This paper explores how verbal ironies in English movies are translated in Japanese subtitles. Verbal ironies can be separated into two basic groups based on their interpersonal function: aggressive or friendly. Examination of Japanese subtitles of eighteen American movies showed both types of irony were most often translated as ironies preserving both their interpersonal function and the speaker’s true feelings. Aggressive ironies, however, were also often translated as non-ironies either explicating or implicating the speaker’s true feelings. On the other hand, friendly ironies were often translated as non-ironies neither explicating nor implicating thespeaker’s true feelings, only retaining their interpersonal function. Both types of irony were sometimes omitted when their implicated meaning or intended effect was communicated otherwise in a linguistic and/or non-linguistic context. The results suggest that retention of the interpersonal function takes priority over retention of the implicated meaning or the use of irony in Japanese subtitle translation.