It’s hard to believe that another year is almost in the books! We at TRAC have completed our second year now, all thanks to your support. We at TRAC hope that we continue to see you all, along with new faces, into next year and beyond.

With that, announcing the TRAC Shinnenkai on January 16th! We’ll be holding the festivities this time at Ducca, close to Sendai Station for easy access. Please RSVP to be sure you have a seat.

Again this time, the speaker is… YOU! We’re asking everyone to bring a 5-minute topic that’s either directly or indirectly to translation, interpretation or some facet of their business to share with the group over dinner. Any topic you think will be of interest to the group is fine!

Date: Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016
Time: 18:00 – 20:30
Cost: 4,000 yen (drinks incl.)
Capacity: 20

Place: Ducca, Sendai Sta. Branch (Map)
 

Please RSVP by January 8th to the TRAC.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

The 3rd JATINT Meeting

Theme: This seminar will provide practical training for consecutive & simultaneous interpreting, including training on how to take notes for consecutive interpreting and paper preparation for simultaneous interpreting.  Participants will be asked to interpret before the audience.

Venue: Classroom 423, No.4 Building, Seisen University

3-16-21 Higashi Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, 141-8642, Japan

Tel: 81-3-3447-5551

Fax: 81-3-3447-5798

Admission fee:

JATINT only: JAT Member 2000 yen Non-JAT Member: 4000 yen Student: 2000 yen

Google Me and See What I Can Do

I have been a J-E/E-J translator for the past 15 years. Over these years, there have been some rough times: the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the Great East Japan Earthquake, to name just two. I also teach at a translation school and have now expanded into book translation. I have been a JAT member since 2005, but if you have not heard of me yet try searching for “矢能千秋” on Google and see what you can find.
There are two things that I continually bear in mind in my business: Win-win relationships and honesty. My presentation will be in Japanese, but please feel free to ask questions in English. I hope you can come and see what I am doing.

From attending translation school to my work today, I will cover the following themes.
· Finding new clients
· Developing new areas of specialization
· Learning more about time management
· Freelance work
· Translating into Japanese and translating into English
· Translating for industry and translating for publications
· Balancing work and child-rearing
· Working as an instructor
· JAF and JTF

Date: Saturday, January 30, 2016
Time: 14:00-17:00
Doors open: 13.30
Place: Forum 8, Shibuya (http://www.forum-8.co.jp/access/index.html)
Address: Dogenzaka 2-10-7, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0043; Phone: 03-3780-0008
Cost: JAT members 1,000 yen; non-members 3,000 yen (advance registration is NOT necessary)
Koryukai: From 17:15 (advance registration is NOT necessary, register and pay at seminar reception)
Venue: B.Y.G http://www.byg.co.jp/access/index_access.html
Address: Dogenzaka 2-19-14, Shibuya
Tel: 03-3461-8574
Cost: 2,000 yen (food only/cash bar)
Inquiries: tac@jat.org

Text of JAT presentation made by Bill Lise on Technical Translation in 1987: provides great  advice on common issues that come up in Japanese to English technical translation. Specific examples with suggested solutions and reasoning behind each problem make this an extremly valuable document.

The slides from Ms Hirabayashi's session at PROJECT Kyoto.

消費税転嫁拒否に関するアンケートにご協力いただきありがとうございました。

日本在住の会員の20％以上が回答に応じてくださいました。アンケートの回答を基に、経済産業省中小企業庁、消費税転嫁対策室の専門職員3名に会い、お話を伺い、報告書として纏めましたので、ご覧ください。

（JAT会員限定）

Challenges for English into Japanese Machine Translation (MT): Can We Embrace MT for Language Teaching?

Takako Aikawa, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Noon Lecture, University of Michigan, February 26, 2016

Takako Aikawa did give us permission to make her powerpoint slides available here. The outline is as follows:

1. A brief introduction of Machine Translation (MT)
Historical background of the development of MT
How does (Statistical) MT work?

2. Challenges for the English -> Japanese (EJ) MT
Open problems for MT in general
Differences between English and Japanese

3. What can we do to improve the quality of MT for EJ translations?
Crowdsourcing
Controlled/Simplified English

4. Can MT be used for teaching Japanese?
Ban, or Embrace MT?
 

Creating and Selling

Getting your book done and getting it published: that was Caroline Pover’s subject when she spoke to JAT’s TIP (translator-initiated publishing) SIG meeting on December 9, 2013.

Pover herself has a solid record of achievement, starting with her 2001 Being A Broad In Japan and continuing thorough her 2009 Guide to International Schools in Japan, her 2010 Ask Caroline, and on to the latest, 2012’s Love with a Western Woman: A Guide for Japanese Men.

There were 98  entrants in the English-to-Japanese Division and 33 in the Japanese-to-English Division of the Twelfth Annual JAT Contest for New and Aspiring Japanese/English Translators. The finalists have been decided as follows.

On October 24, 2015, JAT members got together for a TAC event with a difference: a healthy walk in the hills of Kamakura. It was the chance to get away from the computer screen and get to know each other better while enjoying a little exercise in some exceptionally fine autumn weather. As feedback was positive, TAC plans to arrange another walking event in 2016.

The Japan Association of Translators (JAT) has a special interest group (SIG) for entertainment and audiovisual translators called “JATENT”.

JATENT has not been so active in recent times, but we would like to revive it, and are looking for input on what kind of group people in the field would benefit from, and want to be involved in.

Please spare us a few minutes of your valuable time to respond to this survey and help us create a useful group for entertainment and audiovisual translators!

LINK TO SURVEY: http://goo.gl/forms/kmWV7CGDt8

PLEASE RESPOND BY 11.59 P.M., DECEMBER 7, 2015 (JST).

Inquiries: jatent@jat.org

JAT member Terry Gallagher has recently been awarded the Japan-United States Friendship Commission Prize (also known as the Donald Keene Prize)  for his translation of Toh Enjoe's SELF-REFERENCE ENGINE (VIZ Media, 2013).

The awards ceremony and reception  will be held at Columbia University in New York City on Friday December 11th, 2015, and is open to the public. Any JAT members in New York City in early December? Go show your support as Terry receives this wonderful award! 

RSVP by Dec. 1 to reserve your spot! 

To attend the translation prize awards ceremony, email your full name by December 1st.

四半世紀の時を超えて、そして次なる未来へ　～　終わりなき革新で、拡大するマーケットに挑む翻訳産業～

Who: for translators, translation companies, and translation clients

What: JTF Translation Festival (full-day of sessions and networking)

Where: Arcadia Ichigaya (Tokyo) (JR Ichigaya or Tokyo Metro Yurakucho line)

When: November 26, 2015 (Thursday)
          9:30  to 21:00

Why:  To unlock new translation markets with innovative keys...