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Jennifer O'Donnell – Japanese-English Translator and Localization Director

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Translation Chat Podcast 04 – Liz Bushouse chats about Final Fantasy VII Remake

Translation Chat Podcast 04 – Liz Bushouse chats about Final Fantasy VII Remake

Liz Bushouse is a Japanese to English video game translator and has worked on titles such as Phantasy Star Online 2, STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of Mineral Town, and Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin. She has a masters degree in

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Jennifer O'Donnell November 20, 2021December 16, 2022 Translation Chat Podcast No Comments Read more

Translation Chat Podcast 03 – Katrina Leonoudakis chats about Odd Taxi

Translation Chat Podcast 03 – Katrina Leonoudakis chats about Odd Taxi

Katrina Leonoudakis is a professional translator and localization specialist. In addition to working full-time at SEGA as a project coordinator, she subtitles anime for Funimation and Sentai Filmworks, as well as translates manga for Seven Seas. She has credits on

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Jennifer O'Donnell November 13, 2021December 16, 2022 Translation Chat Podcast No Comments Read more

Yuji Moriya – Game and Movie Localization Professional – Interviews With Localizers

Yuji Moriya – Game and Movie Localization Professional – Interviews With Localizers

– Discussions with people in the Japanese media localization industry – Yuji Moriya   Can you tell us about yourself? Hi, I’m Yuji, and I’ve been in the Loc industry for about four years. I love music, play guitar, and

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Jennifer O'Donnell October 29, 2021December 16, 2021 Interviews With Localizers No Comments Read more

Translation Chat Podcast 02 – Anne Lee chats about Taisho x Alice

Translation Chat Podcast 02 – Anne Lee chats about Taisho x Alice

  Anne Lee is a freelance Japanese to English translator and editor, with credits including Hitorijime My Hero volumes 1-3 and video games such as Giraffe and Annika, and Tokyo Afterschool Summoners. She also writes and podcasts about Japanese pop

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Jennifer O'Donnell October 17, 2021December 16, 2022 Translation Chat Podcast No Comments Read more

Translation Chat Podcast 01 – Daniel Morales chats about Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Translation Chat Podcast 01 – Daniel Morales chats about Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

  Daniel Morales is a writer, translator and former association professional based in Chicago. He writes the website HowtoJapanese.com and is a regular contributor to the Japan Times Bilingual page. Daniel chose to chat about Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End

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Jennifer O'Donnell October 4, 2021December 16, 2022 Translation Chat Podcast No Comments Read more

FAQ for Aspiring Japanese to English Media Translators

FAQ for Aspiring Japanese to English Media Translators

Happy International Translation Day! Just like any career, a career in translation can be rewarding and exhausting. You have your highs and your lows. Your days when you feel like you’ve created the best piece ever, and the days when

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Jennifer O'Donnell September 30, 2021May 5, 2022 Freelance Business Advice, Further Education, Improve Translation Skills 3 Comments Read more

Brittany Avery – Veteran Game Localization Editor – Interviews With Localizers

Brittany Avery – Veteran Game Localization Editor – Interviews With Localizers

– Discussions with people in the Japanese media localization industry – Brittany Avery   Meet Brittany Avery! First of all, thank you for letting me be a part of this! My name is Brittany, and my ten-year anniversary in the

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Jennifer O'Donnell September 19, 2021December 16, 2021 Interviews With Localizers No Comments Read more

Time Management Tips for Freelance Japanese Media Translators

Time Management Tips for Freelance Japanese Media Translators

There are so many articles out there on time management and productivity, even a great number for freelance translators! And although this article will highly likely overlap with those, it’s a combination of my studies and experience from when I

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Jennifer O'Donnell September 5, 2021September 17, 2022 Freelance Business Advice No Comments Read more

Andrew Echeverria – Video Game Translator – Interviews With Localizers

Andrew Echeverria – Video Game Translator – Interviews With Localizers

– Discussions with people in the Japanese media localization industry – Andrew Echeverria   Can you tell us about yourself? I’d love to! I’m Andrew, a Japanese-to-English game translator and editor originally from Portland, Oregon in the US. I’ve been

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Jennifer O'Donnell August 13, 2021August 13, 2021 Interviews With Localizers No Comments Read more

Why Machine Translating Japanese Media is a BAD Idea

Why Machine Translating Japanese Media is a BAD Idea

Machine translation has always been notorious for just being bad. It’s great if you’re playing around or lost in a country and need help, but when applied to professional translations the results are, more often than not, shockingly terrible. When

