Since 2009, along with the vitalization of medical tourism in Korea, the use of Japanese terminology associated with medicine has also become m0re widespread in Korea. In terms of tourism-related research, many studies have addressed the misuse or mis... Since 2009, along with the vitalization of medical tourism in Korea, the use of Japanese terminology associated with medicine has also become m0re widespread in Korea. In terms of tourism-related research, many studies have addressed the misuse or mistranslation of Japanese words in tourism pamphlets or incorrect Japanese versions of Korean food names. However, at present, the task of analyzing Japanese translations of Korean medical-related terminology is still in its early stages. In a situation where Korea’s local municipalities, as well as agencies and institutions connected with health care, are making great efforts to establish medical tourism infrastructure, particularly in Busan where such efforts have lagged behind those of Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, there is a need to identify and analyze the Japanese translations currently being applied for Korean medical terms, in order to figure out the cause of their misuse and to seek solutions. Through a problem analysis of misused Japanese terms and expressions in a range of health care-related sources, including Korean educational handbooks pertaining to Japanese medical language, the Japanese versions of Busan area medical institutions’ web pages, and Japanese translations of locally-produced pamphlets about health care, this study aims to examine inconsistent use of medical terminology and the improper use of medical expressions in Japanese. In addition, by contrasting local Japanese translations of medical terms with those used in Japanese medical institutions, and by identifying the dictionary definitions of terms, this study intends to propose correct usage of medical terminology in Japanese. The problem analysis conducted in this study identified various examples of misuse in the target sources of Korean educational handbooks on Japanese medical language, the Japanese versions of medical institutions’ web pages, and their health care pamphlets. On the basis of these examples, cases of misuse were classified into the following categories. First, in Korean educational handbooks on Japanese medical language, five types of misuse were identified: simple misuse; misused kanji (Chinese characters adopted in Japanese); misused medical terms; misused expressions; and lexical misuse. Simple misuse refers to cases of misspellings resulting from appended characters or diacritical marks; misspellings resulting from omission of diacritical marks, such as those denoting long vowels; and typographical or spelling errors involving the katakana or hiragana syllabaries. Misuse of kanji included incorrect use of rubi text (phonetic characters printed over Chinese characters) and incorrectly chosen Chinese characters. In both cases, the problem stemmed from incorrect application of Chinese characters. Medical term misuse fell into the categories of mistranslations resulting from selection of an incorrect synonym for a term with a similar meaning; direct translation of Korean expressions into Japanese; or typographicalorspellingerrors in the katakana or hiragana syllabaries. In the case of misused expressions, categories of misuse include erroneously-translated Japanese phrases presented in Korean; and direct translation into Japanese of Korean expressions that do not convey the correct meaning. Lexical misuse, meanwhile, included cases where corresponding words or expressions in Japanese and Korean carry different connotations, and the wrong one is chosen. Second, in the case of translated Japanese versions of web pages for Busan area medical institutions, the following four categories of misuse were identified: simple misuse; misused kanji (Chinese characters); misused medical terms; and misused expressions. Simple misuse entailed elements that had been incorrectly added or omitted, or terms that were misspelled or misprinted. Misuse of Chinese characters included mismatch of meaning between the Chinese character presented and the correct meaning of the corresponding term; and encoding of the wrong type of Chinese character (e.g., simplified Chinese characters instead of Japanese kanji). Misuse of medical terms refers to the use of Korean-style medical terminology that is not used in Japan. Examples include use of such terms as ‘디스크 [disc]’ or ‘요요현상 [yo-yo phenomenon]’. Misuse of expressions refers to the direct translation into Japanese of Korean-style expressions, resulting in a mismatch of meaning. Third, in the case of Japanese translations of health care pamphlets produced by medical institutions in Busan, four categories of misuse were identified: simple misuse, misused kanji (Chinese characters), misused medical terms, and misused expressions. Simple misuse included cases of elements that had been incorrectly added or omitted and terms that were misspelled or misprinted. The misuse of Chinese characters included mismatch of meaning between the Chinese character presented and the correct meaning of the corresponding term. The misuse of medical terminology included use of Korean-style medical terminology that differs from the Japanese equivalents and misspelling of Korea’s characteristic ‘hanbang’ (traditional Korean herbal medicine). Misuse of expressions included mistranslations of Korean expressions into Japanese that failed to convey the correct meaning. The causes for these various types of misuses can be traced to the differing translation techniques employed by the entities in charge of translation and the absence of an overall uniform manual for the translation process. This study carried out the above-described task of categorizing and examining the misuse of medical terminology, and proposes proper terminology for Japanese translations of medical terms that have been applied in a non-uniform manner. However, to address the issues surrounding misuse of medical terms at a fundamental level, I believe it is absolutely necessary to produce a standard uniform manual and to institute a supervisory
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