model gpt 4o attached to a datasource is not providing response in pure japanese language, it works well with languages like spanish, french etc but not japanese.

Question

model gpt 4o attached to a datasource is not providing response in pure japanese language, it works well with languages like spanish, french etc but not japanese.

Akshay V Sharma 0

Sina Salam 22,806 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2025-07-30T17:04:11.4133333+00:00
Hello Akshay V Sharma,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A and thank you for posting your questions here.

I understand that you are having issues with model gpt 4o attached to a DataSource is not providing response in pure japanese language.

If GPT-4o is connected to a datasource and works well with languages like Spanish and French but struggles to respond in pure Japanese, there could be some possible causes:

Japanese text often uses multi-byte characters (UTF-8 or Shift-JIS). If the datasource isn't properly encoded or parsed, GPT-4o might not interpret it correctly.

Check if the datasource supports Japanese characters and if the data is being passed correctly to the model.

GPT-4o may need clearer language cues to respond in Japanese. Try explicitly prompting it with: 日本語で答えてください。 (Please answer in Japanese.)

If the datasource contains mostly non-Japanese content, GPT-4o might default to the dominant language unless explicitly instructed otherwise.

Some implementations might restrict certain languages due to tokenization or filtering settings. Check if there's a language filter or preference set in the API or integration layer.

If you're using a custom UI or middleware, it might be stripping or misrendering Japanese characters. Try logging raw responses from GPT-4o to verify.

I hope this is helpful! Do not hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions or clarifications.

Please don't forget to close up the thread here by upvoting and accept it as an answer if it is helpful.
Pavankumar Purilla 10,430 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-07-31T10:21:33.3733333+00:00

Hi Akshay V Sharma,
The GPT‑4o model fully supports the Japanese language and can provide responses entirely in Japanese. If you are experiencing issues where the model connected to your data source returns mixed-language or non-pure Japanese responses, this is likely due to integration-specific factors rather than the model itself. Common causes include data source content being partially in other languages, prompt setup that does not explicitly instruct the model to respond only in Japanese, or, in rare cases, encoding issues. To resolve this, ensure that your data source contains high-quality Japanese content, verify that your data pipeline handles UTF‑8 correctly, and use explicit prompts such as 「日本語だけで答えてください。」 (Please answer in Japanese only). Reviewing these areas should help you obtain responses purely in Japanese from GPT‑4o when it is connected to your data source.
Pavankumar Purilla 10,430 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-01T04:47:58.7966667+00:00

Hi Akshay V Sharma,
Did you get any chance to check the response. Thank you!
Akshay V Sharma 0 Reputation points

2025-08-01T06:11:03.4566667+00:00

True the problem is not the model, the problem lies in rag setup done at azure, azure ai search is not able to provide top n docs which is asked in Japanese(works with other languages), thats why the model is not responding as per the documentation present and query asked
Siva Nair 345 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-04T18:39:37.42+00:00

Hi Akshay V Sharma,

Just checking back to see if the above response was helpful, if you have any other questions or concerns feel free to post back, happy to help you further.

1 answer

Your answer

Sina Salam 22,806 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2025-07-30T17:04:11.4133333+00:00

Hello Akshay V Sharma,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A and thank you for posting your questions here.

I understand that you are having issues with model gpt 4o attached to a DataSource is not providing response in pure japanese language.

If GPT-4o is connected to a datasource and works well with languages like Spanish and French but struggles to respond in pure Japanese, there could be some possible causes:

Japanese text often uses multi-byte characters (UTF-8 or Shift-JIS). If the datasource isn't properly encoded or parsed, GPT-4o might not interpret it correctly.

Check if the datasource supports Japanese characters and if the data is being passed correctly to the model.

GPT-4o may need clearer language cues to respond in Japanese. Try explicitly prompting it with: 日本語で答えてください。 (Please answer in Japanese.)

If the datasource contains mostly non-Japanese content, GPT-4o might default to the dominant language unless explicitly instructed otherwise.

Some implementations might restrict certain languages due to tokenization or filtering settings. Check if there's a language filter or preference set in the API or integration layer.

