特定非営利活動法人 日本翻訳者協会

1985 年 創立
Recognized as a Non-Profit Organization in 2001
2001 年 特定非営利活動法人認定
Primary membership: Translators and interpreters working between Japanese and English

Associate member of FIT (International Federation of Translators)2021

主な会員：日英・英日翻訳者及び通訳者

Translator

国際翻訳家連盟（FIT）準会員
主な活動

Major activities
Regional Activities
Tokyo, Kansai, Tohoku, Midwest US

法律関連翻訳、製薬関連翻訳､
エンターテインメント関連翻訳､
特許関連翻訳、通訳等各分科会

Special-interest groups, including legal,
medical and pharmaceutical, interpretation,translator tools, patents, and entertainment

日英・英日翻訳国際会議を International Japanese-English Translation
毎年開催（1990 年以来） (IJET) Conferences (annually since 1990)
新人翻訳者コンテスト Contest for New and Aspiring Translators（2004 年以来毎年） (annually since 2004)
Online workshops「製薬専門日英翻訳ハンドブック」
Published the JAT Pharma Handbook in 2012を 2012 年に出版
会員専用オンライン・フォーラム

Members-only Internet Forums

URL: https://jat.org

特定非営利活動法人日本翻訳者協会

オンライン教室

Japan Association of Translators

地域活動
東京、関西、東北、米国中西部

2021

Japan Association of Translators
特定非営利活動法人 日本翻訳者協会

翻 訳者 の目 線

Founded in 1985

翻訳者の目線
Translator Perspectives

Japan Association of Translators

TRANSLATOR PERSPECTIVES
翻訳者の目線

2021

Japan Association of Translators
特定非営利活動法人 日本翻訳者協会

Translator Perspectives

翻訳者の目線© 2021 Japan Association of Translators
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
the publisher.
By definition, each individual author has said permission aspertains to the essay he or she authored.
本書の無断複写・複製・転載を禁じます。
2021 年 9 月発行
発行者 日本翻訳者協会（Japan Association of Translators）〒150-0002 東京都渋谷区渋谷 2-7-14 VORT 青山 5F
Vort Aoyama 5F, 2-7-14 Shibuya
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0002 Japan
Printed in Japan.

ISBN 978-4-906408-24-5
印刷所

ii

有限会社創文社

Translator Perspectives

翻訳者の目線

Japan Association of Translators
特定非営利活動法人 日本翻訳者協会iii

IntroductionThere was some concern (e.g., Will people write for it? Do
we need to assign a topic for the year? Will anyone find it
interesting? Is it sustainable?) when JAT first considered
the idea of compiling an anthology of translator thoughts, but theBoard was a can-do Board—a why-not Board—and the anthology
got its go-ahead. That was ten years ago.
Over the past decade, the anthology has evolved in a number ofways. For one, authorship is now restricted to JAT members. JAT
membership represents the industry/profession’s best, so there
is no need to look outside and draw in people who have othermedia outlets anyway. For another, the anthology team hasabandoned the idea of editing/altering submissions. If there arepotential clients reading, what they see is what they get. For yet
another, we have moved increasingly to digital publication. We
still do a limited press run for people who want paper, but digitalis far and away the main medium. Content has also shifted as theprofession copes with—adapts to—technological innovations
and changing circumstances.
In all of this, the anthology content has remained resoundingly
relevant. This is testimony to the range of people who havewritten for it. Some are regulars, some are sporadic. Yet all bringfresh insights, suggestions, and stories detailing what they havenoticed so that all readers can share the experience and consider
new ways to improve their game. It is the authors who make theanthology valuable, and we are immensely grateful to them, one
and all.
This year—year ten—is a year of transition. Fred Uleman andAkiko Endo, the two mainstays, what might be called thestagehands helping our authors star on the anthology stage, havedecided to retire from the crew. Their excuse: We’ve had a balliv

doing this, but it is time for us to move on and time for theanthology to grow some more. This means new people areneeded to keep this production running smoothly. It is not a big
job now that there is no editing, but it is just as essential as theauthoring is. Collect the essays, get them to the printer, show
authors their galley proofs, and then distribute the product. If you
would be interested in keeping this going, please drop Peter anote at anthology [at] jat.org.
Thanks again to all of the authors, Board members, and everyone
else who has made the past ten years so rewarding. We lookforward to doing new things in the new decade.
The anthology team

v

はじめに

日

本翻訳者協会が翻訳者の声を反映できる媒体の発刊を考えたと

き、いろいろ不安なこと、心配なこと、考えなければいけないことがありました。投稿してくれる人がいるだろうか、毎年テーマを決めるべきだろうか、興味をもって読んでくれる人はいるのだろうか、
そして一度きりで終わってしまうのではなく、続けられるだろうか、などなど。協会の理事会は「できる！」「やってみないと分からない」と積極的だったので、発刊に踏み切りました。それは 10 年前のことでした。

この 10 年、アンソロジー「翻訳者の目線」はいろいろな点で進化してきました。投稿できるのは会員のみとすること。理由はある程度名が通った人で、他のメディアで発信できる人にわざわざ投稿依頼をしなくても、JAT の会員は業界の代表でありプロ集団であるという誇りがあったからです。また、提出された原稿を校正、編集するという作業をしないことにしました。クライアントとなりうる方が、翻訳者のありのままの姿を読み取れるという観点からでした。もう一つ、紙媒体ではなくオンラインでという希望者が増えたのも、時代に沿った動きでした。電子出版はいまや主流となりつつありますが、紙媒体を希望する方も多いため、紙媒体を完全に廃止するのではなく、部数を制限しました。投稿内容も、技術革新や変化しつづける翻訳・通訳業界の環境にどのように対応するかに変化しました。
アンソロジーはこうした中、エッセーの内容は業界に深く関係するもので、分野が異なる投稿者の声を反映しつづけています。毎年欠さず投稿してくださった方もいれば、時折投稿して協力してくださった方もいます。だた、どのエッセーも著者と読者間で共有したい新しい見方、助言や提言、体験談など読む者を奮い立たせるもの、考えさせられることなどで溢れています。アンソロジーが価値あるものとなったのは投稿してくださった著者のおかげです。深く感謝いたします。
今年は 10 周年という節目で、変遷の年でもあります。アンソロジーの「裏方」として、JAT のこの事業の中心となっていたウレマンと遠藤の二人は、今年をもってアンソロジー委員を「引退」する事となりました。
「とても楽しく委員を務めさせていただきましたが、後輩に道を譲り、今後のアン
ソロジーの発展と進化を見守り、期待します」とのことです。アンソロジー

を続けるためには、新しい人材が必要です。編集や校正は不要ですが、エッセーを集め、印刷に回し、ゲラ刷りを投稿者に送付し、印刷会社とのやり取りをし、最終版に目を通し、最終チェックをし、ウエブサイトに掲載、紙媒体を配布するなど、作業はそれほど複雑ではありませんが、やることはいろいろあります。興味がある方は、ピーターさん宛（anthology@jat.
org）にご一報頂ければ幸いです。
ここにいままで投稿してくださった皆様、理事会、そしてこの 10 年間支援してくださった方々に感謝いたします。新しいチーム、アンソロジーの発展を大いに期待しています。
アンソロジー委員会vii

Contents
Taking a Step Back…………………………………………………………………… 1
David Andrews
多領域連携―A Multi-disciplinary Task Force…………………………………… 3
浅野 元子
Translating a Book: More Like a Marathon than a Sprint……………………… 5Tony Atkinson
Bound to the Pages, Not the Words… …………………………………………… 7
Stephen Christenson
沈まない流木（Driftwood that Floats）…………………………………………… 9
Hiroko Ozawa Crary
Translating about Cyber Mercenaries… ………………………………………… 11
James L. Davis
On Willing Suspension of Disbelief… ……………………………………………… 13
Charles De Wolf
20 Years of Freelance Translating: Making the Most of Happenstance……… 15
Cathy Eberst
On 掛け持ち作業 (kakemochi sagyō) and the Value of Translators…………… 17
Laura Egan
JATとアンソロジーと歩んだ10年… ……………………………………………… 19
遠藤 安岐子Lone(ly) Wolf in a Gaping Niche… ………………………………………………… 21
Vernon Fischer
翻訳の機械化が進めば、発信する翻訳者の時代が来る………………………… 23
長谷川 祐子How the Pandemic Can Bring Translators and Academics Together………… 25
David Heath & Stephen Crabbe
翻訳の仕事はどのように獲得するか……………………………………………… 27
樋口 勝規

viii

Never Lose Sight of the Big Picture… …………………………………………… 29
Julian Holmes
Repackaging Your Skills… ………………………………………………………… 31
Brian Hyman
The Risk of Erring on the Side of Caring… ……………………………………… 33
Jennifer Igawa
Origins of the Rules from Clients for Patent Filing Translation… …………… 35
Steven W. Johnston
A Dream, Persistence, and Patience… …………………………………………… 37
Marian Kinoshita
Staying in Touch while Staying Apart—Keeping B Language Ability Intact……… 39
Paul Koehler
第二外国語の習得がもたらす英語原文の理解度向上…………………………… 41
宮原 健
映像翻訳・稀少言語と英語と日本語・通訳・取材とレポート作成いろいろ思うこと… … 43
西川 雅子
Making Entertainment Translation Entertaining!… …………………………… 45
Jennifer O'Donnell
開業10年と自分のSDGs… …………………………………………………………… 47
佐倉 花奈美Using the "Funnel" Approach to Write a Clear
and Effective Four-part Introduction… …………………………………… 49
Lee Seaman
NPO JAT の誕生（2000～2001年）………………………………………………… 51
佐藤エミリー綾子
Philology, Etymology and Classics… ……………………………………………… 53
庄子 昌利「和漢辞典」………………………………………………………………………… 54
富井 篤
Godiva vs Hershey…………………………………………………………………… 56
Fred UlemanixHow Many of Those Now Working from Home Will Want to Go Freelance?… … 58
A.T. Welford
Reflection on Teleworking…………………………………………………………… 60
Peter Winchcomb-Wada
The Gifts That Legal Translation Has Given Me………………………………… 62
山本 志織
Brain Mapping………………………………………………………………………… 64
柳瀬 大輔
仕事が仕事を、本が本を呼んで20年……………………………………………… 66
矢能 千秋

x

Taking a Step Back
David Andrews（アンドリュース デビッド）It has been some five years now since I took a step back. Let me
explain. My career as a translator started simply as a way to enable
me to continue studying the Japanese language, something I beganback in my second year of college and fell in love with from the very
first class. I started translating professionally right out of graduate
school nearly 25 years ago, working first for one company in-house formany years, and then for the same company remotely for many more.
At first, building up knowledge and learning the lingo in my chosen
specialty, patent translation in the automotive field, was hard work thatinvolved many hours each day spent either talking with specialists orwith my head stuck in books on patent law, automotive technology, orvarious specialized dictionaries. I loved it.
Over the years, experience rendered the need to reference dictionaries
all but obsolete; for the most part, the information was in my head. It
felt good to make it to that point. Translating had become like cutting
through butter with a hot knife. Despite this, or very possibly becauseof it, I also enjoyed the occasional job that was just far enough outside
my comfort zone to push me back into the dictionaries and referencematerials. I was learning again! Hooray!
I did this for many years until one day, about five years ago, I beganfeeling like something was missing. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it,
but the feeling was big enough to give me pause. At the same time,
shifts in the industry were making the job less fun. After muchdeliberation, I decided to take a step back from translation. I didn’t stop
altogether. I just cut back. At the same time, I began teaching at auniversity.

1Teaching was not entirely new to me. In the 80s, I worked as a
substitute teacher at a high school. In the evenings, I would drive, with
Rush blaring from the stereo of my Ford Bronco, to the local karate dojo
where I taught Tang Soo Do. After college, I taught English to Japanesebusinessmen and women, and after graduate school, taught
presentation skills to high-up executives at several major corporations.
I’d found teaching greatly rewarding, so I thought it would be a goodplace to start in my search for what was missing.
My university students reminded me of what it is to love studying
language, of the feeling of elation and gratification I got from those “Ahha” moments of clarity, when I finally understood something that I had
struggled to understand. I realized that in my quest for professional
success, I’d become so caught up in the day-to-day grind, pushing fordeadlines and paying bills, that I forgot why I’d gotten into translation in
the first place.
Despite having lived in Japan and studied its language for more thanhalf my life, I still encounter words and expressions that are new to me.
Frustrating? Not in the least. Fascinating is more like it. For me it’s theroad, not the destination, that I enjoy most. As Rush so aptly put it all
those years ago, “the point of a journey is not to arrive,” and for me,learning the language is a wonderful journey.
By taking a step back from translation as a profession, I have been able
to rediscover my love for the language and enjoy translation even more.

