Kanji and kana, not romaji
The transcript is written Japanese: kanji, hiragana and katakana chosen from context, not romaji. Sentences are split even though Japanese uses no spaces, and every line keeps its timestamp, so it also works as subtitles.
Names are the usual corrections, because the same reading can be written with different kanji.
What we measured on Japanese recordings
From 29 July to 12 October 2026, people transcribed 49 Japanese recordings on WhipScribe; the median one was 5.3 minutes long and 10 % ran an hour or more. Processing took a median 2.4 minutes per hour of audio. Our quality review, an AI-assisted reading of a timed excerpt of each transcript, scored 76 % of 49 as clean (4 or 5 of 5). It is a reading check, not a word-error-rate test, and music, noise and mixed languages pull scores down more than the language itself.
English subtitles or an English translation
Once the Japanese transcript is unlocked, choose English (or any of 99 languages) under Translate into above it and download TXT, DOCX, SRT or VTT with the original timing; translating an unlocked transcript adds no charge beyond the minutes the transcription used. It is machine translation, not a certified one.
What it costs
Every recording starts with a free preview of its opening minutes. The rest transcribes with a minute pack: $4 / 500 minutes, $12 / 2,000 minutes or $24 / 5,000 minutes, one-time. Credits never expire.
How to do it
- Open WhipScribe and drop the Japanese audio or video onto the upload box, or paste a public link.
- Wait while it processes; about two minutes per hour of audio is typical.
- Read the free preview, then open the full transcript with a pack.
- Read it through against the audio (the timestamps take you to each line) and correct names and places.
- Export as TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT or JSON, or translate it first.