Speaker: Makoto Shimizu, Kansai Judicial Interpreters Training Institute
Date: Sunday 15th March 2015
Time: 2:30–4:30 p.m. (followed by networking dinner nearby)
Fee: 1,000 yen for JAT members, 1,500 for non-members
Venue: Hyogoken Shigaku Kaikan, 3 minutes north of JR/Hanshin Motomachi Sta., 7-minute walk from Hankyu Sannomiya Sta.
Location: 神戸市中央区北長狭通4丁目3-13 (078-331-6623) (http://www.hyogo-shigaku.or.jp/map.html)
Reservations: Email JAT KAT <[email protected]> by Thursday March 12, indicating whether you will attend the dinner after the talk.
Cooperated by: JATINT（Interpreting Division)
Statistics show that last year the number of crimes committed by visiting foreigners increased for the first time in many years. This trend is expected to continue in the near future, and present measures for the prevention of crimes by foreigners are facing new difficulties. There are cases where the quality and ability of the interpreter, vital to cases with foreign suspects, have been called into question. This talk will discuss these issues and offer possible solutions.
(1) Crimes committed by foreigners in Japan
The difficulties in solving crimes committed by foreigners including international terrorism
(2) Questioning the quality and ability of interpretation
True case studies
(3) Points to remember when questioning foreigners
Issues that arise when using an interpreter for questioning, and examples of complaints against and dissatisfaction with investigator interpreters
(4) Workshop
Role playing in interpreting for police questioning using hypothetical situations
Profile:
Makoto Shimizu started his career as policeman on the Hyogo Prefectural force in 1983, working the police box. He entered the National Police Academy International Criminal Investigations Institute for two years where he studied practical Chinese. On his return to Hyogo, Shimizu worked at the Prefectural Police Foreign Affairs Department, Organized Crime Department and other departments handling foreign crime. During this time, he not only interpreted during questioning but also contributed to the solving of crimes committed by foreigners as a bilingual investigator. Later, as head of the Interpretation Center, he endeavored to improve police interpreter training for various languages. The occurrence of induced false confessions during questioning has caused the police serious problems of false accusation, and legislation was passed to enforce transparency during questioning. Even though the police were striving to enhance the effectiveness of questioning, Shimizu was concerned with the lack of organized training and development for police interpreters, which is vital to improving the sophistication of questioning of foreign suspects. In March 2014, he retired early from the police force to establish the Kansai Judicial Interpreters Training Institute (http://k-lits.com), the first such training center in Japan. He is now devoting his efforts to training police interpreters.