2

多領域連携―A Multi-disciplinary Task Force
あさの もとこ10浅野 元子
年前、英国のある学校の校長が日本のジャーナルのインタビューで、これからの時代は個人が複数の専門領域に関わる時代と語っていた。1
確かに現在、多領域連携は通常である。幸い、タスクチームに加えていただく機会に恵まれた。国際医学誌の英文アブストラクトと公式日本語版を用いた英日対訳パラレルコーパスの文字列を用意して、検索可能なシステムを試作し、ディスコースコミュニティを志向する人々の支援を目指すプロジェクトである。

システムの構築には、情報学、ディスコースコミュニティ目線の調整については医学、支援に資するかどうかの判断については専門英語教育のそれぞれの専門家
がタスクチームの構成員となり、各々の強みを活かしてプロジェクトに貢献する。
必要に応じて、対面が叶わなくてもリモートで話し合う。
そしていよいよ、バージョン１に満たない試作段階のシステム2 を、これからディ
スコースコミュニティのメンバーになろうとする人々―医学部医学科の１年生―に使ってもらうことになった。使ってもらう間、システム構築班は、途中で予期しない事態が生じないか、
システムの動きを見守る。その他の構成員は、
ディスコー
スコミュニティの作法をこれから学ぶ人たちから思いがけない質問が飛んで来ることに備えて待機する。
その日が無事に終わって、システムを使用した人々からのフィードバックを恐る
恐る開けてみる。この分野に限っていえば、電子辞書よりよいかも、機械翻訳よりよいかも、という意見が多く、プロジェクト構成員の顔が少しほころぶ。
当然ながら、今回、システムを使った人々は、ディスコースコミュニティ・モデルに初対面である。システムで見つけたことばが、大学受験を経験したばかりで、英語に関しては少なくとも 6 年の研鑽を積んできた彼らにとって、明らかに馴染
みのないものであることが判明し愕然とする。
mean は数字とセットで使われ「平均」という名詞で使われると知って驚いた
case が「症例」や「患者」という意味で使われるのは全く知らなかった3

find に「認められる」という意味があることに特に驚いた
meet を「会う」という意味で用いている例文が見つからなかった
subject は「教科」ではなく「例」という意味で使われることを知れてよかった
受験英語で覚えてきた意味と論文中で使われる意味との間に、とても大きなギャッ
プがあるものもあり、驚いた
彼らの率直なコメントを読んで、驚いたのはプロジェクト構成員のほうである。
ディスコースコミュニティ・モデルに初対面とは、その作法どころか、ことばのひとつひとつについても、初めて出会うということなのだと、こちらも初めて理解する ... そして、そのような状況を知らなかったこと、きちんと向き合えていな
かったことを恥じる。
システムの試作を通じて、思いがけず大きな気付きと省察が得られた。3 プロジェ
クト構成員による、一連の有機的なはたらきによるものといえるかもしれない。
これについては、いみじくも、10 年ほど前に多領域連携により共同執筆された
ことばが現在にも当てはまるであろう。4「... 現場は、英語 [ の専門家 ] と専門 [ 分野の専門家 ] の分担と連携の上に成り立つ
協同作業の場であり、両者が互いの存在を認知し尊敬しあう場でもある。そこには対峙・分離とは違う両者の新しい関係が見えてこなければならない。
」
長足の進歩を遂げる科学とともに歩むジャンルテキスト、そしてジャンルテキス
トを扱うディスコースコミュニティも進化する中で、多領域連携のありかたもまた、問われる。これからを担うさまざまな分野の人々とともに成長することができるように。
1. Spence, J. (2011). EJ Interview 2. English Journal. ALC PRESS INC.
2. 中野愛実 , 宮崎佳典 , 浅野元子 , 藤枝美穂 , 野口ジュディー , 石川有香 , 若狭朋子 (2021)
医学系論文抄録の日英対訳表現を活用した医学英語教育支援システムのプロトタイプ
試作 外国語教育メディア学会中部支部第 96 回支部研究大会
3. 浅野元子 , 中野愛実 , 宮崎佳典 , 石川有香 , 野口ジュディー , 若狭朋子 , 藤枝美穂 (2021)
論文抄録英日パラレルコーパスを用いた医学英語教育支援システム構築の試み 第 24回日本医学英語教育学会学術集会
4. 福井希一 , 深山晶子 , 山本英一 , 幸重美津子 他 (2010) 「第 3 章 ESP 教育の現状 5.」大学英語教育学会（監修）寺内一 他（編）『21 世紀の ESP—新しい ESP 理論の構築と実践』（pp. 114—123）大修館書店

4

Translating a Book: More Like a Marathon than a Sprint
Tony Atkinson（アトキンソン トニー）

I

recently completed my first real book translation! Sure, I’ve
translated a few books before but one was a pedestrian corporate
history about a manufacturer of barcode scanners and anotherwas a vanity publishing project on a new theory of gravity that didn’t
end well (that’s a story for another time). While many of thepharmaceutical translations I’ve done have been War and Peace length,
they often come with short deadlines, they aren’t read by more than a
handful of people, and they’re certainly not read for pleasure.
I was approached by a client in mid-March 2020 to be part of a teamthat was bidding to translate the biography of Professor Shinya
Yamanaka: 山中伸弥先生に、人生と iPS 細胞について聞いてみた . The
team also included a checker (native Japanese speaker), an editor(native English speaker), and a proofreader (native English speaker). Our
bid was accepted a month later, and soon after, my client sent me a
proposed schedule for the project.
By late April we had agreed on a style sheet for the English text, and in
May my client asked me to translate several sample pages for review
and feedback. After discussing the feedback and making any requiredchanges, I then completed one-third of the translation by the end ofJune. My client checked the translation during July, and gave me more
feedback. During August, I translated the second third of the book, andagain sent it off for checking. At each of these stages, I had theopportunity to discuss the checker’s suggested changes, and in nearly
all instances they led to improvements in the translation. My client also
forwarded our translated and checked text to the publisher for review,
again by a native Japanese speaker, which also yielded some muchneeded modifications. By mid-September, I had finished the final thirdof the translation and submitted it for checking.

5

Editing began in October, which led to another round of discussions
between the editor, the checker, and translator on how to improve thetext. In December, the manuscript was sent to an independent checker,
and then to the author and his staff for review. Questions from theseparties were then finally resolved among the three of us. Towards theend, there were also other translations to be done: two new prefaces
for the English edition, a publishing blurb, the text on the obi, or belly
band, additions and revisions to the footnotes, information for donors,
a glossary of technical terms (which ultimately wasn’t used), publishing
information, and suggestions for the title.
In January 2021, proofs were made available for review by me, thechecker, and the editor. Three rounds of proofreading took us to the endof February. Sample copies of the book appeared by early April, and I
finally held a copy of the physical book—The Winding Road toDiscovering iPS Cells: The Life of Yamanaka Shinya—in my hands inJune 2021. More than one year from proposal to publication!
It was an immensely satisfying experience, working with diligent andskilled professionals to bring this book to a new audience. I certainly
hope it attracts more readers than most of my work. Was it a profitable
exercise? Absolutely not; for the amount of time we spent on bringing
this book to print in English, the monetary reward was just a fraction ofwhat we could normally earn in commercial translation.
Would I do it again? Yes, in a heartbeat.

6

Bound to the Pages, Not the Words
Stephen Christenson（クリスチャンソン スティーブン）A

decade before the idea of translation as a career path would
enter my mind, I was enrolled in a college course entitled
Newspaper Japanese. The textbook was a two- or threecentimeter-thick, spiral-bound stack of photocopied newspaper
clippings, lovingly prepared by the professor for the dozen or so souls
brave or unwitting enough to sign up.
The course design was simple: For each day of class, we wereassigned a chunk of pages. We were to translate all the articles foundwithin, bring the translations to class, read them aloud, and discuss.
Each night, I waded through the assigned articles one by one. I looked
up nearly every term in every sentence, wrote the English glosses out
on a piece of scratch paper, and attempted to reassemble the wordsalad into something comprehensible. I felt like I was barely hanging
on, always white-knuckled and with mind jumbled.
My copy of the spiral-bound text is long gone, but I do still have mytyped translations, diligently backed up over the years. When I revisitedthem recently, I decided they weren’t quite as embarrassing as I’dfeared. Not devastatingly so, anyway. As long as the article didn’t strayfrom a straightforward journalistic style, I generally managed to tease
the meaning out. Idioms, vernacular, and other unexpected flourishes
stopped me dead in my tracks, but those, I’d later find, were merely amatter of further exposure to the language.
What might have helped me take a leap forward at the time, though, isa pointer or two about mindset. I look at my words now and think backon my process, realizing how rigid I was. One sentence in the source
always meant one sentence in translation, no matter how long or

7contorted it became. Every detail had to be presented in the sameorder, or as close as I could manage. Passive voice abounded.
I, who had only recently discovered how nouns could be prefaced bymodifying clauses in Japanese, was awkwardly shoehorning theirrelative English counterparts into otherwise perfectly acceptablesegments. And to top it off, every 一方 became an “on the other hand.”Every 様々 was a "various" and every など an "etc." Every set of 鍵括弧 wasslavishly reproduced as scare quotes.
Some of it makes me cringe, but I don’t berate myself. As I thumbed
through definitions and puzzled out grammar, I was putting in goodwork, laying a foundation I’d later appreciate.
But if I could go back, I’d tell myself not to sweat the individual
elements so much. Sometimes the best word for the job doesn’t show
up in the dictionary entry. Not every word in the source needs a distinct
counterpart in the target. It’s okay to break sentences up, combine
them, and reorder them, too. The translator needs to zoom out andevaluate the sentence, paragraph, and page as a whole, because clarity
is as much a pillar to good translation as accuracy.
And if I were already making the trip back in time, I suppose I’d urge mypast self to jump into translation a bit sooner, too. He had no idea howmuch he was going to enjoy it.

8

沈まない流木（Driftwood that Floats）
ひろこ

クレアリー 寛子

フ

リーランスで翻訳を始めて、気づけばすでに 20 年目（！）に突入していました。だから会社務めの人たちはコロナ禍でリモートワークを新しいライフスタイルみたいにいうのを聞くと、どうも居心地がよくないよ

うな…。

ソーシャルディスタンスで人間関係が希薄になったっていうのも、そうなのかな。
スマホを手にした時に、私たちは孤独な檻に自らすすんで入っていったんじゃな
かったっけ…もっと、自由になりたくて。
私たちの自由は今、試されている気がします。例えば、直に人と触れ合うことが、
もはや「選択肢のひとつ」だし、それを選択しないことはパンデミックの今、尊重されます。あえて選択するなら、それは「特別なこと」です。
私は去年、アメリカから日本の故郷に戻り活動の拠点を設けました。国境を越えての移動は、以前なら当たり前のようにしていたことだったけれど、今回は片道切符。つまり「特別なこと」。

9

私たちが自由を求めて入ったあの檻、内側にしか鍵がありません。翻訳の仕事で言葉を選ぶとき、私はその鍵を開けて言語の海に身を投じます。そこには自由があります。無限の可能性があります。でも、おぼれたらまずいから、簡単には沈まない特別な流木を見つけて、しっかりとしがみつきます。
世界の流れはよく見えないし、私たちは不自由に自由。そして、選択を迫られています。きっとこの状況は特殊で、狂ってるけど、私たちはそこに生きている。
それぞれに「特別なこと」があって、それにしがみついている。
これからやってくる新しい日常は、檻の外に展開する実感のわかない世界なのかもしれないけど、私は鍵を開けて流木を探しに行きます。そのときのために、しがみつく力を養っておかなくちゃ。
あなたの「特別なこと」って何ですか？

10

Translating about Cyber Mercenaries
James L. Davis（デーヴィス ジェームス）C

yberattacks against government agencies and corporations
appear in the news with unsettling frequency. In 2020 a
Japanese think tank issued a report with this title:
サイバー傭兵の動向――サイバー攻撃代行の現状と課題――

Given that a 傭兵 is a “mercenary,” the term サイバー攻撃代行 probablyrefers to individuals who are paid to conduct cyberattacks on behalf ofsomeone else. The word 動向 is typically associated with somethingthat changes over time. In the business world, 動向 is frequently
translated as “trend,” but in this report the author describes how andwhen these サイバー傭兵 began to appear in different countries aroundthe world. Thus, “the rise of ...” or “the emergence of ...” would be agood fit for this particular report. The use of 現状 and 課題 indicatesthat the author will describe what is currently known about these
attackers and some issues to be addressed going forward. If we put
everything together, the title could be rendered:
The Rise/Emergence of Cyber Mercenaries:
The Current Role of and Future Prospects for Cyber-Attackers-for-Hire
The following paragraph appears in this report:
イランではサイバー軍の設立（2009 年）以前に、民間の IT 技術者が有志のハッカー集団を形成し、2010 年頃より米航空宇宙局や米国の金融機関への侵入やホームページの書き換え等を行っていた。彼等はイラン政府の依頼・指示に基づいた攻撃を行うようにもなり、イランの情報部門に対してサイバー戦の訓練も提供している。米国政府も 2016 年３月に、イランのイスラム革命防衛隊の支援を受けたハッカーによる攻撃を受けたことを公表している。また彼等は外国関係機関の他、イラン国内外の反体制組織へのサイバー攻撃を行うなど、国内治安維持に関わる依頼もイラン政府から受けている。

11

The first sentence includes the word 有志 . Many people are familiar
with 有志 from the term 有志連合 (“coalition of the willing”), which wasused in the context of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. In thisinstance, however, 有志のハッカー集団 refers to a “group of volunteer
hackers.” The entire sentence could read, “Prior to the establishment ofan Iranian military cyber force in 2009, IT specialists from the private
sector formed a volunteer hacker group. Since 2010 members of thisgroup have broken into the websites of NASA and several U.S. financial
institutions and have defaced webpages.”
In the second sentence the words 依 頼 and 指 示 suggest that thegroup in question was operating under contract to the Iranian
government, rather than being a government entity operating underorders. The term 情報部門 probably refers to “intelligence agencies” ingeneral, rather than the name of a specific agency. In the third sentence
the author of the report indicates that hackers received support fromthe イスラム革命防衛隊 , but the hackers were not part of the IRGC itself.
These two sentences could be translated as follows: “These hackers
carried out their attacks in accordance with requests and instructions
from the Iranian government. They also provided training on cyber
warfare to Iranian intelligence agencies. In March 2016 the U.S.
government announced publicly that these attacks had been carried out
by Iranian hackers with the support of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps.”
The fourth sentence contains the word 機 関 , which in this context
includes companies, government agencies, and universities. In thissituation, “entities” would be a good choice. The term 国内治安維持
could be rendered, “maintaining domestic security.” The entire
sentence could be translated, “In addition to their attacks on foreign
entities, these hackers were also directed by the Iranian government tosupport the maintenance of domestic security by conducting
cyberattacks against groups, both domestic and foreign, that oppose
the regime.”
New forms of cyberattacks continue to emerge. This suggests thattranslation opportunities related to such attacks will continue to grow.

