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Do you exercise / work out regularly? Translation is my main business, so I spend most of time sitting in front of PC, and I don’t go out of home except for once-a-week grocery shopping, disposing of garbage, or going on business trips. It’s apparently a lack of exercise. I used to go jogging 4-6 times a week but I can’t do it in winter, so I have switched to workout at home during the season. I’m not good at doing physical activities in the first place, but turning it into a habit helps you manage time to exercise / work out, which results in a good, efficient time management at work. You will also feel more fit and gain energy for work.

My mindset has developed since last autumn and feel like doing more effective workout. Now I take a personal training, when I stay in Tokyo for a business trip. BY-FIT in Shibuya is the one. Mr. Katsuya Yamamoto, its representative coach, gives a logical yet easy to understand explanation during a session. Just feeling and observing movements don’t help me grasp how I should move, so with a clear, logical explanation, I can finally try exercising / working out. I have seen a variety of his Instagram video posts with clear guidance & text explanation and found them so convincing and understandable, which gave me an impression I would be able to achieve good results there! As expected, he gave me detailed yet clear advices: how I could correct to a proper form of squat, effective home leg workout menu. I visited him yesterday too and received a good chest training with dumbbell(s). The more the types of exercises you can do increase, the more fun the workout will be. Great that I haven’t got bored of working out at home thanks to him 💪

That I’ve started taking over interpreting assignments and I want to build up stamina for work with energy encouraged me too. That said, my main business remains to be translation, which is a desk-job, so I’d keep doing workout / exercises to get in shape so that I can enjoy working well 🏋️‍♂️

Photo: after training with Mr Yamamoto @BY-FIT🤳

My article and interview were published in T&I industry magazines. For the last few months, I was busy with answering an interview and writing an article about doing businesses with overseas clients as a freelance translator while living in Japan.

I have contributed articles to the same publisher several times, anonymously or publicly, but it’s the first time to get an interview article published with my photo 🙌

Following the interview about doing businesses with overseas in another magazine, I also contributed a related but more detailed article to IKAROS 通訳翻訳ジャーナル (interpreting & translation journal, an industry magazine), discussing in 4 pages how I have managed and keep businesses going, including payments, contracts, presence, platform etc. 🙂

Thanks IKAROS📗 for a nice experience!

Photo: the T&I industry magazines. 

From west to east and then to west. As in-person events have well resumed, I’ve already got hundreds of 🗣 in-person interpreting requests/availability checks including the project arrangements since the beginning of the year (really!), which is unusual for me looking back the last few years. Now I’m in Tokyo for a 2-week business trip. It was an honor for me to join my client at their exhibit as an interpreter, from whom I usually receive translation projects. Those few days were pretty tough but I gained lots of great practical experiences as well as real technical knowledge & insights on site, which I wouldn’t be able to learn / get aware only from translation projects. It was also a good chance to directly communicate with their engineer members for deeply technical questions. 🧑‍💻

I’ve found how effective and practical it is to do both translation and interpreting for the same clients/industries so that there’s eventually a synergy in understanding them much better and more clearly. I’m
very sure that the experience of those few days will help me brush up my translation of their documents next (and actually did already for their small one last night!).

They were so supportive e.g. providing me many related materials 📑 for preparation and giving briefing that I was able to perform okay but there’s also many items I should reflect on and make good use of it next time. So though the project is over for now, I’d review my work and practice for next occasions 💪

At the end of January, I visited the Fushimi Inari shrine ⛩ in Kyoto to thank for the last year and pray for further successful businesses during the year 2024. This is one of my favorite annual activities. It is important for prayers to also work hard to make it come true, so I’ll proactively challenge new things as well. Lots of exciting opportunities await me here and there and I will attract good luck myself 🙂

Photo: the Fushimi Inari shrine, Kyoto

May happiness and success with you throughout the year ✨

I visit Hofu Tenmangu Shrine in Yamaguchi on one of the first three days every year. I often visited the site to wish success on study when I had stayed at my grandma’s house in its vicinity area. Now I visit the shrine to wish for wellbeing and traffic safety of my family.

