Arc Communications Inc.

date: April 5, 2006

Greetings
Time passes so quickly. Nearly six months have already gone by since we began anew as Arc

The Board of Directors

Communications upon the October 1, 2005 transfer of business from IDS Corporation.While thebusiness we are involved in – translation and localization, Web and cross-media production, technicalwriting, and temporary staff dispatch and referral – remains the same as when we were a part of IDS,
I ﬁnd it fascinating that we now look at our services from a different perspective and pursue furtheradded value under this new corporate vessel of Arc Communications. With the newly launchedtemporary stafﬁng business growing rapidly, I cannot help but sense that there are many companies
seeking ﬂexible, talented human resources.Arc Communications will continue to play its part inpromoting the “communication” that will enable organizations to carry out their activities smoothly.
Mariko Ohsato
Representative Director (CEO), Arc Communications Inc.

Akiko Kimoto
Yoko Mase

Yuko Smita
Mariko Ohsato

Our Projects
Institute of Technology, which isTranslation Services
Japanese to English IT-related Translation Projects

entered in the FY2004 Ministry

In the past, translations from English to Japanese were theScience and Technology 21stof Education, Culture, Sports,

mainstream in the software industry. Recently, however, weCentury COE Program. The orderare seeing an increasing amount of translations from Japanese

received was that (1) we express

into English. We strive to further enhance quality by utilizing thethe collaboration between theeight projects, three approaches

respective strengths of our translators: Native English-speaking

and members involved and (2) wetranslators for their strengths in written English expression, andhttp://www.absss.titech.ac.jp/Japanese translators for their capabilities to improve accuracy andmake a strong appeal of the effectiveness of this research andreduce variations in word choice and styles.

the validity of its being selected to participate in the 21st Century

Infoteria Corporation : We translated “ASTERIA Jissen Guide

COE Program. The results of ABSSS Program evaluation by 21st(Practical Guide to Using ASTERIA),” published by Shoeisha Co.,

Century COE Program overseers are to be announced in October.

Ltd., into English. ASTERIA is a non-coding integrated platform

We sincerely hope that the ABSSS Program will see good resultsthat incorporates databases, the Web, email, etc., through ain the evaluation.

graphical user interface (GUI). Arc Communications translated thisThe Japanese Biochemical Society Website :This was a request

book while carrying out tests using actual equipment.

to renew the website of The

Major Consulting Firm : We completed the English translation of aJapanese Biochemical Society, an

1,500 page long speciﬁcation sheet in just two months. In orderorganization that aims for progress

to curb any variations in the quality of the translations done byin and spread of biochemistry,

the total of 10 translators involved, a glossary and style guideline

in order to increase the number

was created in a short amount of time under the supervision of aof members and revitalize thesociety. We handled not only thechief linguist. Furthermore, we created a system for feeding backinformation related to inconsistencies that were discovered during

http://www.jbsoc.or.jp/

the actual translation process.

of the website but also took charge of all matters related to Web

Web Production
Projects in the Academic Field

operation, including acquiring a domain name, transferring theRenewal of the Tokyo Institute of Technology “21st Century

Web system for accepting membership applications as well as

COE Program, ABSSS” Website : We received this website

for personnel recruitment, and we are currently in the process ofproduction request from Professor Kyoichi Kijima of the Tokyo

creating the system.

renewal of the design and content

server, etc. After completing the site renewal, we proposed adate: April 5, 2006

News
Arc Named HP’s Preferred Vendor for the Second
Consecutive Timechanged the seating in our ofﬁce more than ten times. She said
that she started ﬁnding it fun every time she came to the ofﬁce

Arc Communications has once again been certiﬁed an HP

after an absence to ﬁgure out where her desk was (really?). When

preferred vendor by Hewlett-Packard in FY2005, which we

she ﬁrst came to work for us at IDS, she was seated by theconsider to be a great honor. We believe that we were recognizedpresident’s ofﬁce, and she had the special privilege of kindly being

for our swift response, despite time differences, and the quality oftaught many things (even tips on using Excel) by IDS president

our services in localization, with a focus on those for healthcare

Mr. Kumagai. Ms. Shiga, meanwhile, said she was surprised bymeasuring equipment.

how quickly snacks were consumed at our company! Every time

Arc Translators of the Year

we received boxes of sweets as gifts and left them in the cafeteria

Translation project managers get together and look back on

space for people to eat, she said that the boxes turned empty

the past year to select Translators of the Year from among all of

in almost no time at all. Ms. Shiga says that being an easygoing

the translators who did wonderful work for us. This has been

type person, she missed out on eating such goodies on more thancarried out every year since the time that we were a part of IDS,

one occasion (our sincere apologies; it seems that the Arc spirit ofand we plan to keep up this tradition. The Translator of the Yearcompleting anything swiftly is a bit too widespread!). These twoAward for 2005 go to the following people, with much appreciation

always had smiles on their faces regardless of their assigned task,

on our part for their superb job.

and they were also noted for the detailed attention they gave toGold : Prize: Maho Marcus

matters. We look forward to great success in your new work!

Ofﬁce Renewal

Silver : Prize: Asayo Takasaki
Bronze Prize : Tomoko Jerace Hirata

The Moriden Building, where our ofﬁce is located, renovatedWith the cooperation of these and many other translators,

the building interiors late last year. The walls have been redone,

Arc has been able to kick off a good start for the company. Manyand the hallways are now carpet-covered with stylish lighting

thanks to everyone, and we look forward to working with you

overhead. It feels almost as if we’ve wandered into a different

again this year.

ofﬁce when we step inside, and everyone is delighted! The lights

This and That about Our Interns

and water taps are equipped with sensors, and they turn on andOur three student interns will be going out into the world in

off on their own, to our surprise (nothing extraordinarily new today,April. Sayuri Ochi will be joining Itochu, Meina Shiga will start

you say?). Unfortunately, our desks and ﬁling cabinets now lookworking for The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, and Kentaro Ono

old in comparison, and we have been left no choice but to makewill be coming aboard Arc Communications. We asked Ms. Ochi

efforts to make things look nicer by keeping our work areas tidy.

and Ms. Shiga about what they remember the most in working

If you are ever in the neighborhood, please do drop by our ofﬁce

for us as interns. Ms. Ochi said that she was surprised that weand take a look at our new surroundings.

Editorʼs Note
Did you enjoy our ﬁrst issue of “fun NOTE”? We hope that it has brought
you some added amusement during this season of cherry blossoms. In the ageof the Internet in which we can be digitally connected to virtually anywhere in theworld, we have opted to deliver our newsletter to you in analog format, via paper.
I was given this important task of putting Arc Communications’ ﬁrst newsletter
together, but I must say that it was an enjoyable experience. As a result, perhaps,of everyone’s day to day operational expertise, the delivery date management andwriting skills of every single Arc staff member were just about perfect! I only had
to go through just a bit of editing frenzy. (Editor)