12

On Willing Suspension of Disbelief
すだ ろうあんCharles De Wolf（須田 狼庵）“Every word has its history,” as linguists are fond of saying,quoting Jacob Grimm: “Jedes Wort hat seine Geschichte.”
For translators, that thought may well appear daunting, as it
reminds us that when we use a word or phrase in target language X totranslate a word or phrase in language Y, we need to consider all or atleast some of the semantic “baggage” that it carries. One may out of
ignorance or indifference resort to expressions that are anachronistic,
culturally incongruous, or both, but then, “knowing too much,” one may
also lurch in the opposite direction, forgetting that we sometimes needto engage in willing suspension of disbelief. One surely ought to beable to speak of the protagonist of The Tale of Genji as “having left insuch ill-humor”（心やましくて立ち出でたまひぬるは ...）, without being
laughed out of the room for somehow suggesting that Murasaki Shikibu
is referring to an ancient and medieval medicinal theory from the West.
Puttering about as I do with Classical Japanese texts, I nonetheless findmyself wary of words that smack too heavily (at least to me) of themodern mindset. I think, for example, of familiar terms frompsychology.
It is easy enough to rule out contemporary buzzwords. We would surely
agree not to resort to: “His Lordship spoke gently to his consort, wellaware of her anger-management issues” or “the Minister’s residence
had clearly become a socially toxic environment.” There is, however,likely to be far less agreement about such terms as “depressed/
depression” or “nostalgic/nostalgia.”
In the 12th chapter of the Genji (Suma), the Suzaku emperor expresses
to the lady known by the sobriquet Oborozukiyo his regret that she has
yet to produce for him a child. He is clearly thinking of a would-be heir:13「今まで御子たちのなきこそ、さうざうしけれ。」Arthur Waley renders thisas: “It is so depressing not having had any children.” Both the meaning
and the tone seem to me to be off the mark.
We can be sure that René Sieffert would not have considered using
nostalgie in his own rendition of the tale, firstly because semantically it
is much too new (he avoids terms that would not have been used at thetime of Saint-Simon, i.e. in or before the last decades of the 18th
century), secondly because he likewise eschews words of Greek origin.
Maria Teresa Orsi shows no such compunction in translating the Genji
into Italian; in fact, la nostalgia appears well over one-hundred times. In
Waley’s work, by way of contrast, its English counterpart is entirely
absent.
In the fifth chapter of the tale (Waka-Murasaki), the incorrigible
protagonist seeks to adopt the niece of the lady known as Fujitsubo, hisfather’s favorite, whom he, Genji, has impregnated. Genji longs for the
woman and sees in the ten-year-old girl who so resembles her a sourceof comfort. Her ladies are appalled at his machinations, her nurse
complaining to his servant Koremitsu:「... 今は、かけてもいと似げなき御ことと見たてまつるを ...」“…but for now we see this is as most
unbecoming…” In a recent translation, this is rendered as: “But at the
moment their relationship is completely inappropriate.”
Here, I confess, my ability to suspend disbelief fails me. Instead of a
Heian-period nurse, all I can imagine is that well-known lawyer from
Arkansas.

14

20 Years of Freelance Translating: Making theMost of Happenstance
Cathy Eberst（エベースト キャシー）

I

generally attribute my career to an awful lot of circumstantial luck
and a desire to push myself to see how far I can go (in terms ofbalancing multiple jobs and meeting crazy deadlines).

I started freelancing in 2001. I was living in Ishigaki at the time. I had
joined the Honyaku Mailing List in 1998 and signed up to agencies
whose names came up in discussion.
In 2003 I joined JAT and I bought a copy of ALC’s Honyaku Jiten. I
worked my way through the list of agencies, starting with Hokkaido.
One agency in Hokkaido faxed me documents to translate. The Tokyosection of the list was extremely long so I closed my eyes and stuck a
pen on a couple of entries and registered with the agencies I landed on.
I still work with those agencies!! One of them later told me they
thought they might be able to hear the sound of the sea if they called
me and that this had prompted them to start sending me work.
In 2006 I moved to Osaka and attended my first IJET (in Kobe). Shortly
after that I started letting agencies know that I enjoy translating legal
texts and so they started sending me more.
In 2007 I moved to Hong Kong. At around this time all contact withagencies moved to email. These days only one agency (from my
Ishigaki days) phones me. When I visited that agency for the first timein 2009 they asked me if I can translate anything other than contracts.
This motivated me to actively brand myself as a legal translator.
Shortly after returning to Osaka in 2008, I started volunteering for JAT. I
incorporated in 2009. In 2011 I moved to Tokyo. In 2012 I started using
Felix and set up my own website. My first direct client came to me later15

that year via my website. That client still sends me work but we still
haven’t met. In fact, I haven’t met a lot of my clients.
In 2014 I started attending seminars aimed at the legal community. This
led me to pick up a few clients. After my contact at one client left, herformer colleagues continued to send me work and she contacted meagain from her new employer. The same thing has happened withtranslation agency coordinators who moved to other agencies. Having acontact form on my website and a LinkedIn account have proved
invaluable as employees are often not allowed to take business cards
or contact information with them when they leave.
Volunteering for JAT and meeting translators working in other fields has
led to introductions (thank you!!!). I also have a number of small law
firm clients that pass on their clients when they need translation. Alongthe way I even picked up a very good agency client via Twitter and have
had agencies contact me following seminars I have presented for JAT
and JTF. Oh, and being British means that I get the requests that require
British English.
Obviously, this is not the full story. I also had two kids, got divorced,
survived five years as a single mum, and got remarried. And I spent justunder a year working full time organizing tech events for the Nikkei.
Even after 20 years there are still ups and downs in my work flow, I still
haven’t worked out how to say “no” without worrying that work will dry
up, and I do worry about how good machine translation is getting. But I
still enjoy translating, thanks to happenstance!!

16

On 掛け持ち作業 (Kakemochi Sagyo- ) andthe Value of Translators
Laura Egan（イーガン ローラ）

I

work in-house at a manufacturing company, and a little over a year
ago, my boss said something to me that I still haven’t forgotten.
He asked, “So, what do you want to do when machines replace
the need for translators?”
Right after the COVID shutdown, staff changes, and some trials ofsmartphone-based translation earpieces, this was a fantastic way tomake me paranoid and wary for a good long chunk of time that at any
moment they were going to stop by my desk and say, you can go now.
It wasn’t a great work environment, and those bad feelings werecreated so easily.
I’m still early in my career, to the point where I just finished a degree inlibrary science in case this whole translation thing didn’t work out. But
despite my boss’s words, I’ve remained at full employment through the
COVID shutdown as well as more recently when we’ve had to run leandue to supply chain issues.
This could be for any number of reasons, but one term that comes tomind is 掛 け 持 ち 作 業 , holding two positions or doing two tasks
concurrently, or put simply, multitasking.
While translators do often have a field of specialization, even within that
we perform a wide variety of tasks. Perhaps we primarily interpret fromJapanese to English but are occasionally called on to reverse direction.
Maybe we primarily do subtitles, but also take on marketing materials
or creator interviews. We might be used to working in Excel but we’ll
give a CAT tool a go when asked by a client. Or maybe we just enjoy
doing translations of any sort that come our way.

17

One thing I’ve always liked about translation (and libraries) is that thefield gives me an opportunity to learn about a wide variety of topics.
Learning something new may be challenging and frustrating, but in theend I always value the experience. Since at my work there isn’t enoughtranslation volume to fill up a full eight hours a day, I’ve also learned toreceive in packages, do data entry for accounting, and manage asystem for keeping track of our kaizen improvements. 掛け持ち作業
indeed!
In the meantime, I’ve taken on a project outside of work to transcribeinterviews for market research, editing the output from an automatedtranscription sent through automated translation (read: translating theaudio 90% from scratch). Surprisingly the trickiest parts are sometimes
correct, but it boggles the mind sometimes what the machine comesup with for the simplest of sentence fragments.
In such a way, much like librarians, translators have gone past being
providers of words and data to being sources of information that are
actually useful for creating knowledge.
With data being so widely available in this Information Age, especiallyas a new translator, it’s often hard to see the value of your work. But as
human beings who have the power to recognize context, nuance, andwear multiple hats at once, we are still far and away beyond what aclient can get if they employ machine translation. As the saying goes,knowledge is power, and the knowledge that the service we provide
has value should empower us to recognize our importance and fight for
our worth.

18

JAT とアンソロジーと歩んだ 10 年
えんどう あきこ

遠藤 安岐子この 10 年は短いようで、長かったように感じます。11 年前にアンソロジー

たるものを出版する計画があるのを知ったのは、JAT に入会して初めて
IJET に参加した時でした。アンソロジーだの IJET だの私には馴染みがない文言で、JAT 入会を熱心に進めてくれたクリス・ブレークスリーしか知人という知人がいない JAT という協会が主催する IJET に参加するのは結構勇気が要りました。ただ、小学校・中学校と過ごした広島での開催ということで、IJET や他のイベントに期待できなくても、小中の友達に会えるから、と参加に踏み切る
ことにしました。
クリスとは 1989 年私がマイアミで南フロリダ日本協会の専務理事をしていた時に出会いました。クリスがある日、日本語で話をしてくれ、と私の事務所に駆け込んできて、事情をきくと、地元の経済開発局の面接で日本語が堪能だといった
ものの、だれに証明してもらうかで、私の名前を出したということでした。思えば事務所に頻繁に出入りしていた彼と日本語で話したことがなかったのです。初めて日本語で話をし、日経を声をだして読んでもらい内容を説明してもらうという方法で日本語のテストをしました。その時クリスの日本語のレベルの高さを知り、「外人」でもこれだけできる人がいるんだと感嘆しました。それから 2，3 年
経済開発局のクリスと仕事を一緒にし、そのあと何をしていたかは、風の便りで聞くだけでしたが、日本に帰国して、日英の翻訳を頼まれた時に SNS で探し出し、
25 年ぶりに東京で再会しました。翻訳は断られたのですが、JAT の会員担当理事をしていた彼から薦められて JAT に入会しました。
広島の IJET は一日も欠かすことなく出席し、イベントは二次会のお好み焼をスキップしただけで、すべてに参加し、いろいろな方と出会い、良い経験をさせてもらいました。ネットワーキングがどれだけ大切かは皆様もご存知と思いますが、人に会うたびに新しい分野が開け、新しい仕事が舞い込んできました。その点でJAT に入会したことでいろいろ学ぶことが多くありました。
JAT の研修会などに多く参加して（IJET は広島以来、３年前にオハイオであった IJET を除き全て参加）、片手間にやっていた自分とは違い、翻訳を本職として19いる翻訳者の考え方、姿勢などを学びました。なんでも翻訳できると思うのではなく、自分はどの部門で他の人にも劣らないスキルがあるのかを見極めることが大切なことも学びました。また JAT に入会して、すぐに自覚したのは、日英の翻訳は英語が母国語の人で日本語の理解力が高い人に任せるのが一番だということでした。いくら英語チェックをしてもらっても自分の英語力には限度があるからです。一方日英翻訳を依頼する場合、英語力、理解力、専門分野によって翻訳の優劣の差が多いことにも気が付きました。内容自体は正確でも、質の高さ、スタイルが翻訳者によって随分異なることに驚いたものです。
チェッカー、レビュアーという仕事が存在することも JAT を通して知り、いまでは仕事の８割を占めています。
日本協会ではフロリダニュースという月刊誌を編集長兼記者、配達、雑用係として 7 年間つづけた経験があり、帰国後も出版社の仕事や、大学関係の仕事で出版には深くかかわっていたので、JAT のアンソロジーの話を聞いて、自分にも JAT
で何かできることがあるかもしれないと思い、初版からボランティアしました。
アンソロジー編集では、初版から数年、印刷屋に回す前に相当な時間とボランティ
アの労力を使い投稿されたエッセーをチェックし、何度も投稿者に書き換えや、校正をお願いしていました。が、他人の手が入ったものは、それぞれの英語力、日本語力を誠実に表すものではないという考え方から、投稿された原稿はそのま
ま、その人のありのままの能力、スタイル、人柄を伝えるものとして、一切手を加えることなく印刷に回すことになったのは数年前からです。
毎年何らかのテーマを選び、そのテーマに従ってエッセーを書いてもらうというアイディアもありましたが、日々気になっていること、伝えたいことを書けば良いというスタンスで現在に至っています。
電子版だけにするという話もありますが、紙媒体は広告、自己紹介としても使えること、そして会員以外の人に伝えたいことがあるなどの理由で、紙媒体でも出版をつづけることに賛同する方も多いのが現実です。
これからの 10 年、アンソロジー「翻訳者の目線」がどのように発展するか楽しみです。

20

Lone(ly) Wolf in a Gaping Niche
Vernon Fischer（フィッシャー バーノン）“Iwant YOU to do it.” The professor didn’t know me well. Hiredrecently by his department at a medical university near Tokyo toprovide “native grammar checking” I had come to dread him as
the surgeon most likely to appear with on-the-spot demands forgrammar advice. Now he was insisting I grammar-edit his revisions to amanuscript sent back by reviewers.
My editing experience consisted of helping a half dozen Japanese gradstudents in the Applied Linguistics and Japanese Language
departments at my alma mater with their master’s theses. As a double
major spanning those departments I could “read their minds” to help
articulate what they wanted to say. But for this, with zero medical
background and feeling criminally unqualified, I had tendered an
estimate (in vain) from a professional editor in Tokyo.
Alas, I timidly requested a copy of the reviewers’ comments. Three setsarrived! A high-value report, but returned for major revision three times!
His grammar was nearly faultless, but the logic was fuzzy and circular.
Too intimidated to tell the professor he had bigger issues, I re-purposeda five-category needs analysis framework I had devised while editing at
my university. Via email, I downplayed the importance of structural
grammar by pitching it as only one of five “toolboxes” of analyticalsystems, alongside functional grammar, lexicography, micro-logic/
micro-organization, and macro-logic/macro-organization.
Then I went to work absorbing the papers referenced in his manuscript.
For unfamiliar terminology and concepts I read more widely. Eventually I
sat down with the professor and told him all the items listed in his
obligatory “study weaknesses” section were not weaknesses, and thatthe most serious weakness in his study had gone unmentioned.

21

Surprised, he asked what that might be. At that moment, when helowered his head acknowledging my point, I found my strength. I
confidently assured him I could rewrite the paper and get it published.
After crafting a concise introductory thesis statement, I corrected errors
in the Methods description and replaced all points in the Discussionsection to target an audience of published authorities in the field. I
redrew new conclusions to reflect the clarified thesis and actual study
data. Finally, after writing responses to the reviewers, I discovered there
was a 4th set of reviewer comments I hadn’t seen. In that latest set,
one reviewer had demanded the paper be completely rewritten,
accusing the authors of learning nothing from reviewer feedback.
My revision was published without further comment in that specialty’s
highest-impact English language journal, winning the professor aprestigious award in Japan. Eight years later I continue to expand mycollection of similar stories where my participation as a combinationtranslator/editor has been the essential enzyme for catalyzing theinteractive learning all researchers experience throughout the lit review,
writing and revision processes.
Now, still driven by an insecure need to differentiate my work, I
compulsively code every edit using my 5-code needs analysis
framework, imagining a mentor or colleague looking over my shoulder.
The coding process provides project management and quality control
effects, helps manage client expectations, and leaves a searchable trailof coded worksheets for research and teaching. A bottom-line benefit
may be the job security that comes from showing Code 4 and Code 5
edits to the boss.
In conclusion, I have shared this narrative to say that from where I sit,
atop my lonely stack of coded worksheets, I see a gaping thirsty nichein medical academics for embedded, salaried “bi-linguists” having skills
to bridge the chasm between Japanese researchers and their Englishspeaking peers. And oh, how I would enjoy swapping stories!

