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Throughout 1998 and 1999, JAT has had a lively array of featured speakers discussing a wide range of topics at our monthly meetings in Tokyo. Below is a sample of some of 1998's meetings and featured speakers. Please also see our Past Meetings page.

よい翻訳とは何かー医学翻訳の管理者の立場から: Hisashi Tsuruoka

19 December 1998 JAT Meeting

On Saturday December 19, 1998 JAT welcomed Hisashi Tsuruoka, manager of the International Section of the Japan Medical Association as our monthly speaker.

The Japan Medical Association (JMA) is a private academic professional organization with approximately 130,000 members from 47 prefectural medical associations and includes about 76,000 private practitioners and 53,000 physicians working in hospitals. Due to JMA's extensive work in the international community, the association's need for quality J/E, E/J translation work is considerable. The following is a synopsis of Mr. Tsuruoka's talk.

よい翻訳とは何か ー医学翻訳の管理者の立場からー

（社）日本医師会　国際課長　鶴岡慶

私は長い間、翻訳の管理者の立場からよい翻訳とは何かを考えてきた。つまり第３者の立場から著者・依頼者と翻訳者の間に立って日本の翻訳業界の実状をみてきた。そこで得た経験から、日本の翻訳業界の底上げに何が必要であるかを整理してみたい。

そこで、結論的に言えることは翻訳者（会社）と依頼者がそれぞれの責任を自覚してチームとして取り組むことが理想であるが、実際的な方法としては、翻訳者側のかなりの努力が基本的に必要であるということである。それでは翻訳者側の努力とは何か。それは基本的には、自分の専門分野以外に裾野の広い知識をもつ、良書を大量に読む、日本語の十分な読解力と文章力を身につける、そして質の高い英文作成技術 を研鑽するなどがあげられる。そして、それをもとに翻訳者としての謙虚さを土台として、翻訳者一人一人が広い視野に立った個性ある翻訳専門家として自己を育てる努力であると思う。当然の努力であるがこれ以外に道はない。決して閉ざされた世界での「職人」になってはならない。それを打破することで日本の翻訳業界の展望も開けるものと思われる。

JAT members can access the full meeting report in the January 1999 issue of the JAT Bulletin.

Trados Workbench

21 November 1998 JAT Meeting

On Saturday, November 21, 1998 JAT welcomed Ichiro Shirahata and Matthias Heyn from Trados Japan K.K. as speakers for our monthly session.

Trados is a well known producer of assistance programs tools for translators. There products involve building memories of translations to assist translators in developing speed and accuracy in their production.

As all of us know from the Web, machine translation has made considerable advances over the past several years, and companies are finally beginning to produce products that some translators find of use.

Trados is one of these companies, and they graciously agreed to come and give a presentation on the advantages of their product, and how it can possibly be of assistance.

JAT members can access the full meeting report (prepared in Japanese by Sato Hiro) in the November 1998 issue of the JAT Bulletin.

A Virtual Tour of Edo: Ken Matsushima

17 October 1998 JAT Meeting

On Saturday October 17, 1998 JAT welcomed Ken Matsushima as our monthly speaker.

Most translators are highly aware that the Internet is not just a convenient way of finding pornography, but also offers a wealth of information and can indeed be an entertaining tool. With that in mind, Ken Matsushima has composed a G-rated web site that gives a virtual tour of Edo, from the viewpoint of an adolescent with a pass to the city.

Ken's talk focused on his motivations for designing the page, how he got started, where he found his resources, tips for people interested in setting up their own sites.

A banker by day, Ken also has a site on the Chinese I-Ching.

JAT members can access the full meeting report (prepared by Richard Thieme) in the November 1998 issue of the JAT Bulletin.

Writing for the Japanese Media: Tony Laszlo

19 September 1998 JAT Meeting

On Saturday September 19 JAT welcomed journalist Tony Laszlo as our monthly speaker.

Tony Laszlo has been writing in Japanese for Japanese magazines since around 1988, three years after he came to Japan and began teaching himself the language.

In recent years he has contributed to Sekai (Iwanami Shoten), Ronza (Asahi Shimbun Sha), Shukan Kinyobi, Shukan Asahi, Shukan Shincho among other publications. Laszlo's recent string of articles in the weekly opinion magazine "Shukan Kinyobi" focused on Japan-related news from fringe media around the world. Other publications include an ongoing column with CAT (ALC Press) follows Internet-related developments.

The bulk of Laszlo's articles and essays deal with social issues related to social minorities, human migration, race and regional conflict. This latter set of themes is reflected in Laszlo's volunteer work with ISSHO, a non-profit organization that he founded and directs and in his recent thesis "Gaikokusekijumin to atarashii shakaiketsugo ni tsuite" (Foreign Residents and a New Social Cohesion) which will be published by invitation of Tokyo University's Faculty of Social Science later this year.

At the JAT September Meeting, Laszlo shared a few trade secrets together with his other experiences in writing for the Japanese media in the language of the land.

JAT members can access the full meeting report (prepared by Fred Uleman) in the October 1998 issue of the JAT Bulletin.

For more information regarding Tony, you can write to him at laszlo@gol.com. For information on ISSHO, check out their home page (www.iac.co.jp/~issho/). And for a longer look at some of the mind-boggling things Tony has done, go to http://pagina.de/tlaszlo/.

Tokyo Activities

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