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Japanese to English translation with a creative flair and an eye for detail
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Freelance translator and/or interpreter
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Translation - English The Rains of Spring
Written by Takatsuki Nozomi
Tomoya hated the rain.
Spring rain most of all. The sky sighing with every drop, unbearably lonely despite the sun sparkling high overhead.
Rain.
Tepid and heavy, it soaked into your skin all the way to the bone. Again and again you could wipe it away, yet it would never be enough.
It had been raining that day too.
The day that he’d met him.
Tomoya was walking with the receipt from his father’s order pressed near his chest to protect it from the drops of rain falling around him. Pink petals of the cherry trees on either side of the street drooped beneath the steady sprinkle like the heavy eyelids of a young maiden. The rain was no more than a light mist, and Tomoya had wrapped the receipt in oiled paper to protect it from the moisture, but the look on his father’s face should it get wet smouldered in the back of his mind like a gloomy, black cloud.
“Excuse me!”
The dread in his gut only hastened his feet. If he didn’t move quickly, his father’s glower would become reality.
“You there, young man!”
His feet came to a stop in the middle of the rain. It was a habit he’d been scolded for many times in the past—stopping at every remark from passers-by in the street. He was “too easily distracted,” his father had told him. Yet even as his father’s words rang out in his head, he found himself turning, eyes searching out the source of the voice that had called to him. He found it in the form of a man holding an umbrella beneath the eaves of the nearby booklender’s. The man laughed when Tomoya finally noticed him.
“What is it?”
“You’re positively drenched, you know. Are you in a hurry?”
No doubt he had looked in a hurry. So much that he hadn’t even cared about the rain.
The man smiled, offering him his umbrella. “Why don’t you take my umbrella?”
“But you ... I ....” Tomoya balked. The man didn’t appear to have another umbrella, and no matter how temperamental the rains of spring could be, it was highly unlikely a shower that had just begun would suddenly come to a stop.
“I can get someone to pick me up. Please, I don’t mind.”
The man’s words were laced with the unmistakable dialect of the west. Tomoya had to wonder just whose house he belonged to—a nobleman’s, perhaps? Or one of the court families moved to Tokyo from the old capital? Yet even as Tomoya’s eyes took in the form of the unassuming man in front of him, he couldn’t help the feeling that this man’s place in society was not so different from his own.
“You’re in a hurry, aren’t you?”
“Well, I … I mean ….”
“Then I really think you ought to take it.”
“But the, uh, rain … it doesn’t seem like it’s going to let up anytime soon.”
“Oh, don’t worry about me.” The man shook his head. “You’re the one running about like that all soaked. I only happened to glance up and see you and, well, I couldn’t just let that go, could I? Perhaps it was some sort of fate.”
There was something about his smile that drew Tomoya in, and the rest of him too, all done up in the finest of lush, green kimonos. Tomoya felt his heart pick up.
“Why don’t I fetch someone from your house to walk you home?”
“Oh no, I couldn’t have you do that.”
“But you don’t know how long it will take for someone to come.”
“Really, I’m fine.” The man gave a hurried shake of his head, as though suddenly anxious.
“B-but really, I ….” Tomoya’s words were getting tangled in his tongue. It wasn’t even so much that he wanted to walk all the way to the other man’s house to find someone, simply that he wanted to spend more time together with the man, if only for a short while. Accepting the umbrella with a curt farewell and moving on with their lives was too anti-climactic for his taste.
“Then how about this—you tell me where to return it, and I’ll have it back to you.”
“There’s no need for that, I assure you. It’s a gift.”
“Absolutely not! I could never accept something for free, especially without a way to pay you back.”
“And you should just stop worrying about it! I want you to have it—truly!”
“But that’s no good either! It’s not in my nature to simply accept something like this.” And indeed it would be shameful for someone born and raised in Edo. “My name is Tomoya, and I’m the son of an ornament maker in Tsukuda. You have my word that I will return this to you.” Tomoya had yet to even ask for a name. However, the other man simply shook his head softly, face falling and eyes forlorn.
“Please, I ask that you pay it no heed. It’s only an umbrella after all, and I gave it to you of my own volition.”
