Professional Information

Profession

Translator

Source Language

Japanese

Target Language

English

Specialties

Art, art history, history, cultural properties, culture, architecture, photography, conservation/restoration, cultural properties management, cultural properties preservation, archaeology, ceramics, painting, sculpture, contemporary art, aesthetics.

Background

In the 1970s and 80s, I trained and worked in the US and Japan as an art historian and museum curator specializing in Japanese art. Those studies and experiences meant that I have been working with art and culture-related Japanese language texts since 1975. After completing my Ph.D. in Japanese Art History at the University of Michigan in 1991, I morphed from my curatorial work phase into my translator phase. My first translation job in 1991 was in a computer software localization firm in Kamakura and my second was in the editorial office producing the Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia at Kodansha. By 1993 my colleagues, classmates and professors in the art history and museum community of Japan began hiring me to translate exhibition catalogues, research papers, journal abstracts, annual reports, and all the other publications related to art museums, art historical research and research institute work. I have been an art-texts specialized translator since 1993. I moved from Tokyo to Melbourne Australia in 2004 and now hold dual American/Australian citizenship. In 2004, a computer software specialist colleague and I formed Pixels & Ink P/L, a translation and software development company in Melbourne Australia. In 2012, I became sole director of the company and changed the company name to MJM Ink Pty Ltd. I bring the highest level of specialized knowledge and experience to my work for clients ranging from Japanese national museums and research institutes to major exhibition organizers, smaller museums and individual scholars worldwide. I am renowned for my ability to meet tight deadlines with high-quality, accurate translations written in elegant and audience-appropriate English. My references and a selected bibliography of my extensive published byline translations are available upon request.