Pioneering Japanese interpreting team opened nation's eyes to disabled athletes at '64 Paralympics
Foreign residents and wheelchairs — much less Paralympic athletes — were a rare sight in Japan in 1964. Preparations to host the Summer Olympics and the second-ever Paralympics were well underway. Stadiums, highways and hotels were being built at breakneck speeds, cutting-edge photographic and timing ...
For Japan's medical interpretation industry, tourism boom presents growing challenge
During one of her medical-interpreting lessons in July, teacher Yoshiko Ishizaka, 77, brought up the case of a former student who was dealing with schizophrenia. The principal of Tokyo-based International Medical Interpreter Academy used the example to engage her class in a discussion on the ...
Understanding the challenging world of the literary translator
English translations of Japanese books have found an enthusiastic audience around the world, and while the author is undoubtedly the star of the show, the translator's role should not be underestimated.
Tourists to Japan are fueling a boom in personal translation devices
Takehiko Fujita wouldn't be able to do his job selling eye drops and pain relievers without his pocket translator. Instead of an app, language dictionary or call-in translation service, the clerk at a Japanese drugstore uses Pocketalk, a ¥25,000 device made by Sourcenext Corp. that ...
Archive to tell story of Beate Sirota Gordon's pivotal role in fight for gender equality in Japan
Documents related to Beate Sirota Gordon, the American translator who played a major role in the formulation of the Japanese Constitution's gender equality protections, are being archived in a project exploring the development of women's rights. The initiative, which aims to demonstrate the role women ...
"Forgotten Center" instead of "Lost and Found" is just one of the mistranslations discovered on websites that may puzzle foreign tourists in Japan, the government said Wednesday, urging the operators to fix such problems as soon as possible. With the country readying itself for a ...
Japan assures world that Reiwa is all about 'beautiful harmony' and has nothing to do with 'command'
The move is intended to dispel what the ministry considers erroneous reports overseas that the new era name has connotations of “command” or “order.”
Punctual trains. Rat-free platforms. A high standard of cleanliness. The Japanese commuter railway system is known for efficient, sanitary and high quality service. But creating an accurately translated website offering train information may not have been a top priority for Osaka Metro Co. The operator of ...
Yoko Tawada: Wondrously strange subject matter from a fantastical imagination
Prize-winning author Yoko Tawada tethers her playful prose to realistic social issues: gender roles, immigration, aging societies. Writing in both Japanese and German, her novels have crossed multiple cultural boundaries.
Donald Keene, lauded scholar of Japanese literature, dies at 96
Prominent U.S.-born Japanese literature scholar Donald Keene, who introduced a roster of talented writers from Japan to the world, died of cardiac arrest in Tokyo on Sunday.
Aeon rolls out real-time video interpreting service for non-Japanese customers in 10 languages
In light of an increasing number of foreign customers, supermarket giant Aeon Co. on Friday launched a real-time video interpreting service. Shop clerks at about 550 Aeon stores now carry smartphones or tablet devices that can access interpreters through video chat software to assist non-Japanese ...
'Star Trek'-style translators closer to reality at CES gadget show
Once confined to the realms of science fiction, translation devices that whisper discreetly into your ear during a conversation are finally coming of age thanks to leaps in AI and cloud computing. An array of companies at the Consumer Electronics Show are promoting increasingly sophisticated ...
