The entry has closed.
To applicants (December 18):
IDs have been sent to all participants.
If you have not received yours, please contact [email protected].
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Contest Guidelines
This contest is open to anyone with less than three years’ experience as a professional translator including students. JAT membership not required. Previous entrants (except 1st and 2nd place winners) are welcome to enter again. The submission deadline is November 15 (Sat.) this time.
Japanese-to-English Contest
Download the source text from here
English-to-Japanese Contest
Download the text from the Japanese page
Read the following instructions carefully before accessing the entry form.
・Submit your translation as an MS Word .doc file, an MS Word.docx file or a plain text file via the online entry form.
・Be sure to choose "japanese to english/日英” and not "english to japanese/英日" if you are entering the Japanese-to-English category.
・Your file should only contain the translated text.
・Do not write your name or comments anywhere in the file.
・Name your file as follows ("contest", "e", "first name" then "family name" with a single space in between) in all lower case letters: contest e your name (e.g., contest e john doe)
・Note that clicking the submit button will submit your application right away. There will be no confirmation page prior to submission.
・When you press the submit button, a symbol that looks like a traffic sign (a red circle with a diagonal line through it which is not an error sign) will appear. At the same time, a green bar with the word THANK YOU in it will appear below JAT Translation Contest Entry Form at the top of the screen. This means the file has been sent. (As of Nov. 14: When you press the submit button, the traffic-sign-like symbol described above may be skipped and the green THANK YOU bar may be shown immediately. This still indicates that your file has been successfully received.)
・You will not receive a confirmation email immediately after submission. Submissions will be confirmed by return email notifying your ID number to be sent by early-December.
・You can enter both Japanese-to-English and English-to-Japanese categories but only one entry per person is allowed in each category.
If you have any problem sending the entry form please contact [email protected]
Disqualification
You may be disqualified if:
・Your entry application is incomplete or submitted without translation file,
・Your file name is incorrect (Check again before you submit your application),
・Your entry is received after the deadline,
・You enter under someone else’s name,
・You submit work done by someone else,
・You use AI or any other form of machine translation to produce a complete translation or a significant portion of a translation, or
・You are dishonest about your qualifications (the contest is open to anyone with less than three years’ experience as a professional translator).
Contest Schedule
2025
October 1 (Wed.): Source texts and Contest Guidelines available for download
November 15(Sat.): Submission deadline (24:00 JST)
By early December: Your ID number notified by email
2026
By mid-January: Five finalists announced on the JAT website
By early March: 1st- and 2nd-place winners announced on the JAT website and by direct email to the winners.
By late March: Winners' and finalists' translation and judges' commentaries placed on the JAT website.
Award ceremony at IJET-34 to be held in Melbourne on September 5–6, 2026.
Judges
Preliminary
Japanese-to-English: Nora Heath, Ko Iwata, George Bourdaniotis
English-to-Japanese: Kiyoshi Chimasu, Seiko Matsushima, Naoko Uchida
Final
Japanese-to-English: James Davis, Ruth McCreery, Henry Smith
English-to-Japanese: Mayumi Adachi, Yukari Ishihara, Kiyoshi Fujimura
Judging
・Entries will be judged in two stages in accordance with evaluation criteria set by the judging panel.
・Entries are anonymized during the judging period. We will assign an ID number to each entry and notify you of your ID number by early December 2025.
・The ID numbers of the five finalists will be announced on the JAT website by mid-January 2026.
・The names of first and second place winners and finalists will be announced by early March 2026.
・The winners' and finalists' names and translation and judges' commentaries will be placed on the JAT website by late March.
・The decision of the judges is final. No appeals or contesting of the results will be accepted.
Copyright
・All submissions become the property of JAT and will not be returned.
・JAT retains the copyright to all submitted entries.
・JAT reserves all rights to publicize the winners’ names, winning entries, photos and likenesses, and background information on its website and mailing list and in electronic or printed publications.
Awards in Detail
JAT will pay the following for the first-place winners (JtoE and EtoJ):
・Free registration for IJET-34 (34th International Japanese-English Translation Conference) to be held in Melbourne on September 5-6, 2026.
・Round trip economy travel from the winner’s home to the IJET conference venue by the most direct route, including air, train, bus and personal vehicle.
・Hotel for three nights standard accommodation at or near the IJET venue. Receipts are required for all reimbursements.
Travel arrangements and details will be discussed with the winners in advance of purchase.
The second-place winners are entitled to free registration for IJET-34.
All finalists are entitled to one-year complimentary JAT membership.
For further information please contact [email protected].
References（from the last year's contest）:
21st contest source text and guidelines
Translations of the 21st contest winners and finalists
Commentaries from the 21st contest judges: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Interview with 21st Annual Translation Contest Winners