An Overview of the Honyaku Mailing List

The Honyaku mailing list was started in 1994 by Dan Kanagy as a forum where professional translators could discuss and exchange information on a wide range of issues related to Japanese/English translation. Originally hosted on a list server and available only via email, Honyaku has moved several times throughout its history and is now hosted at Google Groups. It can currently be accessed via email or the Web interface at Google Groups. Past messages can be searched and viewed via a Web Interface at http://www.honyaku-archive.org/.

Given this long history, it might seem to someone new to the list that many of the Posting Guidelines given below are a legacy of obsolete Internet etiquette. A majority of the list's active members, however, agree with and make an effort to comply with these guidelines, which we feel help keep the noise-to-signal ratio as low as possible while making both the list and the archives easier to use from a variety of applications used in a wide range of computing environments for operating both desktop and laptop computers as well as increasingly diverse gamut of mobile devices.

Membership is predicated on agreement to comply with these guidelines as well as to allow your messages to be posted on the list and stored in the archives, either of which can be viewed by anyone with a Web browser. Although there are no penalties for failing to comply with these guidelines, the list owners and moderators will from time to time send out general reminders to the list at large as well as specific requests for compliance to individuals.

Honyaku is operated by two admins, who in principle are elected by the general membership to serve a three-year term as list owner. Terms are staggered so that an election is held each March for one position. The current admins are:

Stephen Carter
Brian Watson

Please refer to http://groups.google.com/group/honyaku/web/list-owner-guidelines for further details.

The list owners also appoint one or more people to serve as moderators, also on a volunteer basis, to assist the operation of the list. Their responsibilities include approving membership applications and other activities intended to help the list operate smoothly.

Anyone who has questions, comments, or concerns about Honyaku and how it is operated is encouraged to contact the list owners and moderators at honyakumods!@yahoogroups.com. (delete the ! in the address)

How do I . . .?

How do I subscribe?

To subscribe, access http://groups.google.com/group/honyaku and click on the Apply for group membership link at the right of the page. Please understand that this process requires you to have or to acquire a Google ID.

Alternatively, anyone who wishes to join the group via email without acquiring a Google ID should click http://groups.google.com/group/honyaku/boxsubscribe and follow the instructions shown. (Ignore the fact that the message appears to be an error message; just follow the directions, and it will work.)

If you have any trouble with either of the above methods, please contact the list owners and moderators at honyakumods!@yahoogroups.com. (delete the ! in the address)

How do I post messages?

If you are new to Honyaku or just posting for the first time in a long time, please refer to the Posting Guidelines for the Honyaku Mailing List, where you will find a detailed explanation of how to post messages and which conventions we consider to be proper list etiquette.

How do I unsubscribe?

To unsubscribe from the Honyaku mailing list, send an email message to honyaku+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

This message must be from the address you subscribed from, but can contain any kind of message.

How do I set my list options?

If you have an account at Google, you can change your options yourself via the Google Groups website.

Alternatively, if you do not have an account, you may contact the list owners and moderators at honyakumods!@yahoogroups.com (delete the ! in the address) with your request.

Available delivery options include:

No email (read messages via Website)
Abridged email (receive daily summary of activity)
Digest email (receive messages bundled in a single email)
Email (receive individual email messages)

Related Resources

Adam Rice has developed a website that complements the Honyaku list: http://honyakuhome.org/

Also available at this site is a Web form with which individuals or businesses seeking translation providers can post job offers to the list: http://honyakuhome.org/node/add/flexinode-2

A helpful compendium of information on Japanese encoding for mail is maintained by Nora Heath: http://www.fumizuki.com/mojibake.html

Ryan Ginstrom offers a searchable archive of all Honyaku posts, including those from other hosts: http://www.honyaku-archive.org/

If you are looking for assistance in translating a simple word or phrase for free, Honyaku is probably not the best place to ask, because the people here do translation for a living. You would not ask your dentist to fix "just one tooth" for free; please give us the same courtesy. If you do have such a question, however, you can often get an answer in groups such as:

http://groups.google.com/group/sci.lang.japan/

http://www.proz.com/ask/

A developer's view of localization

Tod McAvoy