ABSTRACT
Japanese is one of the first languages into which the MMPI was translated, and there is no doubt that there are a greater number of translations into Japanese than into any other language. From its beginning in 1950, the “translation fever” reached its peak in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Some of the versions were developed because their authors found existing translations unsatisfactory. In other cases, the researchers were probably unaware of previous efforts. The translations vary on a continuum from strictly literal through different degrees of cultural adaptation. Some were renormed or even rescaled, while others utilize both U.S. norms and existing scales. Short forms were also developed. Hidano (cited in Butcher & Pancheri, 197) has estimated that there are 15 translations of the MMPI item pool in Japan. At least nine of these are available in research form or have been published.
