I knew my efforts to learn Japanese before my trip to Japan last fall would be no match for a fire ritual at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo, so at the beginning of the ceremony, I discreetly slipped in one earbud.
Two monks pounded giant taiko drums as others chanted in unison under a cloud of fragrant smoke. Then the priest delivered closing remarks in Japanese. And in a miracle of technology, I understood quite a bit of it using Apple’s new Live Translation feature.
As everyone filed out, I repeated, in English, some of the priest’s comments to my guide, Keiko Hatada, who taught English for 30 years and has led custom tours of Tokyo for the past decade. I wanted to make sure I had understood things correctly.
I recounted the priest’s admonition to set aside unwholesome feelings of anger and greed, and work instead to show compassion and generosity, as well as his reminder that his temple was still accepting donations for those affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
“You told me you didn’t speak Japanese,” my guide said, pleasantly surprised.
Beyond a few basic greetings and food terms, I don’t.
Apple introduced its Live Translation feature, which uses AirPods to deliver real-time translation of languages like Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish in real time, just before my first trip to Japan last fall. I had been trying to learn enough Japanese to get by without seeming like an oblivious tourist, but this seemed like a perfect chance to test out a potentially transformative travel technology.
Translation apps have existed for years, of course, but none have ever been so unobtrusive or seamless as a tiny piece of plastic worn in your ear, as used in systems offered by Apple, Samsung and others.
I worried about having conversations while wearing earbuds in Japan, where interacting with others in sunglasses may sometimes be considered impolite. So, before I left, I printed up small cards explaining in Japanese that I was testing a new translation technology. I planned to hand them out to prevent confusion.
Some people appreciated the explainer cards. But everyone I encountered — even in rural areas far from tourist hubs — already seemed familiar with some version of translation technology. Often, I just needed to show them the Translate app on my iPhone and point to my AirPod (I often wore just one to appear more in the moment and conserve battery power).
If both users are wearing AirPods, Live Translation can transmit translations of each speaker’s words to the other — the ultimate seamless interaction. Unfortunately, I didn’t encounter anyone else using the same technology.
When you’re using Live Translation, your responses appear on your phone screen in the translated language, and you can have the phone read them out loud through the speaker. I sometimes took advantage of this functional, but awkward, arrangement.
But locals in Tokyo’s parks, museums and countless small, quiet cocktail bars seemed quite receptive to speaking into my iPhone and reading my responses on the screen. (In noisy environments, holding my iPhone close to the subject helped.)
Under optimal conditions — one-on-one conversations in quiet settings — the system performed well and felt natural and almost effortless. Listening was easier than speaking, which required the other party to read or listen to my translated responses.
The technology didn’t perform quite as admirably at bustling train stations or in lively izakayas, for instance, or during exchanges with rapid-fire speakers.
Live Translation worked well during a sushi-making class and seafood tour of Tokyo’s crowded Tsukiji Outer Market. My guide, Sota Nakamura, who is also a sushi chef, noticed minor mistakes relating to seafood and sushi preparation, as well as a few incorrect pronouns.
When I used the technology at a huge, outdoor ramen festival, I had the sensation of eavesdropping because the earbuds picked up conversations among bystanders who may have assumed I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Other times, as when I was photographing fashionable shoppers in upscale Ginza, I missed the challenge and reward of trying to communicate with people directly in their language, and it felt a bit like cheating.
Still, translation using earbuds seems likely to make travel significantly richer and more immersive for many, as I saw firsthand at Bar Martha, a crowded listening bar in Ebisu. I struck up an app-enabled conversation with the patron next to me, and a broad grin spread across his face when he learned I used to own a bar near Yellowstone National Park.
“I’m here doing research for my own bar,” said Masato Nagumo, handing me his card. Two nights later, I found myself at Mr. Nagumo’s Hi Ikejiri in neighboring Meguro, again chatting by app with him as Ben Webster’s saxophone whispered soulfully in the background.
It would have taken a lot of Duolingo to get me there.
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