Dear JAT members,
It’s election time again!
I’m delighted to announce this year’s Election Committee – Yoko Kawabe (chair), Thomas Kaiser, and Wendy McBride. Over the coming weeks, they will guide us through the election process.
Before that, in accordance with Section III.2.2. of the bylaws (http://jat.org/bylaws#elections), let me update you on the state of JAT.
JAT currently has 479 members in Japan and overseas. You can find our membership directory at http://jat.org/translators/ and information about JAT’s history and organization at {page_353}.
The current JAT Directors are
- Helen Iwata: President, Election Committee liaison, e-Juku liaison
- Charles Aschmann: Vice president, webmaster, moderator liaison
- Chris Blakeslee: Membership officer, JATLAW (and other SIG) liaison
- Sako Eaton: Assistant webmaster, assistant membership officer
- Koji Himeno: Public relations officer, assistant IJET liaison, assistant PROJECT liaison
- Megumi Kimoto: Tokyo Activities Committee (TAC) liaison, contest liaison, assistant treasurer
- Catherine Nakamichi: IJET liaison, PROJECT liaison, Kansai Activities Team (KAT) liaison
- Fred Uleman: Treasurer, publications liaison, assistant public relations officer
The Auditors are Frank Moorhead and Emily Shibata-Sato.
JAT’s events, activities, and committees are described below.
*** Events
JAT members can enjoy recordings of many events at http://jat.org/Videos/categories/27.
* IJET (International Japanese-English Translation) conferences – Following an educational and fun conference in Seattle in 2011, we now look forward to IJET-23 in Hiroshima on June 2-3 this year and IJET-24 in Hawaii in 2013.
- IJET-23 Hiroshima Committee: Masahiro Ohkoshi (chair), Yoko Fuchikawa, Katrin Kusunoki, Paul Makino, Mikako Miyahara, Ryo Ogata, Mike Sekine, and Yoichiro Tachibana.
- IJET-24 Hawaii Committee: Don Todt (chair), Cliff Bender, George Bourdaniotis, Kiyoshi Chimasu, Aaron Isgar, Ikuko Kondo-Hiranuma, Richard Sadowsky, and Ben Tompkins.
* PROJECT (Professional Japanese English Conference for Translators) – After two PROJECTs in Tokyo and one in Osaka, we held our first conference in Nagoya in November 2011 – it was a great success! The Board welcomes proposals for the next PROJECT venue and committee.
- PROJECT Nagoya Committee: Lisa Hew (chair), Stuart Ayre, Stephen Carter, Mitch Clark, Paul Koehler, Scott Mason, Joji Matsuo, Yoko Shinobu, and Gareth Swain.
* Regional meetings – events featuring presentations, workshops, and panel discussions held monthly in Tokyo and several times a year in Kansai.
- Tokyo Activities Committee (TAC): Alison Watts (chair), Stuart Ayre, Cathy Eberst, Jim Hubbert, Usha Jayaraman, Julianne Long, Hideaki Maruoka, Victoria Oyama, Mayumi Toyota, Andrew Welford, and Yusaku Yai.
- Kansai Activities Committee (KAT): Cat Nakamichi (chair), George Bourdaniotis, Kiyoshi Chimasu, Masa Kajiki, Richard Sadowsky, and Rowan White.
*** Special-interest groups
* JATLAW – a special-interest group that works closely with the Japan Legal Information Institute to promote more consistent and informative legal translation and holds meetings several times a year.
- JATLAW Committee: Carol Lawson (chair), Sarah Bull, Sawako Harada, Kyal Hill, Timothy Marrable, Toby Rushbrook.
* JAT Pharma? – The Board has recently received a draft proposal from some members who are working on forming a pharma special-interest group. We look forward to hearing more!
*** Activities
* JAT Contest for New and Aspiring Translators – held annually for the last eight years. We received 35 valid entries for the Japanese-to-English division and 83 for the English-to-Japanese division in the 2011 contest. Results will be announced shortly!
The screeners were
- J>E: George Bourdaniotis, Nora Stevens Heath, and Ko Iwata
- E>J: Mayumi Adachi, Takaaki Aono, and Yukihiro Sato.
The judges were
- J>E: James Davis, Malcolm James, and Ken Wagner
- E>J: Kiyoshi Chimasu, Kiyoshi Fujimura, and Yukari Ishihara.
* e-Juku – online sessions over one or two months, with around three students working on the same source text and receiving feedback from more experienced translators. The fourth e-Juku session has just come to a close with Jeremy Angel, Richard Sadowsky, and Shu Yamakawa sharing their expertise and Zachary Braverman coordinating.
* JAT Pharma Handbook – available as a free download to JAT members at http://jat.org/news/show/jat_pharma_handbook_now_available
and on paper (spiral-bound) for ¥5,000, postage included.
- Contributors: Lee Seaman (chair), Cathy Archer, Charles Aschmann, Tony Atkinson, Kathleen Geisse, the late Doug Havens, Noriko Hill, Hanako Jikihara Grubbs, Jay Kilpatrick, Tom Lang, Edward Lipsett, Masami Paton, Steve Sherman, John Stroman, Ben Tompkins, and Ken Wagner.
*** Administrative committees
- Website development: Charles Aschmann, Sako Eaton, Sean Colquhoun (contractor), Stephen Lewis (contractor), and Christopher Muro (contractor)
- Website Content Development Committee – Steve Venti (overall chair), Cathy Eberst (English chair), and Emily Shibata-Sato (Japanese chair)
- Japanese Translation Team: Matoko Tsutamura, Naoko Uchida, and Aki Watanabe
- Moderators: Charles Aschmann, Stephen Carter, Kathy Taji, and John Zimet
- Election Committee: Yoko Kawabe (chair), Thomas Kaiser, and Wendy McBride
*** Relations with other organizations
JAT maintains active relations with other translation-related organizations.
* International Federation of Translators (FIT) – JAT has been an affiliate member since 1994
* Japan Translation Federation (JTF) – JAT members frequently present at the annual Translation Festival and other JTF events.
* Japanese Standards Association (JSA) – JAT is observing meetings and following discussions on the International Organization for Standardization’s TC 37 committee and efforts to develop international standards for translating and interpreting.
*** PR activities
In addition to sharing information with translation-related organizations and educational institutions, JAT is contributing a series of essays by JAT members in the Tsuyaku-Honyaku Journal and has placed an ad in the February 21, 2012 edition of the same publication to raise awareness about JAT among potential members and translation users.
* Finances
JAT derives revenues primarily from annual membership fees. The Board continues to seek ways to use the funds to the maximum value of the membership.
* Board communications and time commitment
The Board is responsible for keeping JAT running and communicates through Basecamp, which has a web interface and e-mail in addition to data storage and scheduling features. We also hold a face-to-face meeting once a year, for which JAT pays travel and accommodation.
The time each Board member devotes to JAT varies – from a few hours a week to a few hours a day. All Board members have other commitments outside JAT and, if one member needs to take time off, others do their best to take up the slack. Board members are unpaid.
I hope that this gives you a sense of where JAT currently stands and that many of you will consider stepping forward as Director or Auditor candidates in this year’s election. Please ask any of the current officers if you have questions.
I remain continually inspired by the enthusiasm and dedication of everyone involved in JAT’s activities. I very much look forward to serving a fourth year on the Board. For me, it is an honor and pleasure to play a part in running JAT.
Kind regards,
Helen Iwata
JAT President
e-mail: [email protected]