen monastery maybe he's used to the Japanese way of writing letters hue. Anyway thanks for the suggestion ザ・penguin54! snell_mouse, the beginning of the letter is thanking the governor for his thank you letter (recursion ahhhh) and for his time during whatever meeting they had in Milano, I'm thinking the standard 心より暑くお礼申し上げます opening might work just fine. Thanks! |
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Post by むちゃRABU❤ on Feb 4, 2016 10:21:20 GMT 9
HI. how do you address the ambassador's wife?
令夫人 can be Lady or Madam or Mrs....
I mean her husband is His Excellency right? What should I address the wife as in a speech?
URGENT. PLS HELP.
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Post by snell_mouse on Feb 4, 2016 10:33:51 GMT 9
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Post by Shimanchu 2024 on Feb 16, 2016 9:26:06 GMT 9
Hey guys, help me out here......
So, as a result of my visit with the Vice-Governor in Nov, Love Knowledge Governor is going to Texas in April to meet with Governor Abbott and finish the signing of the Memorandum to improve relations etc.
Anyway, I'm in charge of translating the email correspondence, and in an email from us to them, they want me to say (regarding the day of the visit):
「可能であれば、貴州と本県との信頼関係を築いていくため、貴州政府の皆さんとXX知事及び同行者（１０人）を交えた懇談の場を持ちたいと考えています。」
So, my office is mostly worried about the wording for the bolded part. Basically, in the most polite and unassuming way possible, we want to ask the State of Texas to host an official dinner meeting for our visiting delegation.
Have any of you asked someone else to do something big for you or someone at your office, like host an official dinner meeting for them?
What would be the best way to go about asking this? How would you guys word it?
YOLOSIK, especially SENPAIs who deal a lot with ELAIKATA
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Post by snell_mouse on Feb 16, 2016 9:44:25 GMT 9
Hmm in my experience we have just assumed that they will host a reception for us, and that we will in turn host a 答礼 reception before they leave, so if this is something that happens regularly maybe they already know?
I can't remember what we've said in correspondences between them before, unfortunately.
I would maybe just be sure to try and phrase it with things like "we were wondering if it would be possible" or "we were hoping that" or something? That said it might be for the best to be straightforward (this is America after all) and just say "we were wondering if it would be possible for you to host a reception for our delegation" (and then if you are planning to host a 答礼 reception then say "of course, we will also be holding our own reception in return for your hospitality" or something).
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歌バナナ that chart is wonderful!