“B-but …!”
“I was merely taking shelter from the rain, nothing more, and it was certainly nothing to do with you. I wanted to … be here.”
Here? But it’s no more than an ordinary booklender’s.
Tomoya tried again, more forceful this time. “But my father will beat me for keeping something I’ve borrowed, I’m sure of it.”
The other man’s long lashes drooped.
Then. With a sigh.
“Matsuoka’s.”
Tomoya stammered, his mouth agape, to which the other man laughed.
“Return it to Matsuoka’s. I might not be there, but just say it’s Shigeru’s.”
“Matsu … oka’s?”
Shigeru laughed once more with a nod of his head. “Indeed. Whether you understand what that means and don’t return the umbrella is fine.”
The words puzzled Tomoya. Strange words that didn’t make sense. Surely if he had both a name and the store, he’d have no trouble finding where to return the umbrella, even within the vastness of the Edo sprawl.
“I will return it. You have my word.”
As the words left his mouth, the image of his father growing more impatient by the minute sprang into his head, and he turned on his heels, hurrying his way home.
Yet the other man’s face would remain in his mind, the same as the spring rain. Vibrant yet melancholy, almost as if crying, and soaking into his skin, all the way to the bone.
It was simply a great while before Tomoya came to realize this.
Japanese to English: Excerpt from NTV mook "DASH村開拓記" General field: Marketing Detailed field: Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
Source text - Japanese 新天地での男たちの開拓が始まった。 民家を修復し、土地を耕し、そして種をまく。
Translation - English Breaking ground in an all-new adventure of pioneer prowess! From restoring a run-down house, to plowing the land and planting crops.
Putting our name on the map with our very own “village”—it was this dream that first inspired the DASH Village segment. Despite the fact that TOKIO were clueless when it came to village construction, plans were begun with a flourish, and what should come first but a village election! Ballots came in the form of internet submissions and postcards from DASH viewers across Japan, and on June 5th, 2000, a winner was declared. The position of village chief fell to Chief Duck, while the duties of assistant village chief would be split between Joshima Shigeru and Yamaguchi Tatsuya.
The next item on the agenda was land. With a monthly cap of 30,000 yen, however, would there even be land available to rent? Putting that aside, Joshima and Yamaguchi struck out across Japan, searching far and wide from real estate dealers to city halls and back again. By the time they returned, both of them had his own recommendation for the future home of the DASH Village. Yamaguchi’s choice was stunning and vast, boasting an area of 120,000 tsubo, or around a hundred acres. One problem, though, was the price—at 50,000 yen, it went well over their 30,000 yen limit. Also, the soil itself wasn’t ideal for growing crops—the location had once been the site of a limestone quarry—and water was scarce. Despite its flaws, however, the abundant land, roughly the size of eight Tokyo Domes, was certainly tempting.
On the other hand, Joshima’s choice was much smaller, only a tenth of Yamaguchi’s choice at 12,000 tsubo, or around ten acres. The location though, was more ideal—surrounded on all sides by lush woodlands—and the price-tag came to 28,000 yen a month, just below the 30,000 yen limit. While the land was in a state of disarray, the soil itself was fertile and ripe for planting crops. On top of that, it came with both a run-down old house and a small creek which sparkled and shone beneath the sun.
The decision came once more to a vote, and on July 23rd, 2000, the new construction site for the DASH Village was officially determined—Joshima’s choice. With no time to waste, the boys made their first trek to the site in August, ready for their new adventure. The settlement of the DASH Village had begun!
Extreme Home Makeover—a lesson in home restoration. Putting the finishing touches on Yagihashi the goat’s pen.
The settlers who would make the DASH Village their new home totaled six men and one goat—assistant chief Joshima and the other TOKIO members, DASH staff member Sei Junichiro, and Yagihashi the goat. The first task would be fixing up the run-down house—transforming it from a dilapidated mess into a livable, cozy farm house.
Japanese to English: Excerpt from visual novel game "神聖にして侵すべからず" Detailed field: Gaming/Video-games/E-sports
Source text - Japanese 「何もせず、
見守るだけでいいんじゃないかな?
