TOKYO – I knew my efforts to learn Japanese before my trip to Japan last autumn would be no match for a fire ritual at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo, so at the beginning of the ceremony, I discreetly slipped in one earbud.

Two monks pounded giant taiko drums as others chanted in unison under a cloud of fragrant smoke. Then the priest delivered closing remarks in Japanese. And in a miracle of technology, I understood quite a bit of it using Apple’s new Live Translation feature.