We have a Japanese Wii. We can read some Japanese but it’s annoying to navigate through all the menu items with our lousy Japanese.
So, the Goonfather got fed up and started taking screenshots of all the menus and went searching through the Nintendo manual for the English versions to compare with. And the result of his labour is this 28-page pdf document with translations and a guide on customising all sorts of settings!
Download the Wii English-to-Japanese translation now.
And if it helps you, thank the Goonfather!
thanks! i’m having hard time to download at the nintendo webby~!
WAH! Sibeh good manual. Thank you very, very much ah :D!
Cool!
But why did you guys get a Japanese Wii in the first place? o_O
Goonfather says: You’re all welcome! :)
Crash: I dunno…. ask the Goonfather. It’s either that time it’s cheaper, or the USA version sold out or something. Anyway I kinda like the Japanese even though I don’t understand. It motivates me to revise my Japanese more, lol. (Still waiting for a good time to continue my course.)
It’s still practically impossible to get a Wii here in the US without paying an exorbitant markup.
And when they ARE available, they’re usually sold as part of a “package” that includes high margin (for the store selling it) crap.
I don’t recall ever seeing a Wii selling for the MSRP of US$249…
Wow! Good job! Pretty comprehensive document. You can find out some outlines about AOSS here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOSS
And more here, though I got bored after like page 2 or so.
http://www.buffalo-asia.com/products/aoss_img/AOSS_WP_Final.pdf
Hmmm… Might get your friend code to add you sometime ;) However, I got a feeling that my US set might not connect with Japanese ones (tried with a friend and it didn’t work, but I thought it might have been other reasons)
abraxis: Eew, that sucks. But still, lots of people have gone ahead and bought it anyway, lol.
Alvin: Cool, thanks! Actually, I haven’t activated my friend code thingy :P
Thank you v.v. much for your job!
P.S. I bought the Jap Wii here in Thailand cause it was a 100$ cheaper.
$100 its not a big deal. But when I was buying it I had to decide which amount is going to be spended on something unknown and thefore useless.
Its turned out its not so useless. Kids play this thing all the day along.
Lifesaver! Thanks for the translation! Thought it was gonna take me hours of endless surfing to find this. But you got it all!
You da best!
hucus and sumo: you’re both welcome! enjoy your wii! :)
Hope you translate the Mii channel… I accidentaly deleted my Mii once, coz I thought the bottom left button was the edit Mii one… Tsk Tsk…
Regards!
Ack, that sucks, lol. But luckily it doesn’t take too long to create a Mii. :P
Yep, it’s good that it is the case. My only gripe is that I cannot understand the other functions for it. All I have learned now is how to make, edit and delete… Also that whistle thingie, I get it now. :D
I wonder what the 4th channel (right topmost) is for? :D
thank you so much for the translation. effort is very much appreciated. thanks for sharing.
Wonderful! i was repenting for buying a japanese wii console. not anymore :-)
Hey, Wii update! I walked into a Toys R Us on a whim and walked out with a Wii!
At the list price (not marked up)! Now I can destroy things with the nunchuck controller in my own home!
Wait, that’s not a good thing…better hold on tight!
Hahaha… that is really something else, buying a Wii on a whim! Anyway, grats! Hope you have lots of fun with it! ;)
U r The BesT
best wishes
thaaaaaaaaanx
Ive got a Jap wii, when i click on the wrench icon to go to system settings i come to a white opera error page.
Does my Wii have to be connected online to get the settings?
Ive bought a component cable and im looking to change the output to 480p.
Sylar: I believe you are either trying to play Pokemon or Big Brain Academy. These 2 games will partially brick your wii, if you are using Wiikey and playing the game that was not meant for the Jap Wii.
I played mario strikers charged football which forced some system update. Any way to get my system settings working again?
In England, from other forums i read, my Jap Wii has been updated with a PAL firmware of 2.2 or something, the only way to unbrick my wii is to wait for a JAp game with a higher update to come out, and yes my games still work, just cant change any settings.
well the main reason to buy a japanese wii (to me) is to play copied games. the english wii has some kind of software to prevent playing these games but the japanese doesnt. Oh and if i didnt mention this, games in the US that cost like 50 dollars cost about 67 cents when u buy the copied game and it is exactly like the original
cool!! i am really thankful for your concern for people like me who youve helped in a big way. but i would like to know if you can let me know how to wii shop channel a nd access internet on wii.
You can access the Wii Shopping Channel by clicking on the plain white box with Japanese words in the middle (in the Wii main menu page).
You’ll have to buy the opera browser (the one that costs 500 Wii points) in the shopping channel in order to surf the net on your Wii. But purchases must be made with a Japanese credit card or a Wii points card. I’m not sure where they sell the points card but you can try asking your local Wii retailers.
