– Discussions with people in the
Japanese media localization industry –
Kevin Yuan
Can you tell us about yourself?
Hi there! My name is Kevin Yuan, and I’m a Tokyo-based Japanese-to-English translator working in-house in government (since 2023) and as a freelancer in media localization (since 2021). On the freelance side of things, I’ve worked on projects across various fields, but I’ve been most active as a manga and light novel translator as of late.
When I’m not translating, I’m probably solving puzzles in an escape game/room (I did 50+ in 2024 alone!), playing anime songs on piano, or making a vain attempt at chipping away at my insurmountable video game backlog.
How did you get into localization?
After growing up a fan of anime and video games, I started studying Japanese in my first year of high school, but it wasn’t until college when I set my sights on translation as a career path.
Translation Contests
Translation contests were a key way for me to gain the experience and confidence necessary to break into the industry. In my senior year of college, I entered the Manga Translation Battle Vol. 6, which entailed translating an excerpt from one of three manga.
It was my first time ever trying to translate manga, and I spent a substantial amount of time translating, editing, rewriting, and polishing up two contest submissions: one for Hachi Miles and one for Deaimon. I had plenty of fun working on my entries, and I ended up getting selected as a finalist for Hachi Miles!
Although I didn’t win any awards, the result motivated me to more seriously pursue a career in translation. (Incidentally, over the span of one month in 2023, I happened to independently meet the other two finalists for Hachi Miles, both of whom are extremely accomplished translators whose work I greatly admire!)
Over the next two years, I teamed up with a friend for the Manga Translation Battle Vol. 7 and the 2019 Kurodahan Translation Prize, making it as finalists both times. Not only were those contests a great way to gain experience collaborating on a translation, they further reinforced my career aspirations.
Localization Meetups
Meanwhile, I was working in Japan as a Coordinator for International Relations on the JET Program, and I found out about a monthly meetup for aspiring and professional localizers in Kansai.
I was close enough (read: three hours one way) to join the meetings, where I received plenty of advice and insight about breaking into the industry. Although I only made it to a few meetups before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a halt, it was well worth the trek to meet new people and learn more about translation and localization.
Started Freelancing
Fast forward to the start of 2021, when my efforts and luck paid off—I onboarded with Seven Seas Entertainment after they were openly recruiting freelance manga translators.
A connection I had made through the Kansai meetups offered me my first project in game localization, and I finally got my big translation contest break upon being selected as the winner of the Japanese-to-English division of the Seventeenth Annual JAT (Japan Association of Translators) Contest for New and Aspiring Japanese/English Translators.
I’ve continued to branch out since then, and I’ve enjoyed every step of the journey!
What led you to manga and video game translation?
I got my start in localization with manga and video games, but I’ve also done subtitling work for films after completing a visual media translation course in 2022 through the Japan Visualmedia Translation Academy (which J-EN Translations did a blog post about). I also started working as a freelance light novel translator for Yen Press in 2023.
Each different form of media offers its own unique enjoyment and challenges. I’d love to take on everything, but alas, there’s not enough time in the world, especially since I’m balancing an in-house job. So, for practical reasons, I’ve settled into working on manga (volume releases) and light novels, primarily because of the comparatively lenient and consistent schedules.
What have been some of the biggest challenges for you on your path to becoming a translator?
A big challenge for me was, and still is, figuring out what it means to translate professionally.
When I was looking to enter the industry, I hadn’t had many opportunities to study translation itself; I took a class in college that involved some sight translation, as well as a weeklong seminar on translation and interpretation offered through the JET Program, but that was the extent of my formal translation training.
There are lots of online resources about translation—including your blog—but while they were useful for me for gaining insight into what makes a good translation, my brain was still quite lost as to the process of getting from Point “A” (a blank Word document) to Point “B” (a quality translation).
My First Year
For my first year or so in the industry, I kept questioning and second guessing myself—Should I be able to get everything right on my first draft? What can I do to improve this sentence? Can this sentence even be improved? Am I straying too far from the original source? How much time should I be spending on this? What degree of perfection should I be aiming for? Will this just get changed by an editor down the line? Am I doing anything right?
Although I had a good idea of what a polished product was supposed to read like, I was uncertain about the expectations on me as a single cog in the machine and about when to stop myself from trying to improve what I had.
That created the perfect storm for my inner perfectionist to dominate: According to Microsoft Word, the total time I spent on my first manga translation script—Volume 1 of Kiruru Kill Me—was a ridiculous 150 hours, spread over five weeks. (Of course, a chunk of that was simply the document being left open in the background, but I’m pretty sure the true figure is well upwards of 100 hours, with me doing countless passes in an attempt to perfect every single line.)
While I was glad to see that my script was left virtually 99% intact for the final published product, that was by no means a sustainable way to work.
Lack of Feedback
Unfortunately, opportunities for feedback in the industry are few and far between, and it’s impossible to peer into the minds of other translators to see how they work and where they stop themselves.
I still can’t confidently answer any of the above questions, but through repeated trial and error, and thanks to validating words from editors and project managers I’ve worked with, I’ve learned to trust my instincts more. I’ve settled into a workflow I’m comfortable with, though I wish I would’ve asked other translators earlier on about how they handle the actual process of translation.
– Your Loc Work –
What’s your translation workflow like?
It varies somewhat depending on the type of content I’m working on, but it boils down to essentially four or five phases.
First, I’ll generally start by reading through the entire source text; if I’m working on a series with multiple volumes available, more often than not, I’ll read ahead to see how the story progresses.
First Translation Pass
For my initial translation pass, I try to complete a draft as fast as I can, only pausing to look up words I’m uncertain about and to do cursory research if needed. At this stage, I’m relying almost entirely on instinct and not worrying about making things sound nice; usually, the lines end up in broken English.
