Ohio Honyaku Group 2026 Spring Meeting Report
John Stroman
We started the meeting by discussing ideas for current translators/interpreters to broaden their scope of services and generate greater income. For example, native English speakers in Japan can consider becoming personal guides for tourists who seek a more authentic Japanese experience. Another option is to offer personal coaching services to educated native Japanese speakers who are preparing to give oral presentations in English in which the written English script has likely been generated by AI/MT. Examples of coaching could include advising the preparer to slow down, avoid mumbling, and knowing how and where to pause and how to emphasize the key points. On a positive note, one member noted that because fewer people are entering the field of translation, this may lead to higher rates for such personalized professional services. Other examples of generating income included expanding into translations of financial documents, websites, and instruction catalogs, where inroads by AI/MT have been slow.
In addition, one member introduced the concept of "transcreation," which is a term for creative copywriting when a commercial product is to be sold in a foreign country. To achieve cultural relevance, marketing messages must be tailored to a new target audience, and only bilingual humans can perform this function since AI tends to produce plain, dull sentences.
John S. provided a handout with results of an anonymous survey of veteran J>E translators to see how they are faring.
1. One reported that although he had worked consistently for many years with a well-known, big box language service provider, he was faced with a strange string of requests asking him to take a test to prove competency, and produce not only a translation, but fill out a spreadsheet form noting any problematic terms in Japanese that could be ambiguous, etc. He also noted that the original test document he received was in simplified Chinese rather than Japanese and he had to request the document in Japanese. He also mentioned that the agency had reduced his rate, and would now pay nothing for repeated Japanese words. His final comment was: "These folks are totally out to lunch."
2. Another translator reported that he has retired, but he occasionally does short-deadline translations from agencies just to earn a little spending money and keep his brain active. He also teaches a university course on translation, but the course has shrunk from a full semester to two lectures and a test marking and review session.
3. A third translator is a J>E NJS in Tokyo who has worked with a large agency for nearly 30 years as a medical translator. Recently, she received a job as a PDF file of a doctor's handwritten notes (many abbreviated) on a patient's chart involving a very complex surgical procedure. She was only able to complete the translation by finding a published medical report on the same procedure in English with photos. Otherwise, she would have been unable to provide a good translation. She notes that requests for translation of Word documents has diminished considerably.
4. Several internet searches for many veteran J>E translators who used to be active on the Honyaku Mailing List led to zero hits.
One member also noted that although he is still a university professor and provides translation services in both Japanese and Korean, he spends most of his time now advising students rather than actively teaching translation.
The main presentation was given by Jay K., who revealed his many techniques and reference materials for learning kanji, including understanding their original meanings in both classical Chinese and Japanese writing.
Biomedical translator Jay K., who is mostly retired but remains an enthusiastic student of Japanese, described three methods he uses to study the language and showed us some of the electronic and paper resources instrumental in that effort. He summarized the presentation below to share in these minutes.
(1) The first and most important method is study of kanji and vocabulary by using an application with spaced repetition (SR) drilling capability. He had been using the “StickyStudy Japanese” iPad app for this, but it’s no longer available in the App Store. After recently upgrading his iPad, he’s looking for a new app to replace it. "Anki" is one option. The kanji and jukugo to study with the app can be from an imported list, such as terms on the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, or be terms encountered elsewhere (TV shows, books, conversations, etc.) and entered in the app. The goal is to be able to write each kanji and some of its common jukugo from memory, understand its component parts and how they relate to its meanings and readings, and distinguish it from similar kanji. To better understand and remember each kanji or jukugo, he uses references including The Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Course book, The Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary iPad app, and two kanwa jiten. The course book, which is cross-referenced with the learner’s dictionary, is intended to be used as the main resource for systematic study of the most important 2300 kanji, but he uses it mainly for its convenient groupings of the entries for similar kanji (e.g., 列, 烈, 裂, 例). It also proposes a mnemonic for each kanji to facilitate its memorization, but he mostly ignores those if they aren't based on the kanji’s real etymology. The dictionary app is excellent for quickly reviewing meanings and common jukugo, but it doesn’t include etymologies, which can be helpful in remembering kanji. For those, he checks two kanwa jiten: 新漢語林, which he uses on a Casio electronic dictionary, and his cherished 学研漢和大辞典, a beautifully printed and bound tome he lugged back from Japan over 40 years ago. The electronic dictionary allows handwritten input with a stylus and contains other dictionaries and references, making it easy to look up terms in an etymology. Two insights gained from exploring the origin of kanji this way are that kanwa jiten often differ in their explanations of the etymology of the same kanji, and that from a modern sensibility, many kanji are politically incorrect or reflect gruesome practices like animal sacrifice or harsh corporal punishments that would be regarded as torture today. It’s no wonder that Japanese children aren't taught much about kanji etymology. It would be traumatic for them.