22翻訳の機械化が進めば、発信する翻訳者の時代が来るは せ が わ ゆうこ

長谷川 祐子技

術開発では、技術がある性能を超えると急速に利用されます。いま、機械翻訳がその臨界点を越えようとしています。

数年前まで「あんなもの使えない」と言われていたものが、「それなしには生活できない」ものに変わろうとしています。
翻訳作業の機械化は今に始まったことではありません。辞書は紙の辞書から電子辞書に、原稿は手書きから PC に、原稿の文字カウント作業・用語の統一はワードの機能に、調べ物は本屋からインターネット検索に。
技術の進歩で、1 人の翻訳者が処理できる分量は増えていきました。現在、フル稼働しているプロの翻訳者が 1 日に手掛ける量の目安は、英日（原文が英語）では1500 ～ 2000 ワード程度、日英（原文が日本語）では 3000 ～ 4000 文字程度とされています。
処理できる分量が増えれば増えるほど、翻訳される情報が多様化すればするほど、翻訳市場の規模は大きくなります。機械化が進めばさらに拡大する、と予測しています。
AI（人工知能）による機械翻訳の精度が向上したいま、ポストエディット（PE）と呼ばれる仕事もできました。PE は、機械が訳したものを、人がチェックして直したり、機械が苦手とする意訳の修正をすることです。
PE については様々な意見がありますが、浸透してきていることは確かです。PE
の導入は分野によって、進んでいるところと進んでいないところがあります。直訳
調になりやすい分野は進みやすく、より意訳が必要な分野はなかなか進んでいない（人間の翻訳者が訳した方が速い）です。ニュース翻訳はかなり難しい。
AI に対しては、ディープラーニング（深層学習）をさせ、性能を上げていくという取り組みがされています。
そもそも AI があれほど注目されるようになったのは、ディープラーニング（深層学習）が飛躍的に向上したためです。
ディープラーニングは、翻訳精度の向上と親和性が高いとされています。翻訳する

23

AI に対し、適切な訳語をディープラーニングさせていくことで、精度を上げていく。
そのうえに、世界では今までになかった新しい事象が沢山生まれています。翻訳
するＡＩに対して、全く新しい事象についての訳語を学習させることも必要になってきます。
では、機械化が進んだ後は、人間が翻訳しなくてよくなるのでしょうか？
いいえ、翻訳者が主体的に「何をどう訳すか」を取捨選択し、発信することが重要になってくる、と予測しています。
今の日本の情報環境で、主要国の衝撃的な災害、アメリカ大統領選挙など、明らかに日本の政治経済社会に影響のある出来事、グローバル企業の合併、巨大 IT 企
業の新技術や新商品について、伝わるのが見落とされるということは考えにくいです。それらは「訳される必要がある情報」
であることは明らかで、日本にスピーディーに伝達される体制が整っています。
しかし、海外では主流になってどんどん進んでいるけれど、日本では事情があって誰も知らない事象があります。
また、日本の事象のなかには、海外に知らされなかったら大変なことになるけれど、事情があって知らされていないということもあります。
どんなことが日本や海外に知らされるべきか。それを判断していくには、先見性、深い専門性が必要。時にはエシカル（倫理的）な判断も必要です。
そして、翻訳者の世界にも多様な知見を持つ人が必要。翻訳される題材が多様になれば、社会にプラスの影響になるでしょう。
私は、翻訳の仕事をもっと参入しやすく、稼げるようにできないか、と考えています。
翻訳者の得意分野・スキルと案件のマッチングはとても難しい。さらにコロナ禍で企業の業績悪化に伴い、企業から依頼される案件数が見通せない状況にあります。
かたや世界にはまだまだ日本にとって必要でありながら知らされていない外国語の重要な情報が、翻訳会社も知らないところに眠っています。
いま自分が目指すことは、どんな情報がどの層にとってニーズがあるのか、自分は何をどう訳すか、主体的に考えて発信する翻訳者になることではないかと考えています。発展する機械翻訳を恐れるのではなく、正しく知り、うまく付き合う。
こう書いていくと、自分は「翻訳者」というより「翻訳ライター」だな、と思います。

24

How the Pandemic Can Bring Translators andAcademics Together
David Heath & Stephen Crabbe（ヒース デビッド & クラベ スティーブン）W

e are translation researchers and practitioners. David works
full-time at Kanto Gakuin University; Stephen at the Universityof Portsmouth. We both started our careers as professional
Japanese-to-English translators more than 20 years ago and continue towork in the industry. Over the last few years, we have been looking forways to bridge what we see as a gap between practicing translatorsand the researchers and other academics who make up the translationstudies (TS) community. We feel that closer interaction could ultimately
help to raise translators, in the eyes of society, to what we believe istheir rightful place as fully fledged professionals. We also feel it canbring real-world experience to the training of would-be translators atuniversity level. We have been sharing these messages with fellow JAT
members through the pages of Translator Perspectives since 2016.
This year, we would like to focus on the benefits of TS conferences—and the ease of taking part—in the context of the coronavirus
pandemic. We have felt for several years that fellow JAT members
could benefit from attending TS conferences as, in our opinion, someof the research presented is potentially of great value to practicing
translators. Just as importantly, many academics who attend TS
conferences need and want input from industry professionals andwould value opportunities to speak with them in a conference setting.
However, our experience of TS conferences focusing on Japanesesuggests that only a relatively small proportion of attendees are industry
professionals. One barrier from the perspective of freelance translators
may be the cost in terms of time and money. (Having both been
freelancers, we are fully aware that time is money.) After all, TS
conferences are held around the world, so the chances that one will beheld in one’s home area on a convenient date are potentially slim;
taking part has traditionally incurred costs associated with taking time25

off and travelling. But this barrier has partly disappeared during the
pandemic as some TS conferences have shifted online. Plus, ourexperience during the pandemic suggests that some organizers of TS
conferences are willing to reduce participation fees—presumably
because they no longer need to pay for physical facilities, equipment,
and supplies. We suspect that we will see a gradual return of physical
TS conferences as governments push to revive socioeconomic activity.
But at the same time, we suspect that organizers will keep offering theoption of attending remotely.
Information on TS conferences is only a Google search away. One
online list of TS conferences around the world is offered by theEuropean Society for Translation Studies (https://est-translationstudies.
org/). (Just Google “European Society for Translation Studies” and“Conferences in Translation Studies”.) So if you are a JAT member who
would like to experience a TS conference and potentially offer yourinsights from Japanese translation practice, we encourage you to takethe plunge. It is now easier than ever. And if you have any contact with
TS academics, we hope you will encourage them to attend JAT events
such as the next IJET conference (https://ijet.jat.org/).

26

翻訳の仕事はどのように獲得するか
ひ ぐ ち かつのり

樋口 勝規

翻

訳の仕事を獲得するといっても、初心者から中堅、ベテランまで、実力と経験によりいろいろな方法が存在するのを 20 年以上翻訳業に携わってきて、かなり幅広く認識できるようになってきた。その中で多くの翻訳志願者がまず知りたいと思うであろうことに少し触れることにする。
翻訳初心者の頃は実力判定のために英語の資格試験を始め、翻訳力を認定する試
験も受けて、一定の力が付いたと評価された後、翻訳会社のトライアルを受け、合格するようになった。さらに、いろいろな機会を捉えてすでに活躍している翻訳者とつながり、翻訳を依頼されるようにもなっていった。

この時期は、トライアルというのは一つのハードルであるが、トライアルを実施
する翻訳エージェントもいろいろあり、一度不合格であったからといってがっかりすることはない。エージェントと翻訳者の間にもやはり相性というものはある。
良ければ長いお付き合いになるだろうし、翻訳者として吸収していけることも多々出てくる。
しかし、トライアルに合格したといってもすぐ仕事が依頼されるかというと、ビギナーの間はそういうことはまずない。合格してから 1 年経って仕事の依頼があったというケースもよくあるようだ。現実に私も複数回経験しているし、他からも聞いている。
したがって、実力をつけてトライアルに合格して仕事を獲得する以外に、いろい
ろ他のルートを開拓する必要が出てくる。翻訳者の勉強会や懇親会に参加させてもらうことも良いだろう。その中には現役で活躍中の翻訳者がいたり、エージェ
ントの人がいたりし、面識を得るチャンスがあるかも知れない。認めてもらえれば、仕事を回してもらえる可能性は十分にある。
今述べたのは、翻訳の仕事をしたいけれど、翻訳業務を必要とする会社に属しているわけではないし、翻訳会社に務めているわけでもないという、翻訳の現場から遠いところにいる方向けの助言である。

27

私は、今書いたような道筋をたどって中年になってから翻訳業に就いた個人翻訳者である。若い頃からこの仕事に関心のある方は、そのほかにもいろいろな可能性があるわけだから、迷ってしまい、現実と自分の希望のギャップに悩むことも多いかもしれない。
ただ、一つ言えることは、翻訳は業務としては成り立ち、ビジネスの分野でも翻訳者は必要だが、単独でそれだけでポンと翻訳者というものは存在するのではな
いということだ。翻訳が好きで翻訳が得意なので翻訳者になりたいというのは短絡的な考えの域を出ていない。それなら、できる仕事は他にもたくさんある。翻訳の力を生かしつつ他の業務を主とする行き方のほうが、組織内ではつぶしが効くであろうし、人生行路を考えた場合、安全航行ができるであろう。
さて、翻訳の仕事を獲得する直接的な方途について触れ、それ以外にも道はいろ
いろあることを述べた。翻訳の力を生かす道はいろいろあり、翻訳者になるというのはその一つである。私が今翻訳を仕事にしているのは、もちろん稼ぐためであるが、これだけ続けているのは、「好きだから」ということに尽きる。

28

Never Lose Sight of the Big Picture
Julian Holmes（ホームズ ジュリアン）A

few years back B.C (Before Covid), I was in Tōkyō making therounds of my customers and paying my end-of-year respects
to oil the tracks for new work the following year.

With one particular customer, I arranged for a late afternoon meeting on
a Friday. By chance, this coincided with their in-house year-end party inthe evening, which they kindly invited me to. I felt quite chuffed to learn
that I was to be the only outsider in attendance.
I am primarily a technical writer—at least 90% of my workload istechnical stuff. I do accept work in other areas which I take on to keep
my gray matter nice and nimble. However, it’s industrial-strength
technical work that pays this translator’s bills.
One thing I always do when I translate is to make up for deficiencies in
the Japanese. And linguistic atrocities come in all shapes and sizes:
typos, incorrectly annotated numbers and units, misplaced particles, aplethora of vagueness and ambiguities, myriads of inconsistencies andillogical syntax, litanies of superfluous and repetitious content, etc., etc.
Wiping up after and translating other people’s written mess is impolitely
but very succinctly referred to by my peers and friends in our businessas, ahem, ‘polishing a turd’—a phrase not exclusive to technicaltranslation. I’m sure that a lot of you are nodding in agreement here
while sipping on your Martinis in your own translator heaven.
In tech translation, though, there are probably more of these
deficiencies because a lot of the documents, at least in my fields ofexpertise, are written by engineers. Have you ever heard the well-wornjoke that if you ask a 100 engineers why they chose the sciences,
they’d reply that they’re no good at 国語 ? Well, remember that these
are the people who write a lot of what I and others like me translate.
At the party, the chief manager came up to me and thanked me for myhard work in the last big project. It was around 900 pages or so of29

heavy text about car electronics, semiconductor stuff, and was spreadover four months. The project was all the more challenging because thedocuments had been written by four or five engineers and readied fortranslation at various stages of development—I think I even got the last
document first and the product overview last of all. This was what iscalled in Holmesy speak a “royal clustermess.”
The project manager did pick me up on one thing, though. “Holmessan,” she said. “You know you made a few small mistakes, always thesame mistakes, but a few mistakes all the same. It looked as if yourmind was somewhere else at times.” Taken back a bit, I apologized andtold her “Well, if I had, you really should have pointed this out to me
during the course of the project.” “Please don’t take this the wrong
way,” she said almost apologetically. “We’re all human. We all makemistakes; especially, the client in this case. They made lots. But, youwent the extra mile to iron out those problems and deliver us a polishedtranslation.” She added “Thanks to you, you made our work easier andwe were able to deliver the last installment to the client on timeyesterday. They were very pleased with the overall quality of thetranslation.” “Hiroko-san (name changed), I might have been
concentrating too much on all those problems in the Japanese.” I
replied, and then added“時々、木が多すぎて森が見えないんです。”(myway of saying, ‘Sometimes you just can’t see the woods for the trees`).
Her face lit up as she said“素晴らしい表現ですね。とても合っています。”We both smiled and proceeded to have a really nice ’n friendly
conversation.
So, the moral of this story? Always bear in mind not be sidetracked byperipheral or incidental problems and stay focused on the main thrustand content of the document in-hand.

“Now, where exactly did that haystack go?”30

Repackaging your Skills
Brian Hyman（ハイマン ブライアン）S

uccessful translators and interpreters tend to have the following
skills.
◦ Proficient and comfortable working in two languages◦	Understand the cultural background to the languages beingused◦ Familiar with the subject matter◦	Understand what is meant as opposed to just what is said or
written◦ Able to read between the lines◦ Readily admit what they don’t know

There are other things you can do with the same skill set.
(Translation marketed in other forms)
You can accompany clients not as an interpreter but as a member of
their team. You can attend meetings with a client without the otherparty being aware that you’re familiar with their language and culture.
Operating as a member of the team can often be far more effective
than just being an interpreter. It is less important whether the otherparty is aware of your language skills than that they are beneficial toyour client. Think of it as working with the client instead of just for theclient. Interpreters aren’t neutral. They are generally employed by one ofthe parties. Sometimes hiding your skill can be the most important skill.
You can listen to the requests made by two parties and draft acompromise in a way that it is likely to be accepted by all. Don’t beafraid to tell the truth. Overconfidence of clients is a common cause of
failure, and they are often grateful for the advice when it iscommunicated to them diplomatically.
You can represent the interests of your client in another country using
your understanding of both cultures and the industry they are in to31

improve communication and increase your client’s probability ofsuccess. This requires trust from the client in situations they don’t fully
understand.
You can read through proposals or promotional materials designed foranother country and advise about their suitability and how they could
be improved. Nuances in the other language may not be obvious to theclient but may seriously affect the outcome of their activity.
Your clients’ success is your success. Your skills can be used in many
ways to help your clients succeed. By marketing and applying yourskills in various ways, you can branch out into activities other than puretranslation. They can be more interesting and rewarding if you can findclients that appreciate the ways in which you can work together.
Most translators charge per word or character whether it be source ortarget. There is a maximum amount that you can earn this way. It isreached when you:1) are charging the highest rate your clients will pay,2) translating as fast (efficiently) as you can, and3) working as many hours per day as you can.
By repackaging your skill set, there are ways to move away from thetypical per-page or per-hour model.
I have found that one good way of doing this is reaching a commissionbased agreement with the client. Instead of an hourly amount, youinvest your time to help the client succeed in return for a percentage ofthe sales. As initial sample orders can require a lot of time andcommunication, there is often little compensation for what can feel likea lot of time and effort. However, if successful, repeat orders tend to bequick and simple with very little need for communication and therefore
result in much higher compensation for relatively little work. This can bemuch more scalable than translation. It can also allow you to be
involved in multiple projects at the same time to further increase yourincome.

