TECHNICAL JAPANESE TRANSLATION
No. 12 — February 10, 1984
The editor plans to continue publishing the newsletter regularly as a one-man venture until June, 1984 (one year after the first issue was published), and then to reassess plans and decide whether or not to continue to put it out single-handedly. Readers are asked to send in their comments about whether they wish the newsletter to be continued and how this should be done, or suggestions about any changes in policy, emphasis, format, etc. In particular, could the newsletter be carried on after June, 1984 as a collective venture? Could the subject matter dealt with by the newsletter be expanded so that it would serve a broader readership? Are there any volunteers who would like to collaborate in the work of editing and publishing it for one more year, from June, 1984 until June 1985?
Editorial policy is to promote the exchange of both technical and cultural information which might be relevant to professional Japanese-English (or English-Japanese) translators. The newsletter is meant for active readers, and you are encouraged to write for publication in it. Undoubtedly your schedule is busy, but if you think the newsletter is valuable for you and you want to stay on the mailing list, you must either take the time to write something for publication, or else send in money, etc. to help pay for the expenses, or both. (Suggested minimum amount of donation for a non-contributor is $20 for the year May 1983–May 1984.) Thanks to those who have sent in items for publication and/or money for the expenses, and dire warnings to those who send neither: your names will be removed from the mailing list. If there is an asterisk before your name on the envelope, that means that I am not sure whether you wish to continue to receive the newsletter. You must write to me indicating that you want to receive it, or your name will be dropped from the mailing list. Those who need specific back issues should write me (enclosing a check sufficient to cover the postage) and specify which issues they want.
The following two readers have kindly volunteered to reproduce the newsletter and distribute it to readers in their countries:
Mr. John M. Shields, DEC Service, C.P.O. 42, Nagoya 450, Japan
Mr. F.R.D. Apps, 57 High Street, Ingatestone, Essex CM4 OAT, England
Beginning with this issue, the newsletter will be printed on both sides of the pages. I have a new copying machine (a Xerox 2830) which is capable of reproducing on both sides of the paper. It also makes clearer copies of newspaper clippings.
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IN THIS ISSUE: An interview with Rikko N. Field, a Japanese woman who owns a translation agency in Northern California. An article about the specifics of patent translation by Alexander Shkolnik. An article about exporting of Japanese-made data bases. An article about "avoiding pitfalls." We take a look at how Japanese writers and intellectuals are relating to word processors. Frederik Schodt writes about "sarakin." Paula Doe describes an inexpensive English word-processing system. There are articles about new words and new dictionaries, a glossary of medical terms from my own files, and the final part of D.A. Fraser's glossary of chemical terms. And..
NEW FEATURE. This issue we are starting a new feature, a directory of professional services. If you wish your name to be included in the directory in the next issue, please send me your name, address, languages, fields of specialization and other information you want to be listed.
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INTERVIEW WITH RIKKO N. FIELD
Q: This newsletter goes to readers all over the world, and many of them are comparatively isolated and would like information about the translation and interpreting business in various parts of the world. You are uniquely qualified to shed some light on that because you are a Japanese woman who owns and operates a translation company called Japanese Linguistic Service in Redwood City, California. You are located right on the edge of the so-called Silicon Valley. Furthermore, you frequently travel around the U.S. and to Japan. I'd like to ask you to give your views about the state of the business in various parts of the world and perhaps give advice to the readers about subjects that are of interest to them. But first could you give me a brief history of your company? What is its scope, and what does it specialize in?
A: Japanese Linguistic Service, or JLS as we call it, was established in January, 1977. We have approximately 8 to 10 Japanese-to-English translators who work on a semi-constant basis on technical translation projects. Year-round, we work with a total of 25 Japanese-to-English translators, most of whom work occasionally on small jobs. We have other people who work on other languages too. In addition to the translators, we have technical editors and writers, interpreters, typesetters, graphic artists, word-processing operators, and people who coordinate the translation projects. Our emphasis is translating technical documents in the semiconductor, computer, and electronics fields, but we also work in the medical and pharmaceutical fields, as well as on legal documents. We try to emphasize complete publication services because we have typesetting equipment which typesets Japanese, Chinese and Korean, as well as digital typesetting equipment which handles English and other European languages.
Q: What percentage of the work is interpreting as opposed to translating?
A: The interpreting portion is done on a small scale, approximately 15% to 20% of our entire business.
Q: How often do you travel to Japan?
A: At least once a year. I normally try to be in Japan at the end of November each year. That is the time that people need me in Japan to perform interpreting services at various conferences related to the semiconductor industry.
Q: I understand that you have been looking into the situation in the translation business in Tokyo whenever you are there. From your perspective in the U.S., what differences do you see between the translation business in Japan and in the U.S.?