In addition, for the year 2024, those who were affected by the earthquakes on the Jan 1 in Ishikawa pref and areas around are in my prayers, and I am hoping for a day of quick recovery. Also, as for rescue teams who go to help disaster victims, please stay safe.

I thought I wouldn’t make a retrospective summary of the year but changed my mind and would like to conclude my 2023 with a Happy New Year light display recorded just now 📹

I’ve been making one Kanji character resolution with colleagues & friends for more than 10 years. My Kanji for 2023 is “貫” (or penetrate) for carrying out my word.

In the recent post, I mentioned my plan of the year 2023 to take over interpreting projects myself and am happy that I’ve made it. This encourages me to make the next leap in the year 2024.

I was pretty overwhelmed with things whether business and private and failed to write about my resignation from the JAT Board upon completion of the term. I served as the JAT Treasurer between 2019/7 and 2021/6 as well as the JAT President and Treasurer between 2021/7 and 2023/6. It had been super hard to put my hands on operation and administration of the association while working as a freelancer but I am relieved that I was able to accomplish the terms without leaving it halfway. I am grateful for supports and understanding from everyone around me.

Only my regret was that I couldn’t manage much time to spend on studying for some certifications. I’ll have to revisit my time management and proactively find time for study in the year 2024.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year ✨
Talk to you soon with a new post in a few days 😂

Photo: lighting display at Hiroshima station 🚉

Do you prefer to paper planners or electronic planners? I’ve been using a paper planner. I once tried managing schedule digitally with several online planner solutions but none of them was what I imagined. For good luck, I always use a planner with gold color cover. 📔 I hope I’ll have lots of plans to write on my 2024 planner 🙏😊

My last interpreting project in the year 2023 took place at a hospital in Kashiwa, Chiba pref.. it was my first visit to the city, though I used to live and work in Chiba (Soga and Kisarazu). I was excited and little nervous at the same time, as it was my first clinical trial related interpreting project, but I had a great experience thanks to very nice clients 😊 I’d willingly bid for the requests on the same field with confidence next time.

Photo: a university library in the vicinity of the working site

The moment you realize you only have less than half a month to the new year! The year 2023 was truly a hectic year for me. In the end of the last year, I thought I’d also try taking over interpreting jobs myself in addition to translations, not just asking colleagues to handle all interpreting requests, amid the recovery of inbound travel and tourism upon the lifting of restrictions. And this year, I started January with an in-person interpreting project, and I am concluding December with another in-person interpreting project. I wouldn’t have been able to make it without support and understanding from my colleagues and clients. Cherishing the bond that we have, I’d proactively expand my work ratio of interpreting in the year 2024 😊

Photo: Christmas lights in Marunouchi, Tokyo.

I attended a business-related Vietnam-Japan program last week, tagging along with my brother.

Sometime ago, it was a hot topic that Vietnam Airlines would be entering into service at Hiroshima Airport but we’ve never heard the progress or start thereafter. It has been postponed a while but the project now resumes. During the three-hour-long event, there were also presentations about businesses in Vietnam by some Japanese companies, an introduction of vocational development programs by a Vietnamese university in Khanh Hoa province, and a ceremony for business memorandum between Hiroshima and Khanh Hoa. Obviously I’m not specialized in any of these fields but I found them pretty interesting.

Hiroshima has received many Vietnamese students and business persons at various organizations and entities: Japanese language schools, universities, corporations, just like other prefectures. You can therefore see many Vietnamese residents who have settled down in Hiroshima. Looking back on my time at a university as an International Student Advisor, I’ve had an impression that they are kind and very eager to learn and work hard.

Accepting Human Resources between Vietnam and Japan has been more proactive and promoted. The mean age of population in Vietnam is relatively young and 33 (while that of Japan is 48 or around). The momentum I felt at the event also indicated that those proactive exchange would definitely be one of clues to empower Japan, where its aging society and labor scarcity are concerned.

Pic: a simultaneous interpretation receiver for Vietnamese and Japanese 🎧