32

The Risk of Erring on the Side of Caring
いがわ

Jennifer Igawa（井川 ジェニファー）Translating often comes down to a matter of choices: what word,phrase, or even syntax best expresses the original meaning,
including the intended purpose, of the source in a manner that
reads naturally in the target language. But what does one do when
there is an error in the source text? How faithful to the original task
should a translator be?
I was recently asked to translate the transcript of a documentary film. In
the film, a 79-year old woman was recalling something she had learned
in a night school science class about the human intestinal tract. She
expressed that she had not known that there was「クロレラ」in thehuman gut. My first reaction was that surely she didn’t mean cholera!
What is this 「クロレラ」? Could she mean chlorella, the freshwateralga that is native to Japan and used in health supplements? Is thatsomething that naturally exists in the human gut?
I consulted a specialist in the human gut biome to help me get a grip on
this topic. In fact, chlorella is not naturally found in the human intestinal
tract. Had the woman learned incorrect information? Had she simply
confused what she had learned with the ubiquitous health supplementsthat contain chlorella? She did indicate how she really didn’t know muchabout the topic. A dilemma soon arose: should I translate as is or try tocover-up for the error? While changing the wording would not be
detrimental to the message of the film, it could save face; I didn’t want
this person to be perceived negatively. Yet, such a maneuver is beyond
the role of a translator, who should remain as faithful to the original as
possible. The challenge was to show the innocence of the error withoutchanging the word.

33

The source text is「理科の時間にな、教えてもらった、こんなにすごい細菌て凄いね
んな、とかね腸内細菌。クロ・・・クロレラ言うたか、何や言うてた先生な。 それがおるから今の便に出る奴は便に出て、栄養になるのは小腸。」
It is clear that the speaker is expressing doubt in the accuracy of her
memory (「何や言うてた先生な」). Furthermore, the full text clearlyshows she is genuinely proud of her newfound knowledge.
The final translation is:
We learned in science class about the bacteria in our guts. It’s
amazing. The teacher said something about...chlorella? Anyhow,
because there are bacteria in our guts, …
The key word here is “anyhow”. The nuance I wanted to show was notthat the name of the bacteria was important, not that the woman had
made a mistake, but that the woman was excited about her learningand was proud to be able to talk about it.
In the end, there is no error in the source text at all. The woman’s
original meaning and intended purpose is clear. And I narrowly escaped
erring on the side of caring and being unfaithful to the original text.

34

Origins of the Rules from Clients for Patent
Filing Translation
Steven W. Johnston（ジョンストン ステーベン）Patent translators are often working within a framework of rules
provided by the client, whether the client is an agency, law office,patent attorney, or assignee company. When I was working as afreelance translator, the origins of the rules themselves were almost
never explained. Later, while working in-house at a law firm, I got tosee some of these rules being formulated and revised, so I will describe
here some of the origins of such patent translation rules.
Some patent translation rules as based on statutory law. An example
would be the use of "means for ..." as means-plus-function element inclaims per Section 112(f) of US patent law.
Other patent translation rules are based on case law, that is to say,actual rulings by courts. An example would be the translation of " など "into "such as". I've heard that this is based on Catalina Marketing v.
Coolsavings.com (CAFC, 2002), in which it was determined that "suchas" "introduces an example of a broader genus rather than limiting the
genus to the exemplary species". Thus "such as" is equivalent to "etc."
Note that case law changes from year to year in accordance with court
decisions, and thus rules based on case law may become outdated
more readily than rules based on statutory law.
Some patent translation rules are based on USPTO requirements, suchas for formatting. An example of this would be the dividing of adrawing into FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, etc. when required by the USPTO rules
for illustrations.
Some patent translation rules are based on English grammar. An
example of such a rule is proper usage of the definite and indefinite
articles in patent claims. Another would be the omission of the35

indefinite article before an abstract/uncountable noun, an intangible
medium, or first mention of a plural element. Errors in definiteindefinite articles can easily result in an indefinite patent claim.
Patent translation rules are sometimes merely for consistency. Finding
an unfamiliar word often will send a Benrishi reviewing the translation
to an English dictionary, where it is all too likely that some obscuredefinition will be found that does not match the context. This can resultin a wasteful series of communications between the Benrishi andtranslator. Sticking closely to terminology used previously in similar
patent translations avoids this problem.
Some rules are formulated to create a commercially useful translation
for stopping infringement. An example of this is the frequent use of"configured to" in patent claims, to avoid "for" (danger of means-plusfunction interpretation) and to cause direct infringement at a
manufacturing factory.
Sometimes a patent translation rule is based on speculation by a patent
attorney attempting to anticipate future patent law. The patent attorney
thus might request terminology that is not based on existing case law,
but rather anticipated case law, in an attempt to avoid future loss of thepatent right as the case law changes.

36

A Dream, Persistence, and Patience
きのしたMarian Kinoshita（木下 マリアン）

I

can remember wanting to be “ bilingual” since I was inkindergarten. The second husband of my great aunt (andnamesake) was from Russia and their common language was
French. I loved listening to them chat back and forth in their secret code
as they sipped their gin and tonics during cocktail hour. It was puremagic, and I longed to be part of the conversation. Then in 4th grade, avolunteer dad visited our school once a week to teach us a few phrases
in German. I was hooked. Not on German per se, but on the possibilityof being able to communicate in a different language.
A decade or so later, I traveled to Nagoya as an exchange student tolearn Japanese, starting with「私の名前はミャリヤンです。」(A few
years later, I moved to Osaka and was redubbed マリアン。) I fell inlove with the language, the country, and the food (of course!), andinched toward fulfillment of that childhood dream. Four decades later, I
concede that becoming a full-time translator was less “magic” andmore majime effort demanding persistence and patience—mypersistence and everyone else’s patience.
Assuming you, Dear Reader, are happily poised to plunge into
commercial translation, I offer a few humble tips:
	Gain general business experience by working in a Japanesecompany for a few years.
	Develop relationships with agencies and project coordinators, aswell as contacts who could someday turn into direct clients.
	Join a group of professional translators (like JAT!) for selfimprovement and camaraderie.
	Say “yes” to any work you can handle. Test the waters, try various

37

fields, carve out your own niche in a few areas that pique yourinterest. Or, develop an area of specialization (finance,
pharmaceuticals, etc.) with potential for steady work and higherthan-average rates.
	Incorporate your business, become an official entity—this helps
clients approve you as a vendor and forces you to assume a more
professional stance (even if you still work in your pjs at home).
	Develop a business style which defines your company andincentivizes loyalty among your clients; offer flexibility on rush jobs,
zeal throughout multiple revisions (fully invoiced!), retention ofclient-specific glossaries, and a can-do persona.
	Work with a like-minded partner to provide mutual editing and otherdaily backup, ensuring higher quality and quicker deliveries.
	Build a team of trustworthy colleagues with whom you can share
work or collaborate on projects, allowing you to cover multiple
specialties and expand your client base.
	Leap out of your comfort zone and join the JAT Board! It is a fun andfulfilling way to contribute to the industry, help your fellow
translators, and gain new experiences.
	Finally, always remember that as a translator you must (often) please
many parties; the client may therefore not always choose—or be
free to choose—the “best” translation as the final version. Keepyour pride in check and move on.
＊	Here, “editing” refers to its irritatingly broad meaning in the J-to-E
translation industry: checking the English against the original
Japanese, proofreading for grammatical mistakes and typos, andediting for style.

38

Staying in Touch While Staying Apart–Keeping
B Language Ability Intact
Paul Koehler（ケラー ポール）

A

curious thing happened last September. I returned to theUnited States after living in Japan for almost eight years, andlast September marked the point where I had been backlonger than I had lived in Japan. It was a conscious choice and I still
don’t regret it, but it has come at the price of not being able to use my
B language (in my case, Japanese) as much as I did in Japan. It became
painfully apparent to me during my visit to Japan in 2018, when aJapanese friend said that my Japanese had gotten worse. I’ve been soused to hearing the opposite (honest or not) that it was a shock, but I
appreciated the honesty. The pandemic has forced most people in theworld to keep physically distanced, and you can imagine how much of
an impact this has on people in our profession.
Or does it? Gone are the days where contact with the outside world islimited by technology, and bandwidth allows for video communication
as a normal occurrence instead of a luxury limited to corporations.
However, I miss the impact of watching my reading and speaking
Japanese ability improve within hours after arrival, and that simply isn’t
possible right now.
Thanks to a colleague’s advice, I have found a VPN service whichenables me to watch many TV channels in Japan live, even more than I
had when I lived there. Say what you will about the quality of
programming, but the chance to watch and listen in real time issomething I missed. Hearing about sobering news like coronavirus
clusters (virtually unspoken of in the States) or this year’s cherry
blossom forecasts are a nice way to keep informed. I also make aneffort to speak with friends in Japan when I can.

39Why is this important? Among other reasons, it is our duty astranslators to keep as up-to-date with both languages as we can, andwhile culture and language can change in ways that make things
unrecognizable to us, we need to do what we can to convey these
aspects in our documents. Just as I missed the second Abeadministration in Japan and caught up with increasing polarization in
the US, we need to stay on top of things. Fortunately, the ability to doso has become easier thanks to the impact of technology.
I still have a airline ticket on standby to go to Japan, and I plan on taking
advantage of it as soon as I can. However, until that day comes, I will
use the resources I have available to keep my B language ability intact
and make sure I keep not only my strength as a professional, but also
my connections with the place that I still consider a second home. I
look forward to visiting as soon as I can.

40

第二外国語の習得がもたらす英語原文の理解度向上
みやはら たけし

宮原 健「第二外国語を学習すると、英語が上達する」。多言語学習者界隈で聞かれる話だ。上達といっても色々だが、私はよく fatigue（疲労）という単語を引き合いに一例として理解度向上を説明している。金属製

造業界に馴染みがなければ、fatigue crack（疲労き裂）という英語をみたとき、もしかしたら「fatigue ？何だそれ」という人もいるかもしれない。英語だと業界によっては仕事で使うだろうが、病院でなど tired を通り越した疲労感の表現を求められなければ生活で縁もなく、tired や exhausted の方が口から出るだろう。一方、フランス語では je suis fatigué（I'm tired）のように簡単な表現であるから、学習の早い段階ですでに目にして知っているはずの単語だ。このように、同じ単語でも頻出度の違いから、第二外国語を学習していることで意味を取れるものがある。しかし、翻訳に限っていえば、その場で単語の意味を知らなくても辞書等で調べればい
いじゃないかという人もいると思う。それもそうだが、翻訳についてさらにいえば、第二外国語の知識を基に曖昧に書かれた英語原文を理解できることもあるのだ。
具体例を挙げてみよう。
While Customer is in default, he or she is responsible for all negligence.
Customer is also liable for performance in the case of chance, unless thedamage would have occurred even if performance had been made in a timely
manner.
という英語原文がある（実際の文から多少変えている）。ユーザーが購入製品の保証契約を結び、その支払いに不履行があった場合のユーザーの責任を説明している。皆さんはどのように訳すだろうか。その会社の製品や、同社の顧客対応フ
ロー、さらに前後の文脈を理解したうえでこの文を読んでも、performance が何を言及しているのかいまひとつはっきりせず、私は英語原文に何某かの曖昧さがあることを疑った。
この会社はドイツ企業で、同社内の翻訳部で英語を書き起こして、それを原文に、日本語のほかにも中国語やスペイン語など 10 言語以上に翻訳している。多言語に展開しやすいよう、ドイツ語を原文に翻訳を進めていないのだ。ともかく上の
英語原文ではよくわからないため、ドイツ語文を請求したところ届いたのが次の文だ。

41

Während des Verzugs ist der Kunde für jede Fahrlässigkeit verantwortlich.
Der Kunde haftet auch bei Zufall für die Erbringung der Leistung, es sei denn,dass der Schaden auch bei rechtzeitiger Leistung eingetreten sein würde.
ドイツ語が分からない人でさえ、見比べると、英語は performance、ドイツ語はLeistung という単語が 2 回出ていることに気がつくだろう。Leistung は厄介で、確かに performance と訳される単語であるが、achievement や service、benefit、
payment、power 等にも訳される。もちろん文脈から、そのどれなのかは読み取れるものだ。だが、ドイツ語文を知って英語を読み直すと、Leistung を単純に
performance と 訳 す だ け で は い ま ひ と つ 意 味 が 取 れ な い。 ま た、1 つ 目 の
performance（= die Erbringung der Leistung）は die Erbringung（履行 / 提供）に相当して読めてもしまい、するとこの der Leistung に相当する単語が欠けることになる。2 つ目の performance（bei rechtzeitiger Leistung）も何なのか。保証
契約の話なのだから契約に基づく販売会社による契約内容の履行かと思いつつも、ユーザーの支払いの遅滞についての話が先行することから、まさか payment かと先方に確認したところ、やはりユーザーが適時に行った payment（= performanceof payment in a timely manner）を指したかったと回答があった。BGB（ドイツ民法）にはよく似た英文訳があり、それは広義の給付（債務）を指しているが、これと DeepL を参考に書き起こした英文ではないかと疑った。確認の末、最終的に「保証契約の支払い滞納中、顧客はすべての過失に対して責任を負わなければならない。不慮の事故についても、顧客は支払責任を負う。ただし、保証契約の支払いを期日通りに行っていたとしても損害が生じたであろう場合を除く。
」とした（厳密には違うが）。performance のまま債務の履行としても良かったのかもしれないが、ユーザーの債務が何かを再確認するため読み手に文脈を読み直させることは避けたかった。ちなみに、この文が出てくる項では、Leistung がservice、performance、payment と 3 通りの意味で使われていた。
グローバル化が進む現代において、英日翻訳を主とする翻訳者が、非英語ネイティ
ブが書いた英語原文を訳すこともあるだろう。そうした英語原文でもわかりやすいものはあるが、先の例のようにもう少し書きようがあったのではないかと思われる
原文は少なくない。一方で、訳者が英語原文を書いた人物の母語にも精通していれば気付けることも多い。英語圏でない会社から英語原文の英日翻訳を頻繁に受けているのなら、その国の言語を学んでみるのも、ある種の英語原文の理解度と、ひいては翻訳の質向上につながるといえる。