Hey there…thanks so much for your help. I left you an email before realizing about this comment page. Your translation was perfect thank you so much. Do you have translation for when your in the wii store? my card isnt working and i dont know what it says..lol. thanks
if i download the opera browser for wii (i.e the japanese console) then will the browser be in english or japanese.
Dev: Sorry, no, we only have translations of the system settings. :P
chirag: Everything will be in Japanese for the Japanese console.
I found out a way to connect to the english wii shop channel through firefox in the pc.
Can i use that address to connect from my wii so i can use a english shop?
Folks, mananaged to configure our wifi; was prompted to update via the Jap site and all.
Now my friends and I are trying to access the internet; we want to fully utilise our units. We understand Opera is required and we may need to purchase the application. But how? Anyone’s got a step by step guide? We don’t mind paying.
Will check back frequently. I’m sure this would help loads of other ppl trying to do the same. Any help would be very much appreciated.
Quad
U will need to buy the top up card for the Jap Wii Store. Then go to the wii shop, purchase and download the browser. Personally, I do no recommend using the Wii browser, due to the fact that the Wii is only at 480p, the words are almost impossible to read unless you are running it on a 15″ TV.
Perfect ! Wonderfull ! you save my time and bring passion to me !
Thanks very much from a fan from Vietnam
thanks a lot for the excellent manual. you’ve saved my life as I just bought the Wii and my jap sucks
Does anyone have error translations. Just got a Jap Wii and it played once now every time it is powered up there is a message isplayed and it will not read any discs, even the one that I played. Not sure if I have changed something somewhere to make this happe.
Help Please….
Have you like updated it lately? Have you played a game that has auto-updates? Maybe a screenshot of the message will help… I guess it’s bricked… :(
Ha ha ha Thanks Goonfather and to you. Just got the Wii not so long ago yeah a JAP one…. have sleepless nights as I know nuts on Japanese…… the guide helps alot………. :)
Wii Wii
Cheers goodfather and sheylara!
As an ignorant Gaijin, my Japanese finance gets frustrated when endlessly ask her to translate menus and settings.
Next time we play the Wii she will be in a better mood as i don’t have to annoy her first. I really should learn japanese but your guide is much quicker.
Thank you for all your comments, everyone! I’m sorry I have no more translations other than the one I have offered on my blog. I don’t really play the Wii anymore now, heh. :P
Awwww… time to buy a US Wii then. :D
Hey, this blog post is really a blockbuster. Hehehe. :D
i bought a japanese wii and cant seem to use the games in english that i bought for it. on the game disk it says for use in united states canada etc. does that mean i cant play it on my japanese wii? if so where do i get games for it?
Where did you buy your Jap set from? They should sell the Japanese games for it.
You can try some online shops that sells those import games if you don’t have some locally.
Oooorrr… if you have a local grey market, look at my name. :D
I cant play the english games on my so how can i?
hi, many thanks for your guide.
It was invaluable in helping me set up my Japanese Wii and go online! Just a suggestion but can you update it to include more screenshots especially screens where there is a success or failure for connecting online? I think I finally managed to get it online but took ages to get there!
Thanks for the feedback, Gokou!
Unfortunately, I’ve sold my Wii and can’t update the guide anymore. :P
I also have the same problem as Trevor. Got a Japanese Wii and it played once but now it won’t read discs and I’m also gettnig an error message that I can’t read. I have a screenshot of it if anyone is able to help me. I would appreciate it SO much!!!
Maybe you bricked your Wii, did you play a different region disc? Did you update from the disc? Do you only see a black screen with message?
On my japanese wii something happened to my wii settings menu. When I enter it all that comes up is a page that says something lijke failure to access URL need help opera system and stuff i don’t know what to do? help!!!!!!
i also cannot get to my Settings on my jap wii. it plays all my backups fine but i cant get into settings. when i select settings, it just says i am trying to access a web page and has the opera help stuff. i dont think my wii is bricked because i can play my games, but i cant change any settings. anyone help??
wow!
this is really great guys!
thanks sooooo much!
i had a US one and the motherboard just died on me,
so i got a japanese one today and am so glad to find this page. ^^
now looking for a translation for Wii Fit’s screens.
finger’s crossed.
ok, i found the answers. not being able to get to the settings means my wii is semi-bricked. i need japanese wii fit to udate the firmware to fix(hopefully).
Just an update:
Sorry guys, I’m not able to give any further help because I’ve sold my Wii and, besides, I don’t really know Japanese that much *lol*. I hope everyone who has problems manages to find your solution somewhere else!
