新年明けましておめでとうございます。
Happy New Year!
I’m writing to tell you what the Japan Association of Translators has accomplished over the past six months.
At the beginning of 2019, JAT membership stands at just over 700. About half of JAT’s members live in Japan, and the rest are scattered across the globe. You can find most members in the JAT directory at https://jat.org/translators and information...
医薬品開発-承認申請-市販後業務のための知っておきたい英単語・英語表現
Author: 内田たけみ
ISBN: 978-4840746342
Second Edition, published September 2014
Price: 3700 yen plus tax (as of December 2018)
医薬品開発-承認申請-市販後業務のための知っておきたい英単語・英語表現 is now in its second edition. Written by Takemi Uchida, formerly an in-house translator with pharma companies Upjohn and Pfizer before retiring to become a freelance translator, this book dovetails...
Mere Pebbles Along the Way
Charles De Wolf
It is said that while source texts are eternal, target languages are not, hence the enduring need for new translations of old works. And yet inasmuch as our perceptions too are subject to time’s vicissitudes, so in some sense are the seemingly unchanging texts themselves.
The perfectly “normal” dialogue in older films such as Ozu’s Banshun (Late...
There were 28 entrants in the Japanese to English Division and 38 in the English to Japanese Division of the Fifteenth Annual JAT Contest for New and Aspiring Japanese/English Translators. The finalists are:
Japanese to English Division: E24 E34 E35 E37 E40
English to Japanese Division: J16 J30 J35 J36 J47
First- and second-place winners will soon be announced on the JAT website and by...
Mini Book Review: 翻訳教室
Lectures on Literary Translation from English to Japanese
ISBN-13: 978-4022646644
Publication date: April 5, 2013
Price: 1,000 JPY plus tax
Author: 柴田 元幸
Inspired by Kevin Kirton’s 2001 review of 翻訳夜話 that was recently republished on the JAT blog, I decided to buy a copy for myself. At the same time, I also picked up 翻訳教室, by one of the book’s interlocutors, 柴田元幸. I...
I know we have many JAT members who also teach translation or work in agencies as coordinators, so you may be interested to hear about a product I saw demonstrated in a recent webinar.
Traditionally, the way we mark, revise, or evaluate student-submitted translation assignments is to open the documents in Word and use the Track Changes or Comment functions to identify, categorize, and correct...
技術翻訳のチェックポイント：技術英文の作成と評価
English title: Improving Translation Quality
Author: Kevin Morrissey
ISBN: 978-4621075654
Price: 2400 yen plus tax (as of December 2018)
First published in 2005, and available in bricks-and-mortar bookstores and online, this very useful book is now in its sixth printing. I thought I’d take a look at it after the recent publication of the JTF翻訳品質評価ガイドライン.
Improving...
I realized a long time ago that I didn’t have what it takes to be an interpreter. However, thinking that I still might learn something useful from a meeting aimed at interpreters, I attended the joint JATINT/TAC meeting held in Yoyogi on November 17, 2018. And so I did.
The first speaker was Izumi Suzuki, whose presentation was titled 通訳ビジネスの成功に向けて. Suzuki-san provided a comprehensive rundown...
On the heels of the JTF Translation Festival in Kyoto and the 7th medical translation seminar organized by International Medical Translation Service, Inc., a small group of JAT members specializing in medical and pharma held an informal meeting in Osaka on Sunday October 28. Each attendee was tasked with preparing an eight-minute presentation on a subject of their choice in Japanese or English,...
To be or not to be … productive? We will be now!
The Tokyo Activities Committee meeting of Saturday October 20 featured twenty-year veteran translator Cathy Eberst reprising and expanding her IJET-29 presentation on productivity.
Cathy began by asking the audience about whether they were productive and/or efficient, and whether there were any differences between these concepts. We were...
How Not to Lose It in Translation.....
by Emily Shibata-Sato and Cliff Bender
“I can't believe it. My hands are shaking from excitement as I type this message!” replied Mako Sato upon hearing that she had won first place in the English- to-Japanese division of the First Annual JAT Translation Contest for new and aspiring translators sponsored by the Japan Association of Translators...
Contest Guidelines
This contest is open to anyone with less than total three years’ experience as a professional translator. JAT membership not required. Previous entrants (except winners) are welcome to enter again.
Download the Japanese-to-English source text from here.
The entry for the contest is now closed.
The entries are now being checked and your ID number will soon be sent to you...
The Sound of One Hand Clapping (Against Another): Murakami and Shibata Discuss Translation
Kevin KIRTON (ケビン・カートン)
If I had to offer a single compelling reason for translators to read 『翻訳夜話』(Hon’yaku Yawa) by Murakami Haruki 村上春樹 and Shibata Motoyuki 柴田元幸 (文春新書、2000 年、 ISBN コ－ド 4-16-660129-6), it would be this: it’s a very pleasurable way to find a renewed sense of wonderment for the...
Seeking to encourage talented people to enter the translation field, JAT is pleased to announce its fifteenth annual Japanese <> English translation contest for new and aspiring translators. The actual passage to be translated is a real-life text—the sort of thing a working commercial translator might well be called upon to do.
Open to: Anyone with less than three years’ experience as a...
How Customers Can Make the Most of J-To-E Freelance Translators’ Services
Frank Moorhead
Translation services are usually provided by freelance translators or agencies. Freelancers work alone as individuals or small incorporated entities, while agencies are usually incorporated and have a number of translators on their books, including in-house employees, outside translators under exclusive...