A: First of all, I think that in Japan public recognition of the importance of translation is far higher than in the U.S. In Japan there seem to be more translation requirements in general, coming from the private sector as well as governmental agencies. In the U.S. people tend to do without getting materials translated if they can avoid it; people here don't seem to value the importance of translation as much as they do in Japan.
Another difference is that in Japan there is a lack of translators capable of turning out good Japanese-to-English translations. Especially at the tech editing level, there seems to be difficulty in finding people in Japan who can edit technical materials after they are translated. The situation has been changing. Recently I have heard that there are more English-speaking people coming and residing in Japan who can turn out good-quality Japanese-to-English translations, but I understand that the number of people who can do that is still limited as compared with the number of qualified people in the U.S.
In Japan I think because there is a higher recognition of the importance of translation, the translation industry is recognized as a "fashionable," modern industry, whereas in the U.S. the translation industry remains more of a cottage industry. Because demand is higher in Japan, Japanese translation companies can afford 5, 10 or more salespeople who go and visit the clients every day. In this country, we simply can't afford to have people who concentrate only on marketing and sales work.
Q: In your experience, if the Japanese companies have sales personnel who are completely separate from the actual translators, does that create any problem about the quality? How do they sell translation if they are not translators themselves?
A: I think it is a problem that depends on the people involved. They have to learn what difficulties are involved in translation and what a reasonable turnaround time would be. They just can't simply bring in an enormous amount of work to get done in one evening. They also have to realize the problems involved in the quality of the work. If certain documents require particular attention in handling technical terms, phrases, or special formats, they have to understand the problems in advance and resolve them with the client before bringing the job back.
Personally I would prefer that someone with translation experience would be involved in getting the orders and discussing the clients' requirements.
Q: Our impression here is that Japanese translation agencies turn out enormous quantities of work from Japanese into English, but that the fees they charge are relatively low and the quality is often very inferior.
A: That is not quite my understanding. I have heard that, in general, the Japanese-to-English translation charges are equivalent to or higher than what U.S. translation companies would charge. Especially when we start to look at the relatively poor quality that they obtain in Japan, and the corresponding amount of work that editors have to put in on their translations, the overall translation charges that the client will be paying for a complete, well-translated publication are less in the U.S. Japanese clients are paying more to translation companies in Japan, and receiving poorer quality, than they would be paying for better-quality work if they came to a U.S. translation company.
A related problem is that Japanese clients often do not know what is good English, and there is no way of their knowing that what they receive from a Japanese translation company is below standard. So far, Japanese clients have tended to give the translation jobs to Japanese translation companies because it was convenient. They thought they were getting a faster turnaround and decent quality since "professionals" worked on it. But this has not always been true.
If we discuss English-to-Japanese translation, the situation would be reversed. I think we can get better quality translation into Japanese in Japan at considerably reduced rates.
Q: What about the quality control problems in the Japanese agencies?
A: I think the Japanese agencies are aware of the problem, and in fact they are starting to come to the U.S. to find capable translators and editors. We have been contacted by several Japanese companies about producing or editing their translations. As a principle, I would be in favor of some sort of co-operative arrangement, but up till now it has been all talk, and nothing specific has been worked out.
Q: What about the output of translators in the U.S.?
A: I think the average output of J-E translators living in the U.S. is generally higher than in Japan.
Q: What advice would you give to J-E translators living in Japan who would like to relocate and move to the U.S.? I am thinking mainly of expatriate Westerners living in Japan.
A: If they would like to relocate, I don't think there is any problem, but I don't think it's going to make much difference whether they live in Japan or elsewhere. In the translation business, only performance counts, so if they are qualified, capable translators we would be always happy to know about them and work with them.
Q: The quantity of work which is available in Japan seems to be much greater than here, and the work is available in Japan in many different fields, such as economics and social sciences as well as purely technical subjects. Some translators in Japan tend to become narrowly specialized in certain fields. Isn't this a disadvantage to them if they want to relocate?
A: Yes, I think so, if they specialize in economics or social sciences, because we have very few requirements in these areas. They could, however, possibly continue to receive assignments from their existing clients by mail from Japan. If that is what they want to do and those are the only fields they are interested in, that would seem to be the only way.
Q: You have traveled widely in the U.S. and have observed the translation industry in various sections of the country. Can you tell us something about different areas as compared with the San Francisco area?
A: I have visited five or six translation companies in Washington, D.C., maybe eight to ten in New York City, a few in New Orleans, and we also co-operate with translation companies in other states. I don't think there is any distinctive difference between the translation companies based on their locations, although the clientele may be slightly different. For example, in Detroit, you may be getting more automobile-related materials. Agencies in Northern California are getting a great deal of electronics materials, whereas in Washington, D.C. and the New York area they may have more commercial, political and financial documents. I have heard that New York agencies tend to charge more than companies in other states, but I can't verify it.