Cheers and happy holidays!
get the Wii fit Japan version to unbrick your Wii’s
semi-bricked mine with the Super Mario Galaxy but Wiifit fixed it.
Thank you so much for this! We bought a Japanese Wii because we are expats living in Japan… We were going to buy an imported US Wii for the language difference, but were told that the US Wii would not work in Japan because it is PAL and Japan is NTSC. For the same reason we were told US games would not work on our Japanese Wii–anybody know if that is true or not? It is really frustrating to play games and not be able to understand anything or change any setting/etc. because of lack of Japanese reading ability. Not to mention not being able to buy games like Zelda or Dragonquest because the game is so text-heavy, you know?
gaijin: You’re welcome. :) And it’s true. US games won’t work on Japanese Wii. Well, but since you’re living in Japan, I expect you can pick up Japanese eventually, enough to be able to read stuff in Wii.
Learn Katakana characters first. It is really really helpful because like 30% of Japanese is made up of Katakana and it’s easy to understand because Katakana is actually English words but written with Japanese characters.
Thank you Qiaoyun for reply and help. Actually, I can read and write katakana, hiragana and some of the basic kanji, just not really enough to get whatever game I want and things, kwim? But I suppose if nothing else, our Japanese Wii will help me to learn more kanji, lol. Thank you so much anyway. :)
“…US games would not work on our Japanese Wii–anybody know if that is true or not?”
This is partly correct and partly wrong. :D You could (in reality) “make” US games work on a JAP Wii. But of course, I don’t encourage it.
Modchip-really? Please do tell us more?! Also, would anyone know if an American Wii console would work in Japan, or not? Because if it would, I think I will sell my Japanese Wii and buy an American one instead. I tried looking all over the Net for the answer to this, and can’t find it anywhere. Thanks!
Hmmm… you searched? Try searching my handle in google. LOL.
Lol, okay, I will..! ;)
Warning though, it will void your warranty… also, I remember that there is this disc (but it was not for the Wii) called FreeLoader… which does what you want. You can try searching for it (If it exist for the Wii). :D
Thanks for all your help. BTW, does anyone know if a US Wii with US games would work in Japan?
As long as you TV is NTSC and your power supply is in the correct volts, it would work… I guess. :D
Thanks Modchip! :D
No prob gaijin, enjoy gaming in Japan! :D
this is a life saver! searched everywhere for this. now i can configure my japanese wii
Hihi, it saved my life too. :D
thank you so much!
Thank you from the Philippines….
I’m sure this will help a lot of players around the globe!!!!
KUDOS!
Cool!
Hi Sheylara, thanks for the translation, great work .. but is it possible to convert a Jap console into english? Guy in the shop showed me how by hitting a couple of buttons…but I couldn’t replicate at home… is it possible?
The Wii has a language change function but it does not work on a Japanese Wii, unfortunately. Only works on other region Wiis. Perhaps you should go back and ask the guy at the shop for more info.
But I recently heard that there’s a third-party plugin that allows people to change the language on any set. I don’t have the details on that, though. Sorry. You might want to google around for it.
Wow, thank you.
It was really good. Thanks from Brazil.
hey guys…thanks for the info…but still kind of confused. i guess my video game linguistics are not up to date. i also have the opera website page that comes up when we try to change the settings on our japanese wii to try to get online. i see that everyone says it’s because my wii is ‘bricked’ but i’m still not sure what that means. and is the only way to resolve this to buy a wii fit? it’s kind of weird, no?
any instruction would be helpful! thanks so much!
p.s. did anyone find out if it’s possible to play with u.s. friends on a japanese wii?
Bricked means that your Wii is malfunctioning and useless. Though I’m not sure about this, the term “bricked” was first used on malfunctioning handhelds because of modifications (like; flashing etc…), like the DS (Shape of a brick or paperweight).
“and is the only way to resolve this to buy a wii fit” — Maybe this game have some update files that you need (Again, not sure). Some games actually do that, BUT if you update your JAP Wii with a US Wii Fit (If that was actually the purpose), the you get “BRICKED”. :D
About playing with other region friends — Haven’t tried this yet, but it was possible during the Dreamcast era, so there’s a big chance that you can.
Hi peeps!
I have a Jap wii and have bought Mario kart and Wii fit for it but am unable to play them due to the language barrier – anyone know a solution?? I need the games in English that i can play on my Jap wii as we have the mats and wheels etc for them
Thanks
I bought a Japanese wii over a year ago and have been missing out on the internet features!
I want the Internet Channel for youtube etc, But have no idea where to get it from!
I go into the wii shop but as its all in japanese have no idea where to get it!