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Jennifer O'Donnell August 5, 2021August 5, 2021 Localization No Comments Read more

Caleb Cook – Manga Translator – Interviews With Localizers

Caleb Cook – Manga Translator – Interviews With Localizers

– Discussions with people in the Japanese media localization industry – Caleb Cook   Can you tell us about yourself? I’m Caleb, and I’ve been a freelance manga translator since 2014. This means that I sit at home from nine

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Jennifer O'Donnell July 28, 2021July 28, 2021 Interviews With Localizers No Comments Read more

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time – Translation Review

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time – Translation Review

時をかける少女 (Toki wo Kakeru Shojo) is an iconic story in Japan. It was adapted into an NHK drama, a few live-action movies, a drama CD, and most iconically, an anime movie. Most Westerners will know it from this anime movie

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Jennifer O'Donnell July 10, 2021November 22, 2022 Translation Review No Comments Read more

Gavin Greene – Game Localization Producer – Interviews With Localizers

Gavin Greene – Game Localization Producer – Interviews With Localizers

  – Discussions with people in the Japanese media localization industry – Gavin Greene   Can you tell us about yourself? Hi! My name’s Gavin, and I’m a freelance Japanese to English translator and interpreter. I’ve been living and working

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Jennifer O'Donnell June 20, 2021June 20, 2021 Interviews With Localizers No Comments Read more

Literary Translation Link Roundup [Spring 2021]

Literary Translation Link Roundup [Spring 2021]

The World of Literary Translation Why Should We Read More Translated Literature? A discussion on why translated literature is important and how we benefit from reading more of it. There’s a lot you can gain through translated literature! “Reading translated

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Jennifer O'Donnell May 28, 2021May 28, 2021 Link Roundup, Literary Translation No Comments Read more

Game Localization Link Roundup [Spring 2021]

Game Localization Link Roundup [Spring 2021]

Articles related to video games and localization from the past……from however long ago I did this last. Enjoy!   Game Localization in General The manifold challenges of localising Disco Elysium This is such an incredibly interesting article! If you don’t

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Jennifer O'Donnell May 27, 2021May 27, 2021 Game Translation, Link Roundup No Comments Read more

Maintaining Your Japanese as a Translator

Maintaining Your Japanese as a Translator

I’ve been studying Japanese for a very long time. Roughly 14 years (I honestly lost count.) My decision to follow a career in linguistics and work in localization means it’s a never-ending journey of learning. But I also have a

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Jennifer O'Donnell May 21, 2021May 21, 2021 Improve Translation Skills, Japanese Language No Comments Read more

Katrina Leonoudakis – Engineer By Day, Translator By Night – Interviews With Localizers

Katrina Leonoudakis – Engineer By Day, Translator By Night – Interviews With Localizers

  – Discussions with people in the Japanese media localization industry – Katrina Leonoudakis Can you tell us about yourself? Hi! I’m Katrina, professional weeb and overenthusiastic nerd. Right now, I wear a lot of hats, depending on the time

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Jennifer O'Donnell May 14, 2021June 17, 2021 Interpreting, Interviews With Localizers No Comments Read more

A New Translation of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi

A New Translation of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi

I’ve been meaning to read and review this book for a while and I finally got around to it! The scrolls of Five Rings was written by the sword master and samurai Miyamoto Musashi around 1643. They are the records

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Jennifer O'Donnell May 8, 2021May 8, 2021 Translation Review No Comments Read more

Sara Linsley – Manga Letterer and Software Developer – Interviews With Localizers

Sara Linsley – Manga Letterer and Software Developer – Interviews With Localizers

  – Discussions with people in the Japanese media localization industry – Sara Linsley   Can you tell us about yourself? I’m a manga letterer and software developer. I tweet a lot about lettering and the localization process, and I

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Jennifer O'Donnell April 19, 2021June 17, 2021 Interviews With Localizers No Comments Read more

Awesome Game Localization Blogs You Should Read

Awesome Game Localization Blogs You Should Read

The world of video game development is astronomical. Video game localization is just a small part of a much larger process, but it’s often a lot larger and more complicated than you might think. One way you can learn more

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Jennifer O'Donnell April 2, 2021February 19, 2022 Further Education, Link Roundup No Comments Read more

Maisy Hatchard – Board Game Translator – Interviews With Localizers

Maisy Hatchard – Board Game Translator – Interviews With Localizers

  – Discussions with people in the Japanese media localization industry – Maisy Hatchard   Hey, Maisy! Please tell us about yourself. Afternoon! Well, Tokyo is my current home, south-east England is my heart’s home, I did a bunch of

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Jennifer O'Donnell March 21, 2021June 17, 2021 Interviews With Localizers No Comments Read more

How Do Judges Judge a Good Translation?

