If Japanese text remains on your English storefront, first identify where that text is managed. Product descriptions, headings entered in the theme editor, default button labels, apps, and notification emails have different places to check. Translating your products in Translate & Adapt does not necessarily translate every part of the storefront.
Note the page URL and the Japanese text you can still see, then use the table below to find where to make the change. This guide covers online stores that use a standard Shopify theme.
Find the editing location from the text that remains
| Where Japanese remains | Where to look first | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Product titles, descriptions, blog posts, or pages | The relevant content in Translate & Adapt | Whether the English field is empty or out of date |
| Headings, announcement bars, or other text you entered | Translations for the relevant theme | Whether you are translating the same theme you are viewing |
| Shared labels such as “Add to cart” or “Sold out” | Translations of the default theme content | Whether an English translation exists or contains Japanese |
| App content, such as reviews, bookings, or registration forms | The app's language settings | Which translation methods the app supports |
| Emails, such as order confirmations | Notifications in Settings | The translated content and its preview in the intended language |
| Text inside banners or product photos | The image file and its settings | Whether an English image is available and can be used in that location |
| The whole page or the language switcher | Languages in Settings and market settings | Whether English is published and available on the intended domain |
A single page can combine a theme heading, a product description, and reviews supplied by an app. Checking each remaining piece of text separately makes it easier to identify where to fix it.
Open the English fields for products and pages
Translate & Adapt manages translations for products, collections, blog posts, pages, and other store content. Editing the original Japanese product description in the admin is separate from editing its English translation. Shopify: Translate & Adapt
- Open Apps → Translate & Adapt in your Shopify admin and select English.
- Open the product, page, or other content containing the text.
- Compare the source text with the English field, enter the required translation, and save.
Some text does not appear in search results. Translate & Adapt search does not cover every type of translatable content, so an empty search result does not prove that a field cannot be translated. Try opening the relevant content directly. Shopify: Manual translation; Search limitations
Review English after updating the Japanese source
Automatic translation fills missing translations and updates machine translations that have become outdated after a source change. It does not overwrite translations you entered or edited manually. For some theme content, including default theme text, it only fills missing translations and does not update existing ones.
If you previously refined an English product description by hand, you therefore need to review it when the Japanese changes. Check the English fields for the content you changed, rather than relying only on whether automatic translation has run again. Shopify: What automatic translation updates
Separate text you entered from default theme wording
Theme text includes headings and descriptions your team entered in the theme editor, as well as labels and form messages supplied by the theme. For example, “This month's picks” might be text you entered, while “Sold out” might be default theme wording.
Look for text you entered under the theme resources in Translate & Adapt, such as Templates or Section groups. If you are viewing a theme preview, check that you are translating that theme. Changes made to a different theme will not appear on the page you are viewing.
For button labels and similar wording, check the English translation under Default theme content in Translate & Adapt. The separate Edit default theme content screen changes wording in the store's default language. To keep the Japanese and change only the English, edit the English translation in Translate & Adapt or another supported translation tool. An empty translation field falls back to the theme's default language. Shopify: Changing theme wording; Translating themes
If you cannot find the text, it may be written directly into the theme's code. Ask the person responsible for the theme to check whether it is available as translatable content.
Check apps, notifications, and images separately
For text displayed by a review app, booking form, or similar feature, check that app's settings. Translate & Adapt cannot translate third-party app text that is not stored in a supported format. Forms created with Shopify Forms are also outside its supported content. Check the app's language settings or its provider's instructions. Shopify: Unsupported content
For notification emails, open Settings → Notifications, select the notification, and use Localize to edit its translations. After saving, select English in the notification's Preview. When a translation is available, notifications are normally sent in the language used to place the order. An English product page alone does not confirm that the notification translation is ready. Shopify: Translating checkout and email notifications
Translating text does not change Japanese lettering drawn into an image. Prepare an English version and use it in the relevant language through a supported theme image setting. Some fields in Translate & Adapt support language-specific files, but product images are not supported. Check where an image is used: a banner and a product photo may need different approaches. Shopify: Localizing images and files; Content limitations
After saving, check the intended English page
If you cannot access an English version at all, check whether English is published under Settings → Languages. Languages are assigned to domains and are available in the markets using those domains. If a market uses its own subfolder, check that market's domain and language settings too. Shopify: Managing store languages
Use the storefront's language switcher to select English and open the relevant page. If your store has a language-specific URL, you can open it directly. Turn off your browser's own automatic translation and check the remaining text, linked pages, and form instructions. Confirming that a translation was saved in the editor is separate from confirming that customers can see it.
Avoid changing the store's default language to English as a quick fix for remaining Japanese text. Changing the default language deletes existing translations in the language you switch to; it does not turn those translations into the store's source content. Shopify: Changing the default language
What your team can fix and when to ask for help
If you can find the translation field and it contains ordinary editable text, your operations team can make the correction. Contact your developer or app provider if the text cannot be found, a saved translation does not appear on the intended page, or the app has no language settings.
Include the page URL, a screenshot of the remaining Japanese text, the selected language and market, the theme and app names, and any recent changes. This helps narrow down where to investigate.
With a custom storefront such as Hydrogen, product translations are only part of the setup. Interface text managed by the storefront and the way it selects a language also need to be checked. Installing Translate & Adapt alone does not automatically translate text written into the storefront's code. Shopify: Multiple markets in Hydrogen
If you can see where Japanese remains but cannot find where to edit it, contact Popaz.
