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What is the Japanese equivalent / job title of a historic interpreter? If there's no equivalent job title in Japanese, what's the closest phrase for it?

Essentially, historic interpreters recreate history by dressing and acting as historic figures. They usually work in museums, parks, battlefield recreation sites, etc. Other common names for the job ar historical actors and historic speakers.

I've never heard of this job before in either language. Direct translation would be 歴史的通訳 or something along the lines of that but that sounds like a language interpreter that specializes in history. Does this job have a name in Japan?

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  • Have you done any research on this? Short of that, you're asking for a translation and this site is not a translation site. I would recommend reaching out to places like Colonial Williamsburg where historical interpretation is a key feature. While I haven't been able to find anything on their website in Japanese, I would suggest calling them and asking, "I'm interested in any Japanese language brochures you have explaining historical interpretation. Could you share some with me?" I'm sure the folks there would be quite happy to help you.
    – A.Ellett
    Commented Jul 24, 2021 at 21:45
  • Additionally, there are quite a few active historical interpreters on youtube. They probably don't speak Japanese; quite a few have connections with the tourism industry in Colonial America (such as Williamsburg). It might be worth looking some of these folk up, getting to know them, and asking them whether they know who you should inquire with about obtaining documents in Japanese on historical interpretation. Obviously if you just ask them "how do you say historical interpreter in Japanese?", the conversation isn't going to go anywhere. This will require a time investment on your part.
    – A.Ellett
    Commented Jul 24, 2021 at 21:54
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    What does a historic interpreter do?
    – aguijonazo
    Commented Jul 25, 2021 at 0:07
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    @aguijonazo An historical interpreter is a cross between actor and docent (museum guide). In Colonial Williamsburg, for example, they dress in 17th century garb. Some refuse to break character (if you talk about modern things they'll look at you like you're speaking gibberish). One of their roles is help visitors learn about life in colonial days. They're quite knowledgeable. In other situations, they'll re-enact historical events and battles meticulously down to the smallest details. I worked in Williamsburg many many years ago--hence my famliariity with the concept.
    – A.Ellett
    Commented Jul 25, 2021 at 0:13
  • Thanks, @A.Ellett. If there is such a job in Japan, I doubt it has a name.
    – aguijonazo
    Commented Jul 25, 2021 at 0:16

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I don't think there is a widely-known Japanese noun for this profession.

  • According to this page, it appears that people in this profession do not necessarily wear historical costumes. Simple museum guides are called ガイド or 案内員.
  • Some theme parks have employees in a historical costume (e.g., there are lots of ninja and samurai walking or performing in 日光江戸村). They are simply called キャスト, スタッフ, or 俳優, but none of them are specific enough. Some of them do provide guided tours, but most do not have deep academic knowledge.
  • Descriptive expressions that can be used in news articles include 歴史的衣装に身を包んだガイド, 当時の衣装を着た実演スタッフ, etc.
  • 通訳 strictly refers to someone who translates languages orally, so 歴史的通訳 makes no sense. (If a time machine is invented in the future, there may be people with such a job name.)
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