This serves a number of purposes: I get formatting out of the way early so I can focus solely on the text in later passes; I fill in the style sheet (if applicable) with character names and terms to have a clear list of what I need to make important decisions about; I get a sense of the length of the project so I can better plan out my schedule; and I familiarize my brain with the translation challenges I’ll need to tackle and let it start building the relevant pathways that will lead to creative solutions.
Second Pass
Ideally, I’ll give myself at least a couple of days away before I start the next phase, which encompasses a mix of translating, editing, and rewriting.
I devote much more attention to the source material, reviewing everything line by line and often completely rewriting what I had for my first draft to better reflect character voice, improve the structure of sentences, correct errors in interpretation, and make decisions about names and terms.
My brain finds it much easier to pinpoint and build on what aspects of my initial translation do and don’t work than trying to craft a solid translation from scratch.
Edit Pass
Once I’m happy with that base translation, I go back in and edit it as a standalone English product, only seldom referencing the source material. My focus is to enhance the overall flow of sentences, further polish up character voices, and ensure that everything would actually make sense to a reader who doesn’t have access to the Japanese.
Lastly, before I submit, I do a final proofreading check, comparing my translation to the original source to make sure I haven’t deviated too far.
It certainly isn’t the most efficient process (I do at least four to six full passes of literally everything I work on), but doing frequent, short passes works well for my schedule and satisfies my inner perfectionist.
I’m a firm believer in the idea that having multiple “versions” of myself review my work at different times with fresh eyes allows me to produce the best possible result, considering time constraints and all.
What do you enjoy working on the most?
One of my favorite aspects of media is emotional storytelling. I’m a sucker for powerful, moving scenes, so whenever I find myself working on something that hits me in the feels (I’ve teared up on multiple occasions while translating or while reading something that I’d eventually be translating), it’s extra motivating to try and leave the same emotional impact.
Pretty much all of the character arcs from Volumes 3 through 8 of the manga No Longer Allowed in Another World had that effect on me—endeavoring to capture those deeply poignant moments in my translation was a fun challenge.
In terms of a project as a whole, I’ve had a blast working on Happy Kanako’s Killer Life. I got assigned to the manga from Volume 3, but the series features tons of animal puns, an ungodly amount of Japanese pop culture references, and a crazy story with a surprising number of emotional beats.
The comedy doesn’t work for everyone, but it suits my style of humor, and it’s allowed me to go ham with trying to find ways to make it all make sense in English.
What have you been most proud of?
I’m proud of my range as a translator! There’s nothing quite like going from working on a dense policy speech during the day to a silly romcom scene at night.
Branching out into light novels recently has also been a step I’m happy to have taken. I’ve been a fan of novels for much longer than I’ve been a fan of manga, but working on book-length prose translation is immensely daunting, to say the least.
I was beaming when I read through my advance copy of Volume 1 of Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table—it was by far the largest project I’d worked on in terms of word count up until then. I’m impressed with myself for having been able to make it to the finish line, as well as the fact that I’m continuing to run these marathons of prose.
If you could do anything what would you love to do or try out?
I’ve been fortunate to be able to work on a wide range of material, but I’m still eager to translate something from my favorite genre: mystery!
The closest I’ve gotten is with Volume 3 of Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table, which features elements of a murder mystery story, and Volume 2 of Dragon and Chameleon, which includes a one-page excerpt of an in-world mystery manga, but I’d love to work on a pure detective series at some point in my career.
– Study and Inspiration –
What do you do to hone your skills?
Although I don’t have as much free time nowadays, I still try to keep up the habit of reading, mostly in Japanese. I always keep a novel on hand in the office to read during my lunch breaks, and I follow a couple of manga series as well. There’s always something new to take away from a good book, and it’s a fun way to stimulate my imagination.
If you could share one piece of advice for aspiring media translators/editors, what would it be?
Don’t forget your passion—but don’t let it lead you astray.
Many who work in media localization—myself included—are in it for their love of the craft. For me, getting to work on the kinds of media I grew up with is fun and rewarding. Every new project offers new opportunities to learn and new challenges to overcome, and passion is an amazing resource to channel in order to achieve your dreams, continue to grow, and soar to new heights.
That said, it’s important to know the industry isn’t a shining paradise. There are plenty of companies that exploit people’s passion and get them to work on projects for substandard rates and/or outrageous deadlines. Burnout is a prevalent issue in the industry, and the toll it takes can often go undetected before it’s too late.
I know the fear of sensing that the passion that’s accompanied you for many years is on the verge of flickering out—and it’s a prospect that feels all too real sometimes. At those moments, it’s crucial to take a step back, remember what drives you, and make decisions that are best for you in the long run.
– The Industry in General –
What do you think people don’t know about localization that you wish would?
By nature, localization is more of an art than a science. There do exist certain objective standards for what makes a good translation—Is it achieving its purpose (to inform, to entertain, etc.)? Is it accurate?—but for media localization especially, there is very much a need for human creativity to work with the limits of language in order to create a product that captures the soul of the original and leaves behind the same impact to a target audience with a completely different linguistic and cultural background.
One of my favorite passages describing translation is the opening of John Ciardi’s from his translation of Dante’s Inferno. Coming from a musical background myself, I found the analogy to be incredibly apt in speaking to the challenges and the beauty of the art of translation, which oftentimes goes underappreciated or misunderstood.
I rarely post on social media, but I’ll leave these here anyway!
Twitter/X: https://x.com/KyuTheMusic
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/kyubiq.bsky.social
YouTube (piano covers): https://www.youtube.com/@KyuTheMusic
For anyone curious, (via Legends of Localization), the opening passages from John Ciardi’s translation of Inferno that Kevin is talking about is as follows: