Good news for anyone planning a trip to Japan any time soon – you won’t have to worry quite as much about getting lost on the subway or ordering the wrong thing in a restaurant as Google’s excellent World Lens translation tool now supports the Japanese language.

Exploring unfamiliar places and experiencing new cultures are the best parts of being a tourist, but when you aren’t familiar with the country’s language or even its basic alphabet it can be a daunting experience, particularly in busy and sprawling cities like Tokyo.

Smart screen

Before now the Google Translate app allowed you to translate Japanese text to English and vice versa by snapping a photo but with World Lens all you need to do is open the Google Translate app, point your device’s camera at any Japanese or English text and you’ll see the English or Japanese translation appear on your screen in real time.

It’s an extremely convenient tool for travelers, made even more so by the fact that it works even if you aren’t connected to WiFi or you don’t have phone data.

To get access to Word Lens all you need to do is download the Google Translate app for either iOS or Android.