42

映像翻訳・稀少言語と英語と日本語・通訳・取材とレポート作成 – いろいろ思うことにしかわ ま さ こ

西川 雅子 (Masako Nishikawa-Van Eester)日

英以外に或る稀少言語の翻訳・通訳をしていると、望む望まないにかか

わらず、いろいろな体験をすることになる。日本語ネイティブでその言語の使い手がほとんどいないようである。代わりがいないのだ。

突然未明にテレビ局に呼ばれ、様々な映像を延々と視聴しなんとか字幕用の訳をつけた後で、もう朝、ということになる。街頭インタビューなど入っていると、皆が皆ニュースキャスターのように明快に話し、言いたいことを上手に説明できるわけではないから、訛りや方言、個々人の話し方の癖、聞き取りが大変なのだ。
その次は、その関連で、こうこう、こういう現象にあたりをつけてインターネッ
トで調べて文書にまとめて欲しい、と依頼される。延々とインターネットで調べ物をする。文書を作成する。特殊なジャンルで、日本語の専門用語が、わからない。
四苦八苦してまたインターネットで調べる。できあがったのでその旨を報告した
いが担当ディレクターが会議中らしく、電話をしてもなかなかつかまらない…。
ようやく連絡が取れ、家に帰れることになる。帰宅後、家事をしてから少々寝る。
しかし仮眠で終わってしまう。
その日の夕方、別の局に呼ばれる。こうこうこういう状況で、知りたいことがあるから、適当にあたりをつけて、今からあちこち電話で取材をしてもらいたい、とのこと。欧州にかけるので、向こうはオフィスアワーが始まったところである。
インターネットで調べて、話が聞けそうな研究所や団体・組織事務所にいきなり電話でインタビューをする。相手にしてみれば迷惑極まりない奴で、しかも日本のテレビ局なんです、と言われると無下に拒めない、という困惑ぶりが声音に表れて漂って来る。大汗をかきながらなんとか数か所で話を聞き出すことができ、和訳をして話をまとめ、報告書に仕上げる。
ディレクターが「なんとか使えそうですね。
」と言い、ネタの提供ができたのでやっと帰れる、とわくわくしていると、この件に関連しての法制度等々について、わが国と欧州諸国の相違点をまとめてください、と言われ、帰宅時間の予定が立たなくなったことに絶望しながらも、
今度は EU の公式ウェブサイトに飛び、例えば、
EU Directive（EU 指令）についての情報を漁ってみる。頭の中は、もう帰りたい、43

帰って寝たい、しかない…。何人か手配してもらえたら、手分けや交替でもっと早く上がれるのに、とにかく代わりがいない。EU Directive を読んでいくと、各国の足並みはどれぐらい揃っているか、確認するために、結局いちいちを英語版でも読んで再確認する作業も入ってくることがある。これも英語と日本語しかできないと、ターゲット言語との比較にならないのだ。
こんなことばかりやっているうちに朦朧としてきて、もう朝だか昼だか夜だか、
それが同じ日なのが翌日なのか、わからなくなってくるのだった。
近年は、在宅作業で済ませてもよい、という案件が増えた。自宅で居ながらに、使い慣れた自分のパソコンで、送られてきた映像データを視聴して、ある程度は自分のペースで効率的に仕事ができるようになった。また、「今から○○時間以内
で、○○についてできるだけ調査をして、報告書をご作成ください。
」というような依頼も増えた。英語と日本語の情報を取っ掛かりに使いながらも、そこでは見つけられないが、クライアントが是非とも今、入手したい、という情報をいかに迅速に見つけられるか、日本語に置き換えて説明できるか、が重要なポイントになっている。
一時期、来るもの拒まずで何もかも引き受けて、その結果自分のペースで生活できなくなってしまったこともあり、今はできる範囲でお受けしている。
さて、今でも時々、「翻訳者になりたいのですが、適性というか、どんな人が向いているのでしょうか。
」というご質問をいただくことがある。それにお答えするにはまず、山ほど質問をさせていただかなければならないのだが（何語と何語と何語でなさるのですか、和訳のみですか、文芸翻訳ですか実務翻訳ですか映像翻訳
ですか、通訳も同時に対応可能ですか等々）、しかし、それに対するご返答を全ていただいたとしても、私に言えることは「体力があること、イライラしないこと」
ぐらいなのである。

44

Making Entertainment Translation Entertaining!
Jennifer O’Donnell（オドネル ジェニファー）W

hen you directly translate Japanese media such as novels or
manga into English it can become really boring. What reads
witty or exciting in one language can easily become dull or
dry in another. Or, worst of all, it becomes utter nonsense for thesituation or character! A Japanese high school girl might say「いただきます」but an English high school girl would probably never say, “Thankyou for this meal”.
This is why funtional equivalence is so important for making
entertainment translation entertaining.
Eugene Nida coined the terms formal equivalence and functional
equivalence. Formal equivilence is when you translate meaning on thelexical and grammatical level, making the translation more literal. While
funtional equivalence focuses more on translating the overall sense,
emotion, and intent of the source, which makes the translation morenatural for the target audience.
So a functional translation of「 い た だ き ま す 」for a high school girlmight be “This looks so good!” or “I’m starving!”
Making a translation entertaining in English is easier said than done. It
becomes a balancing act between conveying the meaning while also
making it sound natural. Sometimes this means moving away from theoriginal and re-crafting the text to improve flow and to fit the scene orcharacters.
Let’s take the first three lines from the novel All You Need is Kill byHiroshi Sakurazaka:
戦闘開始から十分間、兵士は恐怖に溺れる。
想像してみるがいい。
鋼鉄の死が飛び交う場所だ。

45

This was translated by Joseph Reeder and Alexander O. Smith as:“When the bullets start flying, it’s only a matter of time before fear
catches up with a soldier. There you are, steel death whizzing past in
the air.”
They merged the sentences together, conveying all the original meaning
and intent in a fluid and visually exciting way. The whole novel is an
excellent example of how functional equivalence can make a translationa thrill to read.
Challenges arise with seemingly untranslatable cuturally specific terms.
Words like 寝 巻 or お 塚 conjure very different images to Japaneseaudiences compared to “nightgown” or “mound” to English audiences.
There are times when it’s more entertaining to maintain the original
word, and expound upon it in English for those who are unfamiliar.
Japanese popular media, however, is riddled with interconnecting
memes and references. The majority of fantasty, for example, often
references the video game series Dragon Quest in one form or another.
And online communities have a language all to themselvs.
Take the slang term「リア充」. This word is often used by netizens torefer to someone who is satisfied by “real” life, and direclty translated
would mean “real is enough”, but that doesn’t make sense in English. A
functional equivilance would be “normie” or “sheeple”, which is more
understandable to the Western netizens.
Entertainment translators need to trust their instincts and follow the
research rabbit hole when they think a word might be a reference,
meme, or slang. That’s when their understanding of the target audienceand English popular culture comes into play to find the appropriate
equivilant translation.
Intent, target audience, and entertainment should always be factors
when deciding what culturally specific language to maintain and what
to drop. There’s never a ‘one translation fits all’ scenario and it always
varies between texts and translators. But every piece of entertainmenttranslation can really be an entertaining experience!

46

開業 10 年と自分の SDGs
さくら

か

な

み

佐倉 花奈美今年の 8 月 1 日で、私は翻訳者として開業してから 10 年を迎えます。今は翻訳だけでなく通訳サービスも提供しています。翻訳は日本語からス
ペイン語またはポルトガル語、その逆、そして英語からスペイン語またはポルトガル語が主な組み合わせです。通訳は日本語―スペイン語が基本ですが、時々ポルトガル語もやっています。
翻訳者として独立したのは 6 年間ほど都内の翻訳会社で働いたあとです。初めはマニュアルの翻訳チェックをしていましたが、徐々に翻訳案件が来るようになりました。私の専門分野はこれ、というより、英語―日本語のペアの翻訳に比べて案件数の少ない日本語―スペイン語と日本語―ポルトガル語のペアが専門分野と言えます（ここで分別していたら、仕事がありません）。
私はひとり親なので、開業当初は「来月の給料はあるのだろうか」という不安に駆られ、育児も家事もそっちのけでデスクから離れることなく、クライアントの提示してくる料金でなんでも引き受けていました。その結果、納期が被ってしまうこともあり、徹夜で翻訳することが多々ありました。1 年間もそんな生活を続けていると税金も増え、体重も増えてしまいました。その一方で、仕事は一週間以上途絶えることはないことにも気づき、引き受ける仕事は選別して詰め込まないほうが、良いこと尽くめだと悟りました。
当時は沖縄に住んでいて同業者は周りにいませんでした。日本語―スペイン語と日本語―ポルトガル語のレアな組み合わせの翻訳依頼は、インターネットを通じて本州と海外からいただいていました。沖縄にはそのような言語ペアの通訳者もいないので、翻訳の取引先から通訳案件も時々入ってくるようになりました。
開業してから 5 年、東京に戻ってくると通訳案件が増え、勉強したことがあった
通訳の手法を思い出しながら本格的に通訳にも携わるようになりました。会議通訳が年に 1 件ほどで、ほとんどはテレビ局でニュース番組を製作する際の通訳でした。
それから 4 年が経ったころ、コロナが世界を襲いました。観光関連の翻訳案件は減りましたが、テレビ局での仕事は増えました。そして同じころに増えたのが、
当時週に一回だけ出勤していた厚労省関係の労働条件相談の電話通訳の出勤日数です。これが原因で、当日にいきなり依頼が来る報酬の高いテレビの通訳の仕事に行けなくなりましたが、仕事は安定してあった方がいいに決まっています。

47

コロナが始まった年の売り上げは 100 万円以上減りました。振り返ってみると、テレビ局に行く回数が減ったからなのか、観光関連の翻訳案件が減ったからなのか、わかりません。役所関係のコミュニティ翻訳は変わらずありましたし、外国人の証明書類の翻訳もありました。それに、沖縄の頃から時々やっていたナレー
ションの仕事も、少しですが増えました。コロナで国際協力機構の授業がオンライン形式になり、そのナレーションに携わりました。
でもやはり、コロナが世界に与えた影響が大きいから売上が減ったのだと思います。その代わりに得たものは時間です。なんでも通訳・翻訳屋さんとしてあらゆる分野の知識を増やすべく、私は勉強を続けています。この短い人生でどれだけの分野のエキスパートな通訳・翻訳者になれるのかが楽しみで仕方ありません。
スペイン語でも日本語でもポルトガル語でも英語でも、まだまだなところがあるのですが、だからこそ上を目指していけるのだと思います。
危機を乗り越えるには、自分がどれだけの分野に自信を持って携われるか、だと思います。自信がないのに仕事を引き受けてしまうと、恥ずかしい目に合うだけ
でなく、プレッシャーによるストレスも大きく、その分野の次の仕事が来なくなる可能性もあります。
世 界 には 持 続 可 能 な開 発目標（SDGs）が あるように、自分 にも Sustainable
Development Goals があってもいいと思うのです。どの業種でも、生き残るカギ
は自己啓発ではないでしょうか。
自分は世界のために何ができるか、まだまだ模索中ですが、実は私の一つの憧れ
は SDGs のバッジをつけて通訳をすることです。
ここで SDGs の 17 のゴールを今一度確認したいと思います。
1. No Poverty, 2. Zero Hunger, 3. Good Health and Well-Being, 4. Quality
Education 5. Gender Equality, 6. Clean Water and Sanitation, 7. Affordable andClean Energy, 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth, 9. Industry, Innovation
and Infrastructure, 1 0. Reduced Inequalities, 1 1. Sustainable Cities andCommunities, 12. Responsible Consumption and Production, 13. Climate Action.
1 4. Life Below Water, 1 5. Life on Land, 1 6. Peace, Justice and Strong
Institutions, 17. Partnership.
翻訳と通訳は 17 のパートナーシップ（持続可能な開発のための実施手段を強化し、グローバ ル・パートナーシップを活性化する）に貢献しています。
開業して 10 年ですが、これからも目標を高く持って自分を開発しながらキャリアを持続していきたいです。

48

Using the “Funnel” Approach to Write a Clear
and Effective Four-part Introduction
Lee Seaman（シーマン リー）Ibegan doing J-E translation over 30 years ago and now translate,edit, and write for Japanese pharmaceutical companies, medical
communications agencies, and university researchers. I
experienced consistent pressure from machine translation and more
recently AI, which made me look for ways to stay in business.
One option was to help clients increase my authors’ readership, which
required me to learn how readers decide what to read. I found thatmost readers first scan titles, then browse promising abstracts, andfinally select a few articles to read in detail.
I can help the author to increase readership by providing clear orderly
sections for the Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. In
particular, although specialists in the author’s field may jump directlyfrom the Abstract to the Methods and Results, most readers rely on the
Introduction to give them the general context of the paper. If theIntroduction does not provide that context, they may give up and moveto the next paper. So I looked for a system for writing effective
Introductions.
My favorite is the “funnel” approach. It provides a clear, well-organized
four-part Introduction that will tell readers whether they should read therest of the paper. I call it a “funnel” because it is very wide at the
beginning of the Introduction and gradually narrows down like a funnel
to the specific topic of the paper at the end. I work in med-pharma, so
my examples below are about diabetes, but the system can be applied
to a variety of scientific papers.
This “funnel” approach is adapted from Tom Lang’s How to Write,
Publish, & Present in the Health Sciences (American College ofPhysicians, 2010). It uses a Background Statement, a Purpose/Problem

49

statement, an Activity statement, and a Forecasting statement. They
can range in length from a single sentence to one or more paragraphs.
The Background statement provides the general situation for readers of
the paper and is quite broad: “Type 2 diabetes is widespread, and its
prevalence is increasing around the world. This condition ischaracterized by elevated blood glucose and has numerous negative
effects on long-term health.”
The Purpose/Problem statement focuses more closely on the situation
to be resolved. It explains the reasons for doing the study: “Metformin
is highly safe and effective in reducing blood glucose but is associatedwith gastrointestinal discomfort that many patients find intolerable.”
The Action statement briefly describes the research methods: “Becauseof this substantial unmet need, we worked to develop an anti-diabetes
drug that provided the same level of safety as metformin but with fewer
adverse gastrointestinal effects.“
The Forecasting statement tells readers what to expect if they continue
to read this paper: “In this article we describe a randomized doubleblind study of our product ABC123 in comparison to metformin, withparticular focus on gastrointestinal events in both groups.”
When I apply these four points in my translation and editing work, I findthat the original Background and Purpose/Problem statements are often
insufficient or absent, and sometimes the Action and Forecastingstatements also do not contain necessary details. Sometimes I can findthe additional information later in the paper, or with a quick internet
search, and add it in a marginal Comment. Based on the response frommy authors, they generally appreciate this “value-added” service.
With the current AI-induced turbulence in translating and editing, many
freelancers are turning to techniques for value-added services in orderto survive and thrive. The “funnel” approach to writing an Introduction
can be one of those techniques.