How Do Judges Judge a Good Translation?

Every year I post a list of upcoming Japanese to English translation competitions. A lot of these competitions are really great for aspiring and experienced translators to practice their skills. But it’s often hard to know what the judges are

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Jennifer O'Donnell March 13, 2021September 19, 2021 Improve Translation Skills, Literary Translation, Localization No Comments Read more

Smart Habits for Translators – Podcast Review

Smart Habits for Translators – Podcast Review

I love podcasts, but I’m also really picky about them. Working full time, I only have so many hours in the day so I don’t want to waste said time on podcasts I don’t enjoy. There are a few podcasts

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Jennifer O'Donnell February 22, 2021April 2, 2021 Freelance Business Advice No Comments Read more

Stephen Meyerink – Game Translator & Writer – Interviews With Localizers

Stephen Meyerink – Game Translator & Writer – Interviews With Localizers

  – Discussions with people in the Japanese media localization industry – Stephen Meyerink Can you tell us about yourself? I can! I’m Stephen Meyerink, and I’m a J to E translator, writer, game development learner, and a lover of

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Jennifer O'Donnell February 11, 2021March 31, 2022 Interviews With Localizers No Comments Read more

Japanese – English Translation Competitions 2021

Japanese – English Translation Competitions 2021

It is a new year and a new round of translation competitions is upon us! At least I hope they will be! Last year was a bit of an odd one with everything that could possibly going wrong, going wrong.

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Jennifer O'Donnell February 6, 2021February 22, 2022 Link Roundup, Literary Translation No Comments Read more

Why The Localization of Final Fantasy VII Remake Is Amazing

Why The Localization of Final Fantasy VII Remake Is Amazing

When I was in secondary school (when I had more time) I played Final Fantasy IX, VIII, VII, then X and X-2. I was hooked. So when the Final Fantasy VII Remake was announced many, many, many years ago, I

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Jennifer O'Donnell January 15, 2021April 2, 2021 Localization, Translation Review No Comments Read more

Can You Learn Translation from “The Routledge Course in Japanese Translation”?

Can You Learn Translation from “The Routledge Course in Japanese Translation”?

The Routledge Course in Japanese Translation is based on a decade of Yoko Hasegawa’s experience teaching translation theory and practice at a University level in the US. It’s designed to be a complete guide for aspiring Japanese-English translators, but is

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Jennifer O'Donnell December 5, 2020April 2, 2021 Further Education, Improve Translation Skills, Translation Review No Comments Read more

A Summary of “The Routledge Course in Japanese Translation”

A Summary of “The Routledge Course in Japanese Translation”

This is a breakdown summary of The Routledge Course in Japanese Translation. If you would like a review into how useful this is for translators please read Can You Learn Translation from “The Routledge Course in Japanese Translation”?   The

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Jennifer O'Donnell December 5, 2020April 2, 2021 Further Education, Improve Translation Skills, Translation Review No Comments Read more

All You Need Is Kill – Translation Review

All You Need Is Kill – Translation Review

What if you’re stuck in a Groundhog day-like time loop? Only it’s not a creepy stalker romance, but a horrifying nightmare in a war-zone. And the English translation of this living nightmare is so beautifully done!   All You Need is

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Jennifer O'Donnell October 24, 2020March 25, 2022 Translation Review No Comments Read more

How To Get into Video Game Localization – JAT PROJECT 2020

How To Get into Video Game Localization – JAT PROJECT 2020

On September 13th 2020 I held a talk for the Japan Association of Translators (JAT) online conference PROJECT. Each talk focused on a different sub-genre of Japanese English translation. Literary, medical, legal, interpreting, how to use CAT tools, and entertainment.

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Jennifer O'Donnell October 10, 2020April 2, 2021 Freelance Business Advice, Localization 1 Comment Read more
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Recent Posts

  • Idol Burning – Translation Review
  • Translation Chat 20 – Janet Hsu chats about Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (999)
  • Translated Books I Read in 2022
  • Translation Chat 19 – Wesley O’Donnell chats about Paper Mario and the Origami King
  • Becoming a Translator—There Is No Magic Button
  • Translation Chat 18 – Taylor Drew chats about Tokyo Ueno Station
  • Translation Chat 17 – Erica Friedman chats about Whisper Me a Love Song
  • What is the Japan Visualmedia Translation Academy (JVTA)?

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