瑠波ちゃんやる気になってるんだし」
Translation - English "You don't really need to do anything, do you?
Just watching over her is enough for now. She's already
motivated, and you encouraging her will only help."
"But when I see her having trouble or doing something
all clumsy-like, I can't help it! I just have to do something."
"Like if she were to wash the dishes?"
"…"
All of a sudden the image of Ruha dropping, shattering,
breaking, and sending our good china all over the place
popped into my head.
"Oh god. The image you just put in my head!"
I took a deep breath to calm myself down, closing
my eyes.
"It wouldn't be THAT bad, would it?
I mean, you'd be there to help her after all."
"But I thought I wasn't SUPPOSED to do that …"
"Well, how about you just watch over her the entire
time? It could be like … a lesson or something!"
"Hmm … that's an idea."
"Though I feel like at that point, Ruha herself wouldn't
want to be a bother to YOU anymore, and would tell
you to let her do it on her own."
"Argh … it's gonna be really REALLY tough for me
to not interfere."
"Well, what about if somebody ELSE watched over her?
Then she'd be less likely to do that."
"But is there anyone else who could teach Ruha
cooking and kitchen stuff? And who wouldn't give in
if she told them she was fine?"
"What about Tsujigasaki?"
"Yeah, but I don't have her number."
"Hmm, that would make it harder …"
"I've got an idea.
We wait until Ruha calls her at one point,
then immediately redial!"
"That could work!"
"Though … unless Hayato has a lot of free
time, I don't know if we could pull it off."
"…"
It felt weird for the both of them to be
talking about me as if I wasn't there.
I felt my ears grow warm.
"Hayatoooo, you're blushiiiing …"
"I-I don't know if it would work anyway!
From what Ruha's said, apparently Tsujigasaki
is pretty busy."
"Hmm, and now that I'm thinking about it,
I feel like Ruha might object after all. She wouldn't
want Tsujigasaki to go out of her way for her."
"I think all of us are overlooking the fact that
we already have the perfect person."
"What do you mean?"
"Who?"
"Our very own Misao!"
"Ahhh … huh!"
"W-w-wait! Me?"
"But I'm sure she has plenty of work to do
at her own place, right? It wouldn't be fair
asking her to do all that."
"…"
"Hayato, are you ready to go?"
"Ready as I'll ever be."
"See you two tomorrow then!"
"See ya."
"Hey Ruha. Do you suppose maybe, I mean …
that I could, you know … come over? Tonight?"
"… is there something you need?"
"Err, no, I just …"
"I have no problem with it, of course, but why
all of a sudden like this?"
"Well, see I … I just … THOUGHT of something!
Yes, thought!"
"And what was that?"
"Oh, you know, a wonderful, nice, cozy little
thought, all wrapped up in its thoughtly
blankets …"
"I'm confused?"
"A- … a great thought! An amazing thought!
Something no one has ever thought of before!"
"And are you going to TELL me this thought?"
Misao looked over to me as if for help, and
an idea popped into my head.
"Ah, did you wanna compare homework?"
"A-ah, yes!! Yes! That exactly! That was the
thought."
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Translation education
Master's degree - Kent State University
Experience
Years of experience: 13. Registered at ProZ.com: Feb 2013.
My name is Liv, and I am a Japanese to English translator and English editor and writer. My specialties lie in video game translation and localization, literary translation, TV/film subtitling, and marketing translation/copywriting.
I have a Master of Arts in Japanese translation from Kent State University and extensive experience in the gaming industry.
Tasks I have performed both in-house and as a freelancer:
localization, transcreation, editing, and proofreading of English in-game texts originally translated from Korean, Chinese, and Japanese
translation of in-game texts from Japanese to English
translation of full-length novels
scenario/copywriting of in-game texts
copywriting of game marketing, promotional, and social media materials
translation of game marketing materials from Japanese to English
artistic direction of voice over recording for games
voice acting of multiple characters for games
localization QA
translation, subtitling, typesetting, and timing for game promotional videos, TV series, and full-length films
Examples and reviews of my in-game work can be found on my LinkedIn page.
My CV is available upon request (I've not included a direct download to protect myself from identity theft).
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