50NPO JAT の誕生（2000 ～ 2001 年）
さとう

あやこ

佐藤エミリー綾子

今から 20 年前、21 世紀が始まった頃、皆さんは何をしていましたか。すでに翻通訳などの仕事は始めていましたか。それともまだ学生もしくはもっと若かったでしょうか。その頃の JAT の思い出話です。

私は 2019 年の『翻訳者の目線』で、JAT は 1985 年、東京近郊の翻訳者が集まる場として発足し、90 年に IJET（英日・日英翻訳国際会議）が始まり、90 年代後半にインターネットの普及に伴い会員が増えて組織の規模も拡大し、「それとともに団体としての JAT のあり方も問われるようになった」と書きました。
問題は、JAT に法人格がない、つまり JAT が法的に存在していないことでした。
当時は法人格がなければ銀行口座を開くことができず、そのために会員数の増加
や IJET の開催により毎年増え続けていた JAT の資産は、当時の Bob Oliver 会
計担当理事の個人口座に置かれていました。法人格を得るためには、公益法人制
度（財団法人や社団法人）しかなく、設立のためには（確か）1000 万円以上の資産が必要だったのです。
ところが 1998 年、特定非営利活動促進法（NPO 法）が制定・施行され、特定非営利活動1を行う団体が法人格を得るハードルがぐっと低くなりました。この法律の施行後まもなく、JAT と同業の団体である日本翻訳家協会 (JST: Japan Societyof Translators) が NPO 法人となったことを知って2 ､ JAT でも検討しようということになり、会報担当理事を務めていた私が調査を仰せつかりました。
JST にお話を伺ったり3、自分でも調べたりした結果、NPO は設立の費用がほとんどかからない、団体として各種契約が結べる（前述の銀行口座開設を含め）、社会的信用が高まる（イベントの後援や助成を得やすくなる）、税制上の優遇措置もある等のメリットが確認できました。
そこで 2000 年（平成 12 年）9 月 29 日、理事会が JAT の NPO 法人化を決定。
約 3 か月後の 12 月 18 日に特定非営利活動法人設立認証申請書を所轄庁の東京都に提出し、翌 2001 年の 3 月 27 日に東京都から認証が下り、東京法務局に登記申51

請をして 4 月 6 日に無事法人として成立しました。その年（平成 12 年度）のNPO 法人の累計数は約 3800 でしたが、2021 年度 5 月末現在には約 5 万に達していて、日本のコンビニの店舗総数（約 5.6 万）よりちょっと少ない程度だそうです。
このように日付だけ並べると、トントン拍子に進んだように見えますが、今思い返しても、準備作業は大変でした。設立申請時に提出する書類は十数種類ありま
したが、その中でも一番手間がかかったのが定款です。作成にあたっては、東京
都の NPO ガイドブックを購入し、そこに掲載されているひな型に文章を埋め込み、修正を加えていきました。今であれば、設立に必要な書類の作成や、所轄庁や法務局への手続きなどを請け負う行政書士や司法書士をすぐに探すことができるでしょうが、当時はまだそういうサービスも見当たらなかったので、自力で準備を進めました。書類を作り終えても、形式上の不備や誤字脱字がある限り受理されないと聞いていましたので、見直しにも時間をかけました。結局、都庁の担当者と 2 回程度面談してアドバイスを得た後、書類提出にこぎつけることができました。
法人登記を終えた後、「これで、JAT がさらに活動を広げるための新たな基盤ができた、あとは皆さんどうかよろしく」と、私は理事を辞任しました。でもその2 年後、今度は監事に就任し、NPO を維持していくのはなかなか大変だと思い知ることとなります・・・＊ ＊ ＊1 JAT の場合は、1) 社会教育の推進を図る活動、2) 学術、文化、芸術又はスポーツの振興を図る活動、3) 国際協力の活動
2 JAT 創立メンバーで JST 会員でもあったウレマン フレッドさんから伺いました。
3 当時 JST 理事で JAT 会員でもあった故矢野浩三郎さんと、JST 事務局（理事）の叶
谷渥子さんにお世話になりました。

52

Philology, Etymology and Classics
しょうじ まさとし

2

庄子 昌利

021 年は、深層学習について 12 回シリーズで学ぶことができた。AI を脅威と見るのではなく、そもそも何であるのか？どうやって利用できるか？などをこれからも探っていきたい。

さて、ここ最近は、Health Communicator/Practitioner を目指している。幸いJAT や AMWA の会員の方から色々なアドバイスをいただき、ゆっくりではあるが近づいてきていると思う。改めてこの場を借りて関係諸氏に感謝したい。医薬関係の学びを始めたことで、自分の原点でもある英語文献学への興味を再発掘し始めている。しかし、それを英語という狭い枠で捉えるのではなく、古代ギリシャ
語・ラテン語、そしてその文化・歴史・哲学等を学び、また当然、医療用語の原点や医療の原点も併せて見ることができれば、こんな贅沢な学問はないのではと思い至った。さて、善は急げということで、大学探しを始め、近い将来、ヨーロッ
パかアメリカの大学で Classics を学びたいと思う。
古代中国を中心とした東洋医学そして古代中国の思想とともに、古代西洋の医学や思想、言語を学ぶことで、東西の融合、そして医療だけではなく、自分の人生を見つめ直し、人生最後に備え、さらに社会にも何か還元できるような研究成果が得られればと思う。確かに医療従事者などによる語源の書籍もないわけではな
いが、今一つ医療に偏りすぎていてつまらない。また、今現在日本で行われている医療は従来型の西洋医学で、患者本位の統合的な医療、予防、緩和ケアの導入が喫緊の課題でもある。自分は、もっと広い視野で Classics に関する研究ができればと思っている。
深層学習、翻訳、Health Communication、古代言語の研究が今後自分のなかでどう交差していくのか分からないが、少なくとも自分は言語そのものに興味がある
ことを改めて認識できたことに感謝したいと思う。

53

「和漢辞典」と み い あつし

富井 篤

何年か前から、この Anthology で度々紹介させていただいてきた「和漢辞典」が、
ほぼ 4 年の歳月を経て、このほどやっと完成しました。
この辞書は、
ではなく、

漢字

から

意味

を引く

漢和辞典

意味

から

漢字

を引く

和漢辞典

という全く新しい「和漢辞典」です。ただし、ただの「漢字」ではなく、「高位の漢字」です。
外国語に関しては、英和と和英、独和と和独、仏和と和仏というように両方向の辞書がありますが、日本語の場合には、漢和辞典だけで和漢辞典はありません。
もし、この「和漢辞典」がその隙間を埋めることができれば、望外の喜びです。

ライフワーク…「ライフワーク」などという言葉は、やたらに使うモノではないということは承知しています。しかし、「日本で初めて」という先の見えない
大きなプロジェクトに取り組むときは、つい、「ライフワーク」と思い込んでし
まうものです。
それはそれで悪くはないのですが、実は困ったことに、過去に「ライフワーク」と称して取り組んだプロジェクトが二つあったのです。一つは 33 年ほど前に出版した『科学技術和英辞典』で、もう一つは 2016 年 3 月から 2017 年 5 月の2 年間、Kindle 版に連載した「技術翻訳 奥義と裏技」20 冊シリーズで、特に前者は、当時は、日本で初めての大型辞典と称されていました。また後者は、筆者がその時点までに出版していた約 40 冊の著書をすべて解体し再編集した、
平成の廃藩置県よろしく、大型のシリーズものでした。
当初、「3 年で 20 冊」と考えていたのですが、当時、時の政府が大方のエコノ
ミストたちの反対を押し切って「2 年で 3%」の物価上昇政策を掲げたことがあります。それに便乗したわけではありませんが、わがほうも、男気を出して、当初、考えていた「3 年で 20 冊」を急遽「2 年で 20 冊」に変更してスタートしました。その後 2 年間は、散々な目にあいました。一方、敵は、いまだに達成していないことは、ご承知のとおりです。

54

「国基本辞書…この辞書は、旺文社の「国語辞典」（漢和）を使わせていただき、語辞典」が「漢和」になっているのに対し、この辞典はその編集方法を逆にして「和漢」の形式にしてあります。内容は、「辞書本体」、「四字熟語」、「諺」の三つから成っています。
「四字熟語」と「諺」は専門書から、さらに大幅に増補しています。また、「諺」には、一部、対応英語が添えてあります。
収録語数は、この辞書の性質上、「国語辞典」すべてを採用する必要はなく、
平均的日本人の語彙力を勘案し、「国語辞典」の、ほぼ半数位になっています。

対象読者…対象読者は、日本人、外国人を問わず、下記の人たちです。
〇	語彙の貧困さを認識している人で、自分の書いた日本語が、ひらがなと易しい漢字のオンパレードということを感じている人〇	何とか語彙を充実させ、高位の漢字を使えるようになりたいと思っている人〇	時には、四字熟語や諺を使って、文面に彩色を付けたいと考えている人上 記のように「感じている人」「思っている人」「考えている人」がすべての読者になります。

辞書の使い方…まだこの辞書をお持ちでない方に辞書の使い方を説明しても、失礼ながら河童の水練かもしれませんが、具体例を挙げて、簡単に説明していきます。次のような例を考えたとしましょう。
「表面は丁重のようであるが、内心は相手を小馬鹿にして見下していること」
このように長い日本語を、引き締まった、高位の漢字で表現したい場合を考えてみます。
いろいろなアプローチの仕方がありますが、
この「和漢辞典」では、文全体を「人を見下す」と当りを付けてみます。そして、「見下す」から調べていくと、みくだす（見下す・表面は丁重）⇒見下すこと⇒

表面は丁重に見せかけ、内心は尊大で相手を慇懃無礼として、「慇懃無礼」という漢字が出てきます。

もし、「慇懃無礼」では、気に入らないと思われる場合は、「見下す」の代わりに「内心」とか「尊大」などと別の言葉を keyword として引いてみると、納得のいく漢字に到達することがあるかもしれません。
この例のように、漢字交じりの 32 文字という多量な情報から、わずか四字の引き締まった、より「高位の」漢字に置き換えることができます。
これにより、落語の「寿限無・寿限無」にはさよならできます。

編 集…最終の編集は、JAT の会員の渡辺 恵子さんにお願いしました。編集が終わり次第、しかるべき方法で上梓する予定でいます。

55

Godiva vs Hershey
Fred Uleman（ウレマン フレッド）

I

did the first part of my growing up in Pittsburgh, where both
pickles and ketchup are Heinz. And much of the chocolate was
Hershey’s. However, my dad also liked chocolate and there werealways a couple of bars of Baker’s Chocolate around. True, the Baker’s
Chocolate cost more, but it was better. And then I did some more
growing up in college before coming to Japan and continuing to growup. This is an on-going process.
Along the way, I lucked out with some very good clients who furthered
the process, including showing me how to think about some things,
including both being willing to pay for value when it is important andpositioning myself as value that is worth paying for. Part of this was
deciding that I did not want to do anybody-can-do-it work. And thenpricing my services appropriately—which means pricing them so thatpeople would only ask me to do things that are important to them. Like
going to Europe with groups of businessmen, not because I was theinterpreter or the tour conductor or anything but just so I’d be there andcould take care of whatever might happen. Like 30-page policy
speeches that have to be translated, client-checked, put back into real
English, and ready for distribution in two days or so. And like a lot ofother things.
Of course, this cuts both ways. When sending thank-you gifts topeople, send stuff that indicates you think they are important. Not waxy
Hershey’s chocolates from Don Quixote but Godiva from the Godiva
shop, for example. Godiva costs more. But the fact that everybody
knows it costs more means it has more value—is worth more—as agift. Perception counts. (I am reminded of the Johnnie Walker story.
Johnnie Walker Black Label used to be the prime gift in Japan. But then
the non-Japanese brewers complained about the high tariffs, the56

Japanese government lowered the tariffs, and Johnnie Walker slashed
its prices and lost vast expanses of market share because it was nolonger a prestige brand. Perception counts.)
What does this mean for us as translators? It means perception counts.
How are you perceived? As someone who will work for bottom-feeder
rates, presumably because that’s the only work you can get? Or as
someone who charges premium rates, presumably because you
provide a premium product? And while some of this is product, muchof it is packaging. Are you a “this is what it’ll cost you” person or a“please throw me some crumbs” person? I know the market haschanged somewhat since I moved off the front lines, but I suspect thisprinciple still applies. Translation is translation but the translation
business is still a business. Part of how you get where you want to be
is assuming—and projecting an image conducive to other people’s
assuming—you are already there.