If you're using a custom UI or middleware, it might be stripping or misrendering Japanese characters. Try logging raw responses from GPT-4o to verify.

I hope this is helpful! Do not hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions or clarifications.

Please don't forget to close up the thread here by upvoting and accept it as an answer if it is helpful.
Pavankumar Purilla 10,430 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-07-31T10:21:33.3733333+00:00

Hi Akshay V Sharma,
The GPT‑4o model fully supports the Japanese language and can provide responses entirely in Japanese. If you are experiencing issues where the model connected to your data source returns mixed-language or non-pure Japanese responses, this is likely due to integration-specific factors rather than the model itself. Common causes include data source content being partially in other languages, prompt setup that does not explicitly instruct the model to respond only in Japanese, or, in rare cases, encoding issues. To resolve this, ensure that your data source contains high-quality Japanese content, verify that your data pipeline handles UTF‑8 correctly, and use explicit prompts such as 「日本語だけで答えてください。」 (Please answer in Japanese only). Reviewing these areas should help you obtain responses purely in Japanese from GPT‑4o when it is connected to your data source.
Pavankumar Purilla 10,430 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-01T04:47:58.7966667+00:00

Hi Akshay V Sharma,
Did you get any chance to check the response. Thank you!
Akshay V Sharma 0 Reputation points

2025-08-01T06:11:03.4566667+00:00

True the problem is not the model, the problem lies in rag setup done at azure, azure ai search is not able to provide top n docs which is asked in Japanese(works with other languages), thats why the model is not responding as per the documentation present and query asked
Siva Nair 345 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-04T18:39:37.42+00:00

Hi Akshay V Sharma,

Just checking back to see if the above response was helpful, if you have any other questions or concerns feel free to post back, happy to help you further.

Answer 1

Hi Akshay V Sharma,

You pointed out correct! Lets check few points below.

a)Update Your Index Analyzer Configuration

First, make sure your Azure AI Search index is set up with an analyzer that supports Japanese. For any fields that store Japanese text, use either ja.lucene or ja.microsoft. These analyzers are designed specifically for Japanese language processing and will handle the text much more effectively.

Example of how your field definition might look in the index schema:

{
  "name": "content_ja",
  "type": "Edm.String",
  "analyzer": "ja.lucene"
}

b)Normalize Japanese Queries Before Sending to Search

Japanese queries often need preprocessing to improve matching. It's a good idea to normalize the text before passing it to the search index. You can:

Convert full-width characters to half-width
Normalize kana (e.g., convert between hiragana and katakana)
Strip out unnecessary punctuation or whitespace

You can handle this normalization in your application layer or with an Azure Function acting as middleware.

c)Use Scoring Profiles to Boost Japanese Fields

If your index contains content in multiple languages, you can use scoring profiles to give more weight to Japanese fields during search. This helps surface the most relevant Japanese content when a Japanese query is made.

Example scoring profile:

"scoringProfiles": [
  {
    "name": "boostJapanese",
    "text": {
      "weights": {
        "content_ja": 3
      }
    }
  }
]

d)Enable Language Detection -Optional

If you're working with multilingual documents and you're not sure which analyzer to apply, you can use Azure Cognitive Search’s built-in language detection. This allows you to dynamically assign the correct analyzer to each document or field based on detected language.

e)Log and Compare Search Results

To troubleshoot and confirm where things might be breaking down, it’s helpful to log the top-N documents returned for different versions of the same query. For example:

Try the same query in both Japanese and English.
Try queries before and after normalization.

This can help you determine whether the problem lies in tokenization, scoring, or language handling.

f)Use a Fallback Strategy- optional

If Japanese search still doesn’t return useful results, you can fall back on translating the query into English using Azure Translator. Run the search in English, and once you have the results, feed them into GPT-4o with instructions to respond in Japanese.

You can prompt GPT-4o like this:

「以下の情報に基づいて日本語で答えてください。」

Let me know if you have further queries.

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model gpt 4o attached to a datasource is not providing response in pure japanese language, it works well with languages like spanish, french etc but not japanese.

1 answer

Your answer