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Arc Communications Inc.

fun note

newsletter vol.03

date: March 12, 2007

Arc Communications Newsletter vol. 03

fun note

Greetings
They say, “Practice makes perfect.” Well, more than a year has passed since I began
keeping my blog, and I wonder if any skills have been “perfected” through this. While I
would like to say, “writing skills!” the truth is that I am having difficulty in even writing thisgreeting. I am being hounded by the editor to finish it on time. While many people wondered
whether I would run out of things to write about, that is something I have no problem with.
I think this is because the company keeps growing through its interaction with all of you.
We experience new things every day, and there are more and more opportunities for us toput our ideas into action. We will continue to challenge the new so that we can increase theinformation and services that we provide.

At a Sales Meeting(from left : Inoue, Ohsato, Yamamoto, Unno)

Mariko Ohsato

Representative Director (CEO), Arc Communications Inc.

Our Projects
Translation

were for French (a translation related to commentary on museum

Year-end Express Project for Japanese-to-Chinese Translation!

pieces) and for Chinese (a DVD). The collaboration between sales

Close to the end of last year, we accepted an order to translate

and coordinators has become swifter and more accurate, and theover 200 pages into Chinese in just four days! Quality could not beclosing rate for contracts has also risen. Our business develop-sacrificed, so native Chinese translators were a must, but this wasment is getting a further boost through the dispatch of translators

the year’s end. The translation coordinators, who showed theirskilled in various languages. (Hiroshi Watanabe)

stuff, immediately turned to a partner based in China to secure
native translators. To ensure quality, a highly-trusted translator
registered with us was assigned to conduct the reviews. TheWeb

translation was delivered on schedule, and the client was highly

It’s Our Turnsatisfied with the quality.

Arc-C’s reputable translation team has been involved in many

It was an extremely difficult job with a very tight delivery sched-translations related to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. With internal con-ule, but the translation group is proud of the success it achieved

trol standards for J-SOX finalized in February, our turn to become

through this fruitful project. (Kazutoshi Honda)

involved in this business finally came. Lo and behold, the Webteam received a content production order related to J-SOX. We
utilized the knowledge and rich human network the translation

Temporary Employment
Debut into Multilingual Services

team had built through involvement in the US version, made proposals to the client for the Web, and enjoyed the production work.

One of the features of our business is to provide temps well

The Web team is oriented towards business-related communi-versed in languages and the Web. We say “in languages” rather

cation, and we rack our brains every day to plan content that takethan “in English” because multi-language translations are one ofbusiness trends into consideration. Who knows? We might sud-the pillars of Arc-C’s translation business. It has been a little over a

denly appear before you some day! (Yoshihiro Sato)year since we launched the temporary employment business andresponse to multi-language needs has been one of our objectives.
Since last year, many requests to dispatch translators in languages other than English have been received. Recent examples

date: March 12, 2007

NewsOhsato’s Blog

Arc Translators of the Year

Mariko Ohsato mentioned Hataraki Man (published byTranslators of the Year for 2006, those who were particularly
active over the past year, are as follows:

Kodansha), a manga series about a woman editor, her love of theGold Prize : Tomoko Hirata-Jerace

job and travails, in her blog (http://blogs.itmedia.co.jp/arc/), and it

Silver Prize : Motoko Scoffield

resulted in a newspaper article. The headline was, “Yes, There Are

Bronze Prize : Miho Takahashi

Lots of Working Women in Manga” and was run in the December

We also owe much to the many other translators who provided

14, 2006 Evening Edition of the Yomiuri Shimbun. The theme wastheir services. Everyone is dedicated to learning, have a strong

manga that cheer up working women. Nobody in the company

sense of commitment, and above all, excel in their work. We thankwas aware that Ohsato was a great manga fan, and wonderedthem all!

why there was a pile of them in the coffee break room the day after
reporter’s visit, but many were seen reading them during their break.

The Publication Business is On a Roll!
Office Renovation

More books translated by Arc Communications.

The Arc Communications

・Blog Marketingoffice keeps changing for the(Mariko Ohsato, translator; Diamond, Inc., publisher)

better. The red cabinet (Arc・Information Revolution(Arc Communications, translation cooperation; Diamond, Inc.,

color!) that was won as a prizepublisher)

is now the home of books andpamphlets. We also received

・Principles of Human Resource Management(Arc Communications, translation supervision; First Press, Inc.,

two air purifiers and a humidifier,publisher)and the office keeps becoming

Blog Marketing achieved 1st place on Amazon Japan, following

even more comfortable. We

the Japanese translation of Principles of Management. Other

hope visitors will say “Better andpublications are lined up, so do look forward to them!

better!” in reference to our office.

Privacy Mark
Just as we were about to give up on being able to report thisto you in this issue of the Fun Note, we received word that Arc
Communications had finally been granted the Privacy mark. It took
longer than expected, but we are very happy of this achievement!

