jaRelated

jaRelated is a proposed metadata relation used in multilingual information systems to indicate a link between content and related Japanese-language material. It is designed to surface Japanese content that is translations of, or closely related to, a given item, enabling more effective discovery for Japanese-speaking readers.

Purpose and scope: jaRelated labels connections that are language-specific, as opposed to general related links. Typical use cases include translation mapping where a non-Japanese article has a Japanese translation, or culturally or topically related articles that are particularly relevant to Japanese audiences. In practice, jaRelated may be implemented as a language-scoped relation in a knowledge graph, a markup in a content management system, or a Wikibase property.

Data model: A jaRelated relation points to a target entity identified by a stable ID or URL, carries a relationType (such as translation, relatedTopic, culturalRelation), and a language qualifier indicating ja. Provenance fields such as source, confidence, and lastUpdated may accompany it. The relation is often stored as part of a broader multilingual linkage schema and may be surfaced through APIs or search indexes.

Applications: jaRelated improves cross-lingual navigation and supports Japanese-focused search indexing. It assists editors and translators in locating appropriate equivalents or culturally relevant connections, and can be used within localization pipelines to align content across languages.

Examples: An English article about Cuisine has a jaRelated link to a Japanese article about 食べ物, and an article on Cherry Blossom has a jaRelated relationType relatedTopic to 桜. These connections help readers discover Japanese content that is directly relevant or equivalent in topic.

Status: As a concept, jaRelated is not yet a universally standardized property. Its adoption depends on governance, documentation, and consistent usage guidelines within a content ecosystem.