Q: My impression is that, in comparison with other types of industries like manufacturing or computers, the translation industry has very little international co-operation or even contacts. Don't you agree?
A: There may not have been much co-operation between countries, but in the U.S. we still try to help other agencies with jobs in which they don't specialize in and vice versa. Unlike most other translation companies, we happen to have Japanese photo-typesetting equipment in-house, and Japanese typesetting is one area about which other translation companies get inquiries. If they know that they can get it done, they will be able to take the job. For international co-operation be'tween translation companies, not much has been achieved so far because of the problem with mailing. There may be some improvement in the future if facsimile equipment and other means of communication become easily accessible.
People come from Japan and visit us. They ask us to co-operate with them, but the question is how?
Q: What can you tell me about the use of word-processors by translators in both countries?
A: Judging from what I have heard from Japanese translation agencies, more Japanese translators have word processors than translators in the U.S. Translators in the U.S. have recently started to show interest in word processors; they all seem to feel that they would like to get one in the near future. If they are simply talking about a personal computer with a dotmatrix printer and word-processing software, this may not meet the requirements expected for final copy. I have heard that the word processors used by translators in Japan are actually personal computers, and the translation companies have told me that they are receiving translations by communication lines using a modem but I don't know exactly what kind of personal computers they use and how sophisticated the word-processing software is. I am not sure whether they have been indeed saving time and improving quality because there may still be problems with mathematical symbols and certain format requirements which may be difficult to transmit correctly. Also what do they do about paste-ups?
Q: Probably the people in Japan have better access to the latest type of word-processing technology. One company called Future Land has developed both English and Japanese word-processing software for the IBM 5550 computer, so that the same hardware can be used for both languages. This is not easily available to anyone in this country yet, as readers of my newsletter know. Do you have Japanese-language word-processing capabilities in your company?
A: No, what we have is a conventional Japanese typewriter plus a typesetting machine. The Japanese typewriter has very good printing quality which meets publication requirements. We are most anxious to get a Japanese word processor, but at this time I have not yet found a manufacturer who is willing to service equipment installed in the U.S. We are simply afraid to get one because the equipment would become totally inoperative if any problem developed.
Q: Many other companies, research institutions, universities, languge schools and individuals in this country are also interested in buying highly sophisticated Japanese-language word processors. They write to me and ask me about that, but there seems to be no way to convince the manufacturers to bring the equipment here and sell it to the customers!
A: The first thing we should do is to convince a manufacturer to offer technical support service in this country. Everybody should write letters, or perhaps a group of potential purchasers could approach the manufacturer collectively and offer to buy 5 or 6 units. If a number of us are going to work together, we should decide what manufacturer we want to approach.
Q: It should be one which already is exporting computers or printers to this country and which already has a large sales organization throughout the country. Epson has 12 sales organizations in the U.S. with about 500 sales and servicing employees already. NEC, Fujitsu, Hitachi, and so forth.
A: I am very particular about the appearance of the print-out. Of the ones I have seen in the book Waado purosessa no subete Saishinban, I like the Canon Canoword 45S thermal printer using the Gothic type face. I don't like some of the others at all, but it may be unfair to judge by the reproductions in a book. The Canoword 45S sells in Japan for ¥1,298,000 with a thermal printer or ¥l,350,000 with a wire-dot printer.
Q: Some women have told me that they are given unequal treatment in the translation business, especially by Japanese businessmen. On the other hand, some of the Japanese translation agencies are owned by women, and you have your own agency here. What is your opinion about this question?
A: Fortunately, I have not experienced any discriminatory treatment in conducting my translation business either in this country or in Japan. I think the translation industry has comparably more women involved in it than many other industries. Besides, for a translator, I think it makes no difference whether you are a man or a woman, what hours you work, or whether you see the client or not. If some people think that they are discriminated against as women, then my advice would be: don't deal with people who treat you badly. Stay away from them; you will be much happier if you are with people who appreciate your work and don't have any hang-ups about conventional women's roles.
Q: What advice or comments do you have about the newsletter?
A: I always enjoy reading it and I think it has given lots of encouragement to translators who are working independently. I'm always amazed to see how much information you generate every month. You have done extensive research to produce the newsletter, and frankly, I don't see how you find the time to organize so much information. One suggestion to improve your newsletter would be to add more headings within the articles and also to make clearer distinctions between the articles. I also think it would help if more readers would contribute information to the newsletter.
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A FEW WORDS ABOUT SPECIFICS OF PATENT TRANSLATIONS
by Alexander Shkolnik
Patent publications disclose the most advanced technical information, which usually is a few years ahead of the industrial application of the idea. It is possible, on the basis of patent analysis, to predict that there will be a development in one field and a drop in another. Certain knowledge of patent law and practice is required, however, in order to understand the patent literature and to translate it correctly.
In this report I shall try to describe in a simple way those features of patent specifications in general, and Japanese ones in particular, which are the most important from the point of view of their translation.
