Lost in translation? Japan minister blames X for diplomatic near-miss

TOKYO: Japanese Trade Minister Ryosei Akazawa expressed frustration on Friday after X's translation feature on its platform left him in a potentially embarrassing diplomatic situation. The automatic translation tool mistakenly suggested that Akazawa did not know the name of the current prime minister of Bangladesh, instead of the ousted Bangladeshi premier he had met during a recent visit.

The post, which included photographs of Akazawa with Bangladesh's Tarique Rahman, was meant to clarify his meeting with the current leader. However, the translation error implied that Akazawa did not recognize Sheikh Hasina, a former Bangladeshi prime minister who had gone into exile in India after a 2024 mass uprising.

Akazawa emphasized that this issue is a serious matter, stating that the incorrect translation could lead the Bangladeshi public to believe Japan's Trade Minister is unaware of the identity of their own prime minister. He recounted that this was the third time he had experienced such a translation error on X. Earlier, a similar mistake occurred when his post about a meeting with Kuwait's oil minister was incorrectly translated as one with Qatar's energy minister.

Additionally, the translation tool had previously misidentified US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in one of his posts.

Akazawa appealed to X to fix the translation tool, emphasizing the importance of accurate communication. However, X had not yet commented on the matter at the time of this report.