Editor’s Note
The number of staff keeps on increasing and the 30 seats we have in
our office right now is always full. It is starting to get a bit crowded, andwe are thinking about how we can further strengthen our company fromvarious perspectives. We look forward to being able to report to you on
further office renovations.
This time, the theme presented to our staff is, “What I Can’t Work
Without.” Enjoy! (Editor)

Arc Communications Inc.
7F Moriden Bldg., 3-9-9, Minato-ku,
Tokyo 108-0073 Japan
Phone: 03-5730-6133 Fax: 03-5730-6134
http://www.arc-c.jp/ E-mail: arc-c@arc-c.jp

What I Can’t Work Without!
My Stationery Goods

My Laptop with Spaghetti-like Cord Connections

Okay, I’ll admit that I am a stationery geek. I can’t resist look-

I can’t do without my laptop whether it’s at the office, at home,

ing for and buying something new. I feel that my efficiency

or when I’m on the go. In order to enhance usability while at therises every time I start using a new found item. The photooffice, I attach many peripherals to it, and they ended up cost-shows my most recent favorite. (Hiroaki Baba)

ing more than the laptop. “Why are you so insistent on using alaptop?” people have started asking. Ouch! (Mariko Ohsato)

My Doraemon Bag
The large shoulder bag that I always carry with me is myFlat staplers, of course!

second. Handmade and heavy, A4 size documents fit in it

I always get irritated with staplers that won’t staple right, sowith ease. The width is also 10 centimeters so I can carry justI always use a flat stapler, even if I have to buy it myself.

about anything in it. I can place it on the floor on the train,

They’re a bit more expensive than regular staplers but areand it is easy to carry around so I use it all the time. The storekeeper where

simply wonderful, and I have one at home too. We madeI bought it told me that there are many people who use this bag, but I havesome Arc Communications flat staplers as a novelty item recently. I, ofyet to see anyone else with the same bag. (Kazutoshi Honda)

course, made sure I got one for myself! (Yumiko Sasaki)

My Items for Muscle Pain and Stiffness Relief

My PC Input Devices

It is a set of three items that I wear to be soothed. They areI can’t work without my PC input devices—trackballs andnow almost a part of me. The orange one, I am told, is affixed

TrackPoints. While they are essential items, the rest of thewith germanium at the tip. While I am not quite sure how

world doesn’t seem to understand. People ask me “Why?”much relief the germanium provides me with, I sometimes
forget that I am wearing it, and go outside with it hanging over my shoul-

but they’ve always been essentials from the start, so please
don’t ask me why. (Yoshihiro Sato)ders. (Takahide Hoshi)
My Virtual Sticky Notes
My Blue Leather Day Planner

I frequently create and update my To Do list, so I use sticky note

I am pretty picky about day planners, and this was one that I

software that is not only easy to update but also looks good. I

carefully chose out of many several years ago. I customizedchange the color of the sticky note depending on the urgency or

the content, and it turned into a 20,000 yen purchase. But, ittheme and stick them on to my PC desktop. The colors help me

was well worth it for I can’t do anything without it now. I stillquickly identify what needs to be done, and it is also a good barometer of thefeel the excitement I first felt whenever I open my day planner. It’s a partner

amount of tasks I need to finish. (Kensuke Takazawa)that I can’t do without. (Yuka Inoue)Me!
My Favorite PC Peripherals

Since I work in sales, I want to say, “I don’t need anything!

I never used to be very much interested in PC peripheral

It’s me who is the best and the one and only weapon in mygoods, but when fatigue started building up I thought thatwork!” I’ll keep on working hard so that I can become “some-maybe I would feel soothed if I used something that I liked.

thing the office can’t work without.” (Tomoyuki Unno)

That was when I bought a marimecco brand mousepad. Its
red color gives me energy! A recent addition is a mouse with a freely floating

My Coffee Mug (Part 1)

inner tube and dog. Gotta love that laid back feeling! (Miho Ishimoto)

For some reason, I feel restless if I don’t have my own coffee
mug. I use it, of course, when I drink coffee or tea during work,Anything Sweet!
Sweets are indispensable. After all, I even eat sugar as it is!
What I have on my desk right now is a tin of GABA chocolate.

but also when I brush my teeth or when I want to relax on myown for a change of pace. Right now, I’m using a coffee mug
that I got as a present from a neighborhood bakery. (Hiroshi Watanabe)

The commercials say that it induces relaxation for people instressful environments. While I’m not fighting stress, it cer-My Coffee Mug (Part 2)

tainly does come in handy when I’m tired. FYI, I always used to have aMy mug is covered with famous quotes from a famous sci-fi

bag of Milky candy on hand... something that’s hard to find now due to themanga/animated series. “More than a half-century had passed

recent scandal over its manufacturer. (Rie Kawana)

since people from the overpopulated Earth were relocatedto other parts of the universe. The huge cities around EarthMy A5 Size Ring Notepads

became humankind’s second home, and it was here that people bore andI prefer one about 1cm thick and like sheets with grids in-raised children,” “Rise, humankind!” and, “It’s because he’s a momma’s boy.”stead of ruled lines. If I fold it back, I can keep it open with-(Yasuyuki Yamamoto)out taking up too much space. It’s great for use in meetings
where I have to stay standing. I have papers sandwiched inside, sticky notes stuck to it, and even more paper attached by stapler, soit looks a bit cluttered. I also noticed, thanks to this theme, that I have beenusing my most recent one upside down and from the back. (Atsuko Mori)