Can any one please HELP!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks
Thanks for this translation sheylara, it’s very helpfull.
for wii fit translation :
http://www.ntsc-uk.com/feature.php?featuretype=tra&fea=WiiFitGuideTranslationHelp
for the internet channel, you must buy wii points (Wii shopping channel) and then you can buy the internet channel
Quote:
Hi peeps!
I have a Jap wii and have bought Mario kart and Wii fit for it but am unable to play them due to the language barrier – anyone know a solution?? I need the games in English that i can play on my Jap wii as we have the mats and wheels etc for them
Thanks
The simplest solution is by using FreeLoader for Wii. Make a quick google search to learn more about it. ;)
I have US Wii and Freeloader US version. If I purchase wiifit JAP, can I play it with US Wii & Freeloader US? As it seems to be difficult to buy US Wiifit for a while…
Yah, that’s what FreeLoader is for, actually. ;)
Hey THANKS MAN!!!
just wanted to ask which game would’nt run on the jap wii set.
iron man and harvest moon seem to have problems.
Under freeloader? Here’s a compatibility list. :)
I’m goin to Japan for a trip and am thinking of getting the Wii there since it seems to be much cheaper than Singapore. However, can I check if I can’t get the US (English) version there and they only have the Japanese version?
If so, I’ll need to modify it also get a transformer?
Just get the appropriate adapter, I think it’s much cheaper than a transformer. :D
These comments go forever. You found your niche, Gamer Girl!
The GF’s translation has become one of the most famous translation / maybe the only one in distribution today. ;)
there are fix discs out on the internet which can un-brick your wii, if it is semi-bricked i.e settings blocked.
hey i got a japanese wii and i setup the internet using the translater
now when i click on wii shop it says something in japanese and the only button there is is to go bak to the main menu . i cannot access wii shop
can some1 plz helpppp
I recently got my NTSC-J [Japanese] Wii semi-bricked with Rock Band, it’s the most saddest thing I’ve ever done. >..<;;
I’m planning to get Wii Fit [Jpn] for my Wii soon, after I fix my semi-brick problem….
^ There’s a fix for that. You can get the files for your JAP Wii here. :D
Have recently purchased a Japanese wii and it appears to be semi bricked (error message when trying to access settings) i have purchased freeloader which allows me to play english games. It will recognise but not load the disc for an english wii fit. does anyone know a way i an solve this problem? thanks for your help
I think you need a system update — but then again, that could damage your Wii. System updates from another region is just plain evil. :(
what do you mean semi bricked with rockband? when i put rockband in my Japanese wii it gave me blank screen, if i get japanese freeloader for wii japanese console will i be able to play the rockband also how do i get into settings??
To Jim:
You semi-bricked your Wii, just like I did. . . .
semi-bricked = “When a wrong firmware is installed that doesn’t correspond the region of Wii then it is said that your Wii is semi-bricked. The games will load as usual but you can’t change any settings.”
Rock Band, is NTSC-U/C and my Wii’s NTSC-J . Meaning, the Wii’s from Japan and it’s not in the same region as the Rock Band game [Hence U.S.A]
When popping in the Rock Band disc, my Wii tried to update its firmware from it. Rock Band’s update is 3.3, sadly my Japanese Wii isn’t, and therefore the game/ update semi-bricked my Wii.
I tried Freeloader [Jpn] it doesn’t work, Rock Band has the update of 3.3. Freeloader doesn’t work with games that have updates with 3.3.
When I popped Rock Band into my Wii, I got a blank screen too.
Since 3.3 is the last update, I’d have to wait until Japan gets a different update. I’ve asked around, people told me to wait about 2 months? >.<;;
has there been a Japanese update to 3.3 for the wii yet can we get rockband to play on it yet ? anyone have a rockband disc that works yet?
/
I think there’s already one. ^_^
Really?!?! WHERE?!?!? >__<;;
Jim: Here’s something: Rock band Testing… – try at your own risk.
well if ppl having problem with their jap wii…i can help call me loh 93397035
well if ppl having problem with their jap wii…i can help call me loh 93397035
from darren
do not trust him ……. u can go google search
93397035 ,you will know wat i mean
According to one forum.
When I download the file it says it can’t open it.
if oyu have a jaanese WII and having problems with it you can contact
Michael Breland in ST. Marys. ohio
he took a half bricked japanese wii and got it to working perfect
thanks a lot for the hardwork. very helpful :)
Argh… do you guys know how to get wii ware? cuz when i got to the shopping channel, it only has virtual console and wii channel thing… there is no wii ware!
HOw can i get wii ware!
(i want wii ware cu z i want fun games and internet)
Hi Shay, Thanks for this help. Nice work.
Hi!! Do you have a translation for Chinese to English?????
Thanks! I can’t read Japanese, and this is seriously helpful… Now I can work out WTF is going on… lol