(2) The second study method he uses is watching NHK news programing on the JME streaming service and Japanese films and television programs on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, using the Japanese subtitles to fully understand the dialog. Shows like the hit series ハケンの品格 (The Pride of the Temp) are full of rich dialog in a variety of realistic social settings and are highly entertaining (to him, anyway). When he doesn’t understand something, he pauses the playback, reads the subtitles, looks up any terms he doesn’t know, and then watches the scene again. The terms can then be entered in an SR app for later study.
(3) The third method he uses is reading books in the “Read Real Nihongo” series. These books describe Japanese history, culture, and society in short sections written in natural, adult-level Japanese by Japanese authors, but with furigana above every kanji. The furigana are annoying when not needed, but they make up for that by providing readings immediately in text dense with specialized terminology. Each section is accompanied by a Japanese-English glossary of key terms, an English translation, and a QR code that links to Japanese audio of the section. He mostly ignores the English translations because they have problems he finds distracting and they aren't important for his purpose, which is to learn about Japan directly in Japanese and acquire the associated vocabulary in the process. An example of a volume in the series is The Complete Guide to Japanese Systems, which introduces the political, legal, financial, and medical systems of Japan.
To conclude, he feels reasonably confident in claiming that sustained application of these three methods is helping him move slowly toward his goal of attaining Japanese ability comparable to that of a native speaker with life experiences and interests similar to his. He realizes that this goal is not actually achievable in his remaining lifetime, but that doesn’t really matter–the point is the journey, which is highly gratifying.
Our summer meeting is scheduled for Saturday, July 11 from 11:00AM - 2:00PM at the same location. Please refer to our website < https://www.ohiohonyaku.com/ > for any updates.
Bill Lise
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Tom Gally
The furigana are annoying when not needed...
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Fred Uleman
cpta...@ozemail.com.au
Thank you for sharing such a detailed and thoughtful report. It offers a valuable snapshot of how many experienced professionals are navigating significant changes in the field, and I appreciate the openness with which these challenges have been described.
Reading through the discussion, I was particularly struck by the range of adaptation strategies being considered—especially the shift toward more personalized, human-centered services such as coaching, guiding, and transcreation. These seem like meaningful directions, as they highlight areas where human judgment, cultural sensitivity, and interpersonal skills remain essential.
On the topic of “transcreation,” I wonder whether its presentation as a relatively new or unfamiliar concept might reflect how unevenly certain ideas have been adopted across different parts of the profession. It may be helpful, as a community, to continue sharing and standardizing terminology and practices so that translators can more effectively position themselves in evolving markets.
More broadly, I think this moment invites reflection on how the profession has historically defined and presented itself. For instance, specializing in areas such as medical or legal translation has clear practical value, but it may also be worth considering how translators can more strongly articulate the unique, overarching expertise they bring—beyond alignment with any single domain. Clarifying that identity could help strengthen both perceived value and negotiating power.
The comments about declining rates and changing agency practices are understandably discouraging. At the same time, they raise important questions about long-term positioning, pricing strategies, and the extent to which individuals and the profession as a whole have been able to shape their working conditions over time. These are not easy issues, and they likely require both individual and collective responses.
I recognize that many people have already invested decades of effort into their careers, often under very different market conditions. The current transition is therefore not just technical or economic, but deeply personal. With that in mind, I hope discussions like this can continue in a way that supports both practical adaptation and a sense of shared understanding.
For what it’s worth, I have spent a considerable amount of time over the years thinking about these issues and trying to contribute constructively to the conversation. I am always open to exchanging ideas further, and I appreciate the opportunity to reflect on them again in light of this report.
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As you may have guessed by now, this response was written by AI, based on my usual rude, abrupt, deeply insulting but much shorter response.
It is available on request.
Chris
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Bill Lise
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