Each patent consists of three main parts. The first part is a bibliographical one. It occupies the upper portion of the first page and contains information about the patent number, the filing date, the publication date, the applicant, the inventor(s), etc. The volume of this article does not allow me to describe each bibliographical element in detail. It should be noted, however, that this part is standardized in many countries for unification of patent search systems and for automatic processing of the patent information. Therefore, you may find digital indexes attached to bibliographical elements of patents. These indexes are universal and the same in patent specifications of the USA, UK, FRG, USSR, Japan, France, etc. Thus, in English, Japanese, Russian and French patent specifications (72) always corresponds to the inventor, (71) corresponds to the applicant, (21) designates the number of the patent application, (22) is a filing date, etc.
As a result of joint efforts on unification of patent systems, many countries, including the US and Japan, put indexes of the International Patent Classification (Int. Cl.) into the bibliographical part of their patent specifications. Some countries (USSR, FRG) have completely eliminated their own national patent classifications and have gone over entirely to using the International Patent Classification for indexing their patents.
In Japan, contrary to other countries, the number given to a patent document passes through multiple conversions. When an application is filed, it acquires a certain number which starts each year from No. 1. According to a new patent law, all Japanese patent applications are published in the "Kōkai Tokkyo Kōhō" after a certain period of time, irrespective of the request for examination for which a grace period of several years is given. With this publication the application is given a new number which also starts from the beginning each year. The application is now converted into Kōkai (which is, in fact, a laid-open patent application). This means that it is laid open for public inspection, because during a year after the publication any person concerned may submit an opposition to granting a patent and may present any evidence disproving the novelty of the claimed invention. When after a 12-month period the Kōkai withstands the test by disclosure to the public, it is published in Tokkyo Kōhō, given a new number for the third time (again starting from the beginning each year), and is now called a patent publication (Kōkoku). However, do not confuse it with the patent itself, as patents have different numbers which are accumulated from year to year and are composed now from 7 digits. The patent number is usually marked on goods and articles protected by the patent. So do not confuse the patent number with the number of the patent publication, which discloses the subject matter, purpose, and results of the invention, as well as the scope of patent rights claimed by the applicant.
The second part of the patent specification is the description. It consists of several subdivisions, such as "Title of the Invention," "Claims," "Detailed Description of the Invention," "Brief Description of Drawings," "Reference Numerals Used in the Description" and "References Cited by the Examiner."
Translation of all these parts of the description presents no difficulties except the claims, which deserve special consideration.
Claims in Japanese patent specifications are literally called "Scope of Patent Claims," which well reflect their purpose and meaning. This is the most important and legal part of the specification, as it is taken into account in courts in case of litigation. The legal character of claims dictates their specific language, as patent lawyers or agents, who draft these claims, try to broaden their scope by putting this meaning into the words and language of the claims. For example, if someone uses the words "gear wheel" in the claims and the same invention can be reduced into practice by using a "tooth sector" instead of the gear wheel, then the patent can be easily obviated without interfering with its claims. Therefore, it would be appropriate to say "tooth means," which covers both the gear and the sector. For this particular reason, claims contain such vague words as "valve means" and "pumping means" instead of the words "valve" and "pump."
A claim may be as long as several pages, but you have no right to break it up into sentences and to put periods in, no matter how long it is, because from the grammatical point of view a claim is a nominative sentence (like a long and developed title). Therefore, in translation it is better to break it up mentally into segments, to find its structure and translate it like this:
"An apparatus for.....comprising: A.....; B.....; C....., wherein said A is connected with B....., B is parallel to C....., etc."
Though a claim is always a nominative sentence (i.e., one without a verb), it may be presented in various ways. One of the forms of claims in Japanese contains an expression ni oite which corresponds to the words "characterized by" in a German or European-type claim. The part preceding ni oite is called an introductory clause, which contains features known prior to the invention. The second part is called a characterizing part, which contains the novel feature of the invention. Very often, however, especially in the latest issues of patent specifications, the words ni oite are omitted, and the claims are similar to the British version.
Forgive me if some of this information is too sketchy for some of the newsletter's readers, but I would be happy if even a few of you find it new and useful.
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EFFORTS TO EXPORT JAPANESE DATA BASES ARE BEGINNING
An article in the Nihon keizai shimbun (evening edition, January 20, 1984) says that strategies for exporting Japanese-made data bases are at last about to take off. The Japan Information Center of Science and Technology (JICST) and Japan Patent Information Center (JAPATIC) have started "tests" of exporting bibliographic information on Japanese scientific and technical documents and patent information to Europe. The Japan Association for International Chemical Information (JAICI, Kagaku Joohoo Kyookai) has begun to translate into English information about Japanese chemical patents and export it to an American database agency. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is acting positively to support the export of Japanese data bases in an effort to counteract the drastic imbalance between Japanese imports and exports of information.