57

How Many of Those Now Working from Home
Will Want to Go Freelance?
A.T. Welford（ウエルフォド）O

ne of my favourite aspects of being a freelance translator isbeing able to work from home (WFH). It isn't for everybody, so
having a mindset that suits it seemed to be an advantage mostpeople could not replicate.
Now the pandemic is testing this notion. Millions have had theopportunity to try WFH and to experience the practical and mental
challenges. Around two in three say they prefer it to the office. So how
many of them will now want to go freelance and steal the bread frommy mouth? There's no clear answer to that but we can briefly scan thefactors that will influence people's future decisions.
Firstly, many like not having to commute but others miss the time it
gave them for less demanding activities. Now, as well as practicing
time management more carefully in their work, people have had toreshape their daily schedule, especially those with children staying off
school. Time gains may have been swallowed up by childcare, nursing,housework and so on, not to mention making coffee and lunch.
Setting up a home office—organising a comfortable, quiet and well-lit
space, setting up a computer and peripherals with a decent internet
connection and appropriate security, etc.—has been an unexpectedchallenge for many. Once done, though, they know what they mightneed to buy and whether they would need a bigger home or rented
office space for freelancing.
Success in WFH as an employee strongly depends on relationships
both with family and with management and colleagues. Reportedly,
more trusting work relationships and extrovert personalities have madefor happier and more productive shifts from the office to the home. This
indicates that WFH suits many people who nevertheless would notwant to freelance.
We must consider the immense changes in technology and modes ofworking over the last decade. First, while video meetings aren't a new58

thing, they are now much more accessible and familiar. In the pandemic
their use has expanded greatly from the purely social into theprofessional sphere. Clearly, they can satisfy people's needs for daily
personal interactions. But who would the new freelancer interact withthrough the day apart from clients, and how can these interactions
compare with relatively informal workplace conversations orparticipation in office meetings?
Social media and other communication channels continue to develop atpace. Using them to maintain relationships over distance is a criticalpart of WFH life but not necessarily easy. We are all aware of the pitfallsof text communication, but socialising by whatever means always takes
care and effort. Many people will be rightly concerned that work
isolation might bring social isolation.
Work-tracking technology is also developing. Some workplaces aretrusting staff to manage themselves provided they produce goodresults. Others have taken a draconian attitude to monitoring WFH,
which may discourage some people from going further. Having the selfdiscipline to keep focused on work is critical in freelancing. The morepractice people have in supervising themselves, the better they will
understand how suitable freelancing might be for them.
The overlap between freelancing and the tech-driven gig economy
continues to cause great confusion and disruption, with conflicts over
pay levels, schedules, assessment systems, equipment costs, sick pay
and so forth. The balance of power between employers/clients andstaff/vendors is ultimately a political question, but people hearing horror
stories of the gig economy will surely be wary of freelancing.
Many more people will have opportunities and pressures to work fromhome all or some of the time in the future. Many are now experienced
in managing the space and equipment of a home office. The millions
now reconsidering how they want to spend their working lives canbetter understand the reality of freelancing.
Inevitably, more will feel the inclination and confidence to go it alone.
As ever, though, becoming a successful freelancer will depend on adiverse range of skills and attitudes that not many people can fully
master.

59

Reflection on Teleworking
わ だPeter Winchcomb-Wada（ウィンチコム和田 ピーター）

I

work for a major Japanese IT vendor, and just before the firstemergency declaration on April 7, 2020, management instructed
everyone who could do so to start teleworking from April 1st. I
had to make some changes to my system to enable remote access, but
after going to work on April 1st, the next time I went in to the office
was July 2nd, and the time after that was October 14th to interpret for
the CEO, which is just easier face-to-face.
Coincidentally, my company had been running trials of teleworking fromJanuary of 2020, meaning for us the switch was probably smootherthan for a lot of people, as the infrastructure and necessary systems
were already in place, so it was possible to provide everyone withremote access fairly painlessly. There were some minor network issues
early on, but they managed to overcome most of them pretty quickly.
Of course, some people were (and still are) unable to telework all thetime, mainly people who handle purchase orders and other paperworkthat requires stamping by higher-level management or with thecompany seal, which is kept locked in a safe. But a year down the track,
we’re in the middle of trials for 100% digital seals which will hopefully
make it possible to handle even them remotely.
I moved from the city out into a semi-rural area in August, which means
I now have my own office/study. To make teleworking easier I did a little
shopping to improve my home environment. The first thing I got was awireless keyboard and mouse as I had a 10-year old notebook that I had
planned to dispose of, but later converted it to use it for remote access.
Notebook keyboards have always been uncomfortably small for me, so
the wireless keyboard made things easier. In July I brought myMicrosoft ergonomic keyboard home from the office.

60

I also got a new office chair, a nice mesh one so I don’t get hot in
Summer. I later got a new desk and a 32-inch monitor to give me moredesktop space (on my computer). I also got a Logicool wirelessheadset, that I found out is not 100% compatible with all meetingsystems but generally does the job. For some reason WebEx will notrecognize the microphone, so I can listen but no one can hear me if I try
to say anything. But I also have a pair of wired headsets, so I just use
one of them instead.
On the home front, over the last year or so, our two cats have been
spending more and more time in my office. Our two-year old calicofollows me around our apartment, and if I am working on my computer
she’ll come in and sleep on my desk or even my keyboard. I think shefinds the slope of my ergonomic keyboard comfortable. It is cute, but
can be a bit inconvenient when I am working. So lately I have also beenusing my wireless keyboard so she cannot get in the way.
I have a bay window, and both our cats like to spend time there,
probably because even in mid-Summer I tend to have the window open
in the mornings to enjoy the nice breezes we get. In the afternoons I
usually close the window and use my air-conditioner, but by then theledge is nice and warm, so the cats tend to stay there and oversee mywork. As my company has declared workers will never be returning tothe office full-time, I think I’ll be spending my foreseeable future withmy cats.

61

The Gifts That Legal Translation Has Given Me
やまもと し お りShiori Yamamoto（山本 志織）

A

s a professional paralegal and legal translator working at a law
firm, mainly translating contracts and other legal documents,
there are some important gifts that the endeavor of legaltranslation has given me.
Firstly, the daily work of legal translation has given me an avenue todevelop my intellectual interest in U.S. contract law and theory.
There are interesting U.S. legal philosophers whose philosophies are a
joy to study, such as Oliver Wendell Holmes, Benjamin Cardozo, Karl
Llewellyn, and Roscoe Pound. Recent contract literature includes thevast academic contract theory empire created by E. Allan Farnsworth,whose readings are a joy to attempt to read little by little. Alsointeresting to read are the writings written by Fuller & Perdue, Charles
Fried, and Ian McNeil.
Legal studies in the U.S. include pragmatism, legal realism, critical legal
studies, law and economics, law and literature, feminism, justicetheories, and relational contract theory.
Secondly, through legal translation, I have the opportunity to think how
contract behavior and thinking differ between Japanese and western
people based upon their cultural differences.
The difference between Japanese and western contract behavior andthinking is a matter of particular importance for me working at a law
firm. Not only do the legal rules in Japanese and U.S. contract law
differ as a matter of the law, the fundamental approach of Japaneseand westerners towards transactions based upon contract are said todiffer. A starting point literature on this subject would be Takeyoshi
Kawashima’s Nihonjin no Hoishiki.

62Notable rules which underscore the differences between U.S. andJapanese contract law include the U.S. statute of frauds, parol evidence
rule, entire agreement clause, all of which steer the parties to thetransaction to write down everything that they have agreed upon into
the contract (this is often called “objectivism”, or kyakkan shugi).
Further interesting readings on the difference between U.S. andJapanese contract law would be the writings by Farnsworth dealing
with the duty of good faith and fair dealing as well as preliminary
negotiations. Japanese contract law, which is civil law, has its own
equivalent of the “culpa in contrahendo” theory developed formerly inGermany, so it would be fascinating to pursue how the process of
preliminary negotiations actually work in and differ between Japan andthe U.S.
Thirdly, the endeavor of legal translation has given me the opportunity
to develop practical professional skills acquired by my own extensive
experience of translating thousands of legal documents and contracts
to date, which is a marketable hands-on type of skill which has become
deeply and naturally ingrained in me.
In this unstable period of time such as the pandemic where the future
has become unforeseeable, having this type of deeply ingrained
practical skill, which has become as natural to me as breathing, is anextremely valuable source of confidence in me. This skill that I haveacquired gives me the gift of not only securing my position as usefulpersonnel at the workplace, it also gives me the fundamental
confidence as a human being so that, although I am required to abide
by instructions of my superiors and attorneys who give me instructions,
it gives me leeway to proactively provide my own opinions on mattersof interest to me.
This gives me the fundamental confidence as a social human being
which is reflected in my attitude of tackling whatever I need to do,which gives me great relief and joy in whatever I aim to do in the courseof my daily life.

63

Brain Mapping
や な せ だいすけ

Daisuke Yanase（柳瀬 大輔）

W

hat a strange, demented feeling it gives me when I realise I
have spent whole days before this inkstone, with nothing
better to do, jotting down at random whatever nonsensicalthoughts have entered my head.
徒然草 or Essays in Idleness by Yoshida Kenkō, translated by Donald
Keene
My problem is that I cannot stop the flow of nonsensical thoughts.
I have had hard times with my wayward memory, which retains minutedetails of trivial things, such as the name of a minor character in a minor
movie, but fails to remember much more important things, such as thename of a restaurant I am supposed to be in. When friends wonder why
I keep an accurate memory of jokes exchanged years ago, I quip that I
carry a roll of flypaper in my skull. It seems that my flypaper has beensprinkled with glue in a haphazard manner.
As a non-English speaker, I remember the books in which I came acrosssome quaint English words, such as “stipendiary emolument,” for the
first time. This may not be surprising, but what is more interesting isthat even today I remember some words of Nadsat, a synthetic
vocabulary used in A Clockwork Orange, a black humor novel written by
Anthony Burgess. A devotchka is a girl; to tolchock is to beat up
someone. In these cases, the strength of memory of a word appears to
be in proportion to the amount of effort that I spent to decipher it.
For all I know, it may not be glue but a sort of fertilizer called curiositythat is unevenly distributed over what used to be likened to a blankslate in a newborn’s brain. As one grows older, many cognitive inputs

64are sown. Some die at barren spots, while others take root at fertilized
spots and thrive, revealing the distribution of fertilizer just like a flower
garden differing from person to person, as it were. This is my pet theoryof personality.
Sounds deterministic? Yes, it does. Then let’s imagine how much isdetermined and how much is left to our discretion. We are born with an
immune repertoire, a set of diverse immune cells that can recognize
and fight millions of different pathogens and foreign agents. Although I
don’t know what proportion of these immune cells are actually activatedduring our lifetime, I think many of them remain unused after all. By thesame token, most part of our “speckled slate” may remain unexposed
to external stimuli throughout our lives. Therefore, it is entirely up to us
whether to stay in a familiar, well-inhabited territory or to embark on an
expedition into terra incognita within our brains. Of course, this is all mylay speculation, and neuroscientists would offer authentic, evidencebased explanations instead. Nevertheless, I am content with myworking theory, and let it spur me on to map my brain with more newstimuli.
Having written this much, the phrase “to embark on an expedition”
rekindled my pent-up wanderlust. Early in the pandemic, I had to giveup my plan to visit Plattsburgh, NY to admire Rockwell Kent’s
illustrations. Subsequent prolonged home confinement added anotherdestination to my wish list: High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA, where
Francis Criss’ masterpiece Alma Sewing is exhibited. I am sure a longpostponement will make my brain more fertilized for long-awaitedstimuli.

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仕事が仕事を、本が本を呼んで 20 年
やのう ちあき矢能 千秋

開業が 2001 年 12 月だから、今年で 20 年になる。長ければよいわけではないとはよく耳にするが、経験 3 年以上という翻訳者募集条件もあることを考えると、続けてきたこと自体が、ひとつの指標になるだろう。

翻訳とひと言でいってもさまざまだ。自分としては、時折「何がご専門ですか」と尋ねられて返答に窮する。この場合の専門とは、翻訳エージェントに登録する際の分野である。業界誌、翻訳スクールや系列のエージェント、翻訳連盟の分類
では、IT、特許、医薬、工業などとなっている。ほんやく検定などの試験でも同様だ。私には、そうした意味での「専門分野」はないが、大企業の役員のスピー
チや地方自治体の首長の書簡などを受注している。名刺にはビジネス、
交通、
環境、
社会問題、心理学と入れてある。
また、「翻訳支援ツールは何を使っていますか」という質問にも答えられない。
Trados は買ってみたし、Felix を使っていた時期もあったが、マッチ率に合わせて 1 文 1 文訳すのがどうにも合わず、離れてしまった。
ツールを使わずとも英訳は需要があり、2008 年 9 月のリーマンショックもエージェ
ントを増やして乗り切った。2004 年に恩師が倒れたのが最初の危機、2008 年はリーマンショック、そして 2011 年は東日本大震災と、数年おきに事業の継続が脅かされてきた。それまで同業者と特に交流をすることもなく、ひとりで仕事をしてきたが、3 度目の危機であった 2011 年に Facebook、Twitter を始めてみた。ここでは業界誌に載っているような人たちが毎日投稿していて、心底驚いた。それなら直接話を聞いてみようと、翻訳者の集まりに出かけていくようになった。すると、なんとまあ、隣の芝生がまぶしいことか。訳書を何冊も出している人たちが語らっている姿を目の当たりにして、2013 年 1 月に「出版、夢だよな」と口か
ら出た。
このとき、
「夢だって言っていて、叶うために何かやっているの？ やってないな
ら、叶うわけないよね、やってみれば？」とある人に言われて、目から鱗が落ちた。
それまで 10 年ほど翻訳をしていたが、英訳がほとんどだった。和訳を始めたの66

は夢を実現するためだ。
いざ和訳の世界に入ると、英訳とはまったく様子が違うが、母国語方向に訳すのはとにかく楽しい。そこで、これまでの英訳中心の仕事は平日の 9 時から 5 時で終わらせるくらいにし、土日は和訳の勉強に費やすようになった。
英訳ではネイティブチェック込みの訳文を求められることも多かったが、和訳では自分自身がネイティブの立場である。そこでネイティブの日本語を求められると、簡単ではないことが分かった。
「が」と「は」の使い方、文章の小さい区切りと大きい区切りをどう訳し分けるかなど、無限に広がる言葉の世界を目の当たりにして、立ち止まるほかないことがある。英語の元原稿も、世の中にはこれでもかというほど難しい英文もあり、一点の曇りもなく著者の意図を理解できただろうかと考えあぐねることもある。意味は理解したかもしれないが、次はそれを過
不足なく日本語で言いあらわせているだろうか。どこまで行ってもきりがない。
2020 年、2021 年は新型コロナウイルス禍で開業してから 4 度目の危機がやってきた。けれども、「出版、夢だよな」が叶ったのも 2020 年。11 月に『きみがまだ知らないティラノサウルス』『きみがまだ知らないトリケラトプス』『きみがまだ
知らないステゴサウルス』がハヤカワ・ジュニア・サイエンスから刊行されたのだ。
震災の後に Twitter で実名と顔写真を出して毎日呟くようになった。この原稿を書いている時点で 23.2 万件呟いたらしい。こうしていると、何かしらお誘いがくるのだ。2021 年は 7 月に同業者松本佳月さんの YouTube“Kazuki Channel”に呼ばれて話をしたし、8 月には「日本通訳翻訳フォーラム 2021」でも 1 セッション担当することになった。さらに、JAT で出版翻訳の分科会を立ち上げたことも忘れてはならないイベントだ。
これまでの自分の足跡を辿ると、本が本を呼び、仕事が仕事を呼んでいる。次の 10 年もそうであると信じているが、さて、どう展開していくか楽しみだ。

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