Frequently Asked Questions, Japanese Interpreter, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

日本語通訳、ビジネス談合、法廷や技術交換にも経験　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　豊富、米国ミネソタ州ミネアポリス市在住。

Q. Do you work as an interpreter and do translation for any other languages than Japanese at court trials and business negotiations?

A. No, we solely work as an interpreter and do translation of Japanese/English. While there are many language brokers out there, we have intentionally chosen to be exclusively a Japanese translation agency. Although language brokers claim that they have interpreters for many languages for court trials etc., but they may not be as high a quality as an agency that specializes in one specific language. After all, people are only capable of evaluating interpreters and the translation in the languages that they speak fluently.

Q. Why should I have my own Japanese interpreter? Japanese side insists on providing their own interpreter to the meeting.

A. Japanese will insist on to have their own interpreter, most likely full time their company interpreter, because it is to their advantage. All it depends on how important the outcome of the meeting is to you. You would not depend on their attorney to your legal matter so that you should not depend on their interpreter if the negotiation involves a large amount of money. Japanese will certainly resist and protest to bring your own Japanese interpreter even if you promise your interpreter says nothing in the meeting, but they will hate to see their total control of the meeting to slip. They do not like to have anybody but themselves to understand conversations among them in Japanese. Besides, your own Japanese interpreter can inform you important body languages, there are a lot of body languages to be read not just words, because more than 80% of conversations are done by body languages, and the body languages of Japanese will be very hard to read to Americans. Another important point is the difference between Japanese English and American English, I discussed this issue at the last part of "Japanese in the U.S. courts."

Q. What is the difference between a translation agency and a language broker?

A. A translation broker is the middleman between the client and the interpreter. He makes a profit from the difference between the client's payment and the interpreter's wage, it maybe 50% or more if not all of it. On the other hand, a translation agency has its own interpeters and full time or part time independent contractors. The translation agency receives a fixed percentage of the amount charged to the client. Unlike language brokers, translation agencies' do not take advantage of the relationship between the clients and the interpreters.

Q. How can I ensure that I get the best Japanese interpreter at court trials and business meetings?

A. You need to talk to the prospective Japanese interpreter directly. Never depend on the word of the translation middleman. Since the Japanese interpreter's words are going to represent you at court trials, it is important that you are able to trust the Japanese interpreter. You should contact as many prospective Japanese interpreters as possible before you decide on one. It is also a good idea to ask your Japanese contacts which interpreter they prefer if it is appropriate. The Japanese have their own qualifications to a Japanese interpreter at their court trials that they desire.

Q. What kind of training and education is necessary to be a top-notch Japanese court trial interpreter?

A. We, at Japan Connections, believe that a professional Japanese court trial interpreter needs an excellent college education in Japan as well as in the U.S., and 10 years minimum of experience as a professional. Granted, there are many levels of interpreters and translation needs from simple greetings to court trials. You need to decide what level of Japanese interpreter or the translation you need.

Q. Are there Japanese court trial interpreter or translation certifications?

A. Simply put, there is no such thing as an "Interpreter or translation Certification" because there are no laws in America that regulate language translation services. Therefore, there is not an official translation nor interpreter certification. The American Translators Association (ATA) is a private organization that has an accreditation program of interpreters, but they do not assure translation quality since they do not test Japanese interpreter nor the translation capabilities. The State of Minnesota Supreme Court offers courses on the code of conduct for court trial interpreter, but they do not test Japanese language proficiency. However, if desired, Japan Connections can provide you with a signed and notarized Certificate of Faithful Translation by a qualified Japanese translator for your document translation.

Q. Does Japan Connections also do legal documents translation?

A. Yes, we do. We prefer to translate legal documents directly related to the legal cases we work as interpreters at the court trials for ourselves. At Japan Connections, we read an abundance of legal materials in Japanese for legal discovery and research purposes, and then create abstracts for our clients. The Japanese are notorious for having poor technical writing skills, so their points may seem vague or unclear to Americans. One common problem in translation from Japanese to English is that different versions of a patent or legal documents translation may seem to contradict one another as a result of the poor technical writing skills on the behalf of the Japanese. The translator needs to have a very sharp reading ability to understand what the Japanese writer implicates. At Japan Connections, we have extensive experience in evaluating and correcting Japanese patent translations, affecting several hundreds of millions of dollars in infringement cases. We also started the translation of Webs, Advertisement, CD ROMs and related pamphlets with a qualified Japanese translation team.

Q. What are Japan Connections' specialties?

A. We specialize in legal matters as interpreters such as court trials, depositions, discovery trips, high-level business negotiations and highly technical engineering type of meetings with Japanese. We do not interpret as tour guides for sightseeing trips for Japanese. We have also helped marketing research in Japan for major US firms.