Japan has about 40 database suppliers, but the only ones engaged in exporting information are the Nihon keizai shimbun and the Quotation Information Center K.K. (QUICK, Shikyoo Joohoo Sentaa), which supply on-line numerical data on economics and stock-market information. No bibliographic information about Japanese documents has been made available on-line to overseas clients thus far.
The Nihon keizai shimbun supplies an information service called NEEDS (Nikkei Economic Electronic Databank System) in cooperation with DRI (Data Resources, Inc.) of the U.S.A. NEEDS contains financial data on about 1600 major Japanese companies through a world-wide time-sharing system, and on about 1720 companies on magnetic tapes and hard copy. The NEEDS data on Japanese corporate finances are said to be the most comprehensive financial data file in Japan.
JICST in December, 1983 established an office in Paris and is planning to begin on-line retrieval service of Japanese bibliographical data on scientific and technical information on a trial basis at an early date. JICST says: "We collect annually more than 400,000 items of information about Japanese scientific and technical articles, but in order to export the data the documents must first be translated into English. We want to begin dealing with this work very soon."
JAPATIC, which is Japan's only data bank dealing with patent information, is planning to start its own full-scale export strategy some time during this year. In September, 1981, JAPATIC successfully carried out a test to retrieve Japanese patent information in English from JAPATIC's center in Tokyo from the Geneva headquarters of WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization).
The JAICI is acting as the Japanese agent for Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. For the past two years, it has been sending CAS English translations of Japanese patent information concerning chemistry. JAICI has supplied 10,000 of the 40,000 items of Japanese chemical patent information possessed by CAS. During the summer of 1983 it began on-line transmission of data to CAS.
The Japan Center for International Finance (Kokusai Kinyu Joohoo Sentaa), an agency specializing in country risk information and other items related to international finances, also will open an office in Washington, D.C. in February and will begin to export Japanese information on international finance to the U.S. as well as importing data from the U.S.
The Nihon keizai shimbun lists the following two factors as the background for this move towards exporting Japanese data bases: (1) The countries of Europe and America are displaying strong interest in Japanese high technology. (2) On-line communications technology has become more easily available, such as VENUS-P, the international data-transmission services offered by KDD (Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co.), the Japanese overseas telephone company.
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AVOIDING PITFALLS
by Donald L. Philippi
Mr. Mori's Pitfalls
In our issue no. 9 we quoted Mr. Toru Mori, who, according to the December, 1983 SWET Newsletter, gave a Japanese-English Translation Workshop. Mr. Mori gave a list of "translation pitfalls to avoid" in economics (see no. 9, p. 11). For example, for the Japanese kooreika shakai he disapproved of the literal translation "aging society" and recommended "aging population." For shuntoo he recommended "spring round of wage negotiations" rather than "spring labor offensive," and for kakoo sangyoo he recommended "fabricating (and assembly) industry" instead of "the processing industry." And so on.
I must admit that I had my own reasons for reproducing Mr. Mori's list in the newsletter. I am quite aware that "pitfalls" are sometimes involved in translating specialized terminology, but I personally felt that Mr. Mori's whole approach was a basically superficial one. My reasoning was that anyone can easily come up with a list of controversial terms and list the wrong translations on one side and (what the writer believes to be) the "correct" translations on the other side of the page. By doing so, the writer may feel that he is solving a problem or making a profound statement, but in reality this is a simplistic approach. It leads us to spend our efforts in sterile arguments about matters of only peripheral importance without getting to the bottom of the issue. Rather than making up dogmatic and subjective lists of "right" and "wrong" translations for certain (admittedly controversial) words, we would be making a much more useful contribution if we focused our attention on the underlying reasons why certain concepts are treated differently in different languages. These reasons might apply both to technical writing and to writing about economics and society.
Reading Mori's list of "pitfalls," a number of readers also seemed to have the same idea. M. Hazelrigg of Sayama-shi, referring to Mori's list, says that "these all seem to me to be ordinary difficulties of vocabulary choice." He continues: "Every culture with its own institutions creates the conditions where there cannot be one-for-one correspondence in any term; further, etymological elements show how a concept is formed, but application and usage are quite independent and arbitrary. (Of course, there are possible pitfalls of the sort that led Colin Wilson to conclude that the ancient Greeks must have been partially color-blind since Homer — a blind poet! — used the term 'tri-colored rainbow!')"
Another reader, Barry D'Andrea of Kobe, Japan, wrote (December 12, 1983) promising us an essay entitled "The Need for Cross-Cultural Tolerance in Technical Translation." According to him, "although the laws of nature and principles of science are universal, the ways of talking about them are not. Translators must be tolerant of cross-cultural differences in ways of talking about the same thing. Science writers in different languages use different systems for classification of units of raw data in their scientific writings. Different language groups use different metaphors to describe phenomena in nature which cannot be observed directly. Translators must be aware that systems of classification of data and the use of metaphors are very much culturally bound."
Mr. Murakami's Pitfalls
Since then, I came upon another discussion of "pitfalls" in translation of economic terms. (I am indebted to M. Hazelrigg for sending me a clipping of the AEN article.) In a column called "Weekly Economic Review" in the Asahi Evening News of January 18, 1984, George Murakami discusses the "opaque and sometimes unreadable translations which often appear in the local English-language press." In his article, he lays down the following simple (simplistic?) rules:
"1. English is English and not, as some translators seem to think, something translated from Japanese."
"2. Don't translate the words; translate the meaning."
"Many translators," he says, "adopt a mechanical approach, translating Japanese words and phrases into what they think are their English equivalents and assembling them into sentences. The result is obscurity."
Murakami gives the following examples. (I am assembling them into a table for readier reference, preserving Murakami's spellings but omitting his comments.)
| Japanese | "Incorrect" Translation | Murakami's Suggestion |
|---|---|---|
| Jumin-zei | Resident's tax | Local income tax |
| Hojin jumin-zei | Resident corporation tax | Local corporation tax |
| Buppin-zei | Commodity tax | Excise |
| Nichigin no madoguchi | Bank of Japan's window | Ceilings on bank loan |
| shido | guidance | volume |
| Ju-yu | Heavy oil | Residual fuel oil |
| Kei-yu | Light oil | Diesel fuel |
| Ko-atsu polyethylene | High-pressure polyethylene | High-density polyethylene |
| Ko-kyu alcohol | High-grade alcohol | High-test alcohol |
Well, I suggest that a cursory examination of this list indicates that almost all of these suggestions are controvertible. Many of Mr. Murakami's choices are different from the equivalents given in specialized, and presumably authoritative dictionaries. However, it would be a waste of time to go into a lengthy analysis of each of these words here. I think that many of you will agree that these also are merely quite ordinary examples of preference or vocabulary choice.
Further on in his article, Murakami goes into the more complex question of how to deal with English words and phrases which are used in Japanese in a different meaning. "Frequent trouble arises," he says, "in cases where English words and phrases in Japanese have a different meaning from the original English. Dictionaries are invaluable tools but they are often of little help here and are sometimes downright misleading.
"Kenkyusha defines deddo-hito as dead heat. It is nothing of the sort. Deddo-hito in Japanese means a close race, dead heat in English means a tie. Yuniku in Japanese means rare or unusual; unique in English means the only one of its kind. Somebody should go after chotto-yuniku with an ax."
Murakami gives the following general rule for dealing with this type of problem: "Take a hard look at the meaning of English words and phrases in Japanese and the original English. The Japanese also have the habit of picking up obscure English words — American business jargon like original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and computerese like on-line and real time with which the average English-speaking reader is unfamiliar or of concocting their own phrases from English words or giving them a different meaning.
"An OEM deal (its use should be avoided)," he continues, "means, in ordinary English, a private label deal. On-line means immediate, openline communication between terminals and a computer; real time means immediate, and should be so translated. Knock-down is a Japanese term applied to exports. In ordinary English, Sears, Roebuck will ship you a lawn mower, knocked down, with handle and wheels detached, and instructions on how to put the things together.
"In Japanese usage, knock-down (KID, or CKD, completely knocked-down) applies to exports of cars and the like shipped in unassembled or kit parts form. This usage is unknown in English.
"Problems come up when Japanese words and their purported English equivalents cover similar but also different areas of meaning or where the English word has connotations not present in the Japanese.
"Joshiki is usually translated as common sense but joshiki has a wider range of application. Common sense in English simply means ordinary good judgment. A translation like 'For a politician to accept political contributions is common sense' sounds queer and a better rendition would be changing common sense to accepted practice or common practice."
Murakami discusses translations of the commonly used Japanese word choosei "Chosei, translated as adjust, is a broad brush stroke word Japanese writers use when they don't bother to be specific. Iken chosei, translated as adjusting opinion, conjures up the comic picture of tightening a few screws here, loosening a few there, on an opinion.
"Ironing out differences or working out a common position might be a better translation. The rule here is that many things said in Japanese simply are not said in English. You can't adjust opinions in English.
"Again, a sentence like 'Japan must adjust relations with the United States' offers problems. You don't adjust relations in English. But what is the meaning here? Better relations? Better or more realistic mutual understanding but with no substantive change? A deal of some kind? The original text is unhelpful. Perhaps you should duck the matter altogether. 'Japan must deal with the problem of relations with the United States.'"
Cultural and Institutional Differences
Mr. Murakami may be quite right in asserting that the Japanese are referring to "ceilings on bank loan volume" when they say Nichigin no madoguchi shidō (This is the general gist of the definition of the term in the 1984 edition of Gendai yoogo no kiso chishiki. However, he may be going a bit too far when he says that "translating Nichigin no madoguchi shido as the Bank of Japan's window guidance is sheer gibberish." (The latter is the definition given in Gendai yoogo no k.c.) Banks and other institutions in every country in the world have their own distinctive practices which are identified by local terminologies, and such peculiar terms often find their way into the business press in other countries and languages. A word like "madoguchi" has a clear-cut, although culturally bound meaning. Another dictionary (Toyo Keizai Shimpo Sha, New Japanese-English dictionary of economic terms) defines madoguchikisei as "selective loans; window operation (guidance) ." As translators, are we not bound to a certain degree to respect dictionary definitions which have gained a certain degree of currency in the literature? How are we to defend ourselves against accusations of writing "sheer gibberish" if we chose to follow an accepted dictionary definition?
Similar examples might be cited in other countries. If we are talking about a certain type of loan in Britain, we are quite justified in calling it a "lombard loan" in our translations even though the term may be unfamiliar to the average American or Japanese man on the street. If we happen to be translating a job which refers to an OEM deal between a Japanese manufacturer of computer keyboards and an American manufacturer of office equipment, why should we not retain the word OEM? This abbreviation is frequently used in the U.S., at least in the business and trade press, and the English-language Japan Economic Journal uses it constantly. If we went out of our way and paraphrased an OEM deal as a "private label deal" (just to please Mr. Murakami), would we not be implying that we had a low opinion of our readers' familiarity with the terminology in their own specialized field? Maybe the readers should be introduced to the term if they don't already know it?
If we take Barry D'Andrea's thesis about different classification systems in different languages and expand it to the social sciences, we must inevitably conclude that terminologies are heavily determined by cultural and institutional differences. My question is this: How exact will our translation be if we take a Japanese term for a distinctive Japanese bank practice and insist on translating it with an English term applied to a similar practice of the FRB with which we think our readers will be familiar? Should we not rather adopt a distinctive Japanese term for a Japanese practice and supply some elucidation about the similarities with (and differences from) practices in other countries?
I am not particularly bothered by criticisms which hold that English tranlations are defective if they contain terms which are not immediately understandable to the average English-speaking reader, especially if the terms refer to institutions, practices and concepts which have no exact equivalents in English. What are we trying to do, anyway? Are we trying to make an accurate, adequate translation, or do we want to give a watered-down paraphrase aimed at readers with a limited understanding of the subject matter? A technical translator is addressing specialist readers, not sixth graders. It would be a far greater error, I think, to gloss over the real differences and give a watered-down English translation which might obscure the real meaning.
Words for distinctive, culturally-bound phenomena can often be introduced in a translation in their original forms. Eventually, as the phenomena become better understood (thanks to the efforts of generations of translators and writers), the original words themselves will become common knowledge, as we can see in cases like sumo, sushi, haiku, and kabuki. If the Japanese use English-derived words in a manner unique to themselves, we translators can introduce these words into common use, perhaps enclosing them in quotation marks (MITI's "visions", or the Bank of Japan's "window guidance"), and launch them on a lexicographical career of their own.
* * *
HOW JAPANESE WRITERS AND INTELLECTUALS ARE RELATING TO WORD PROCESSORS
Japanese-language word processors, which have been making inroads in business enterprises under the slogan of "Office Automation," have also been attracting the attention of Japanese writers and intellectuals, who are starting to make use of them for their own creative purposes. The Nihon keizai shimbun (January 21, 1984) devotes some articles to how and why they are using them.
Novelist Miura Shumon has been using a word processor since April, 1983. He decided to start using one because his handwriting was so difficult to decipher that it was constantly causing trouble for the typesetters at his publishers and the newspapers for which he writes.
Other writers who have adopted Japanese word processors include novelists such as Sono Ayako, Komatsu Sakyoo, Nada Inada and Mita Masahiro, and critics such as Hagi Akihiro and Kida Jun'ichiroo.
Novelist Miura says that his hands do not become tired when he uses a word processor, and the inputting speed can be increased with practice. When he wrote manuscripts by hand, his usual speed was about 4-5 pages (of 400 characters each) an hour. With a word processor, he is able to produce at least 6 pages an hour. The manuscripts are nicely printed out, and he is no longer bothered by inquiries from his typesetters.
Critic Kida Jun'ichiroo has been using a word processor for about one year. He says that since much of the drudgery is eliminated from writing, he is able to concentrate more on the intellectual tasks of developing his concepts and polishing his expressions.
Both Miura and Kida point out some drawbacks of word processors. When a writer needs to go back and re-read a previous page, he cannot leaf through the manuscript and find the needed place immediately. There are also restrictions on the kanji which can be printed out. The biggest problem, they both agree, is that one no longer needs to memorize the kanji. When making selections of homophonic kanji combinations on the screen, the operator must really understand the meanings of the various possible combinations, and in this sense word processors might be unsuitable for younger persons.
Other critics, novelists and composers use personal computers to make files of data they use in their work. Miura Shumon and his wife Sono Ayako both keep data files about subjects used in novels.
On the other hand, some Japanese writers reject word processors. Novelist Minakami Tsutomu says that he has never used a word processor, although he realizes that it would be a convenient tool and would save much trouble for publishers and editors. He thinks that writing by hand is necessary for him in order to express the subtle nuances of human psychology, scenery, or the passage of time. A writer has his own individual rhythm of writing. Without that rhythm, Minakami says he would be unable to write anything capable of arousing a reader's emotion. He is used to filling up squares on a page, he says. He feels a vague sense of uneasiness about a machine which will produce characters on a screen after certain keys have been pressed. He also feels the same about mathematical calculations performed on an electronic calculator; he prefers to work out the calculations on paper. He will continue to write his manuscripts lovingly with a fountain pen, character by character, until such time as the publishers or newspapers demand that their writers use word processors.
An assistant professor at Osaka University called Hamaguchi has been using a word processor for about a year and a half. He agrees that it is an extremely useful tool for persons engaged in intellectual production, although he points out that it is still really too expensive for ordinary people to buy and use at home.
The word processor is "an epoch-making invention for Japanese culture," he states. The role played by the typewriter in Western societies was indeed immense, but the word processor is an information processor with intellectual functions far exceeding those of the typewriter. Kanji are charged with much more information than phonetic letters like the alphabet, and Japanese writing using a combination of kanji and kana is an extremely efficient, information-laden system of writing. But if it must be written by hand, great limitations are imposed on the processing of documents. Much time and labor goes into recopying, and in many cases a Japanese typist has to be used. These difficulties have been solved all at once by the word processor. The word processor is sure to have an incredible impact on the development of culture. Problems have been pointed out, says Hamaguchi. For example, some newspaper reporters criticize word processors and say that they cannot be used for really professional writing, and other learned persons complain that automatic kana-kanji conversion leads people to use too many kanji as compared with the amount used in hand-writing. On the other hand, reliance on the handy automatic conversion system may lead some people to forget the kanji when they need to recall them.
A little-known advantage of the word processor, says Hamaguchi, is that one can write down good ideas and phrases immediately as they occur. There is little difference between one's thinking speed and the speed with which one can write down one's thoughts. This is especially advantageous in a system like the Japanese script which uses many kanji. The word processor may be considered to be a primitive form of the futuristic Fifth Generation computer, which will be endowed with artificial intelligence. It truly has a limitless future, concludes Hamaguchi.
* * *
AN INEXPENSIVE ENGLISH WORD PROCESSING SYSTEM
by Paula Doe, Berkeley, California
I've been enjoying your newsletter, and have especially found your excerpts from the Japanese press on developments in the computer industry very useful.
I'd like to share with your readers my experience with English word processing systems. I am entirely satisfied with the very primitive and inexpensive system I use — a Heathkit H-89 computer ($1000), an Integral Data Systems Microprism 480 printer ($400-500), and Vised and Tproc software from the Software Subscription ($30). Admittedly this system was much more of a bargain several years ago when I acquired it, but it is still at least $500 less than the Kaypro, the nearest competition I know of.
The Heathkit computer is the basic Zenith computer. Zenith has won a number of big government personal computer contracts lately on its price/ performance, but the company hasn't been able to afford much advertising so they remain among the unknowns. Heathkit sells the Zenith computer either as a kit or assembled. The kit requires soldering but goes together very easily in about 30 hours. The instructions are a model of clarity that all computer documentation writers should be made to study. The machine is also frequently available used through Heathkit store bulletin boards and newsletters, from computer hobbyists trading up.
I occasionally look at brand-name software to see what I'm missing, and as far as I can tell they might save me four or five keystrokes a day, but that's about all. The Software Subscription software is modeled on the University of California Unix-based text processing system, and offers both a logical, easy-to-learn way to do everything, and quicky shortcuts that save keystrokes once you get used to the system. It allows either complicated formating with commands, or simple "print just as it appears on the screen" with standard margins and page breaks.
Now this is a very primitive system, as today's technology goes 48K, 8 bit, 1 disk drive. It is a little awkward to do documents longer than about 25 pages at a time, because you have to change disks. Nor is it easy to do bottom-of-the-page footnotes. It won't do mathematical formulas or Greek letters, and you can't retrieve sections if you delete them by mistake.
However, it does everything I need it to do perfectly well. I'm basically a journalist and a researcher, not a translator, so my needs are probably a little different than most of yours. I mostly just write 5 to 10 page stories and reports in plain English, and I find absolutely no need for more memory, another disk drive, or software that does more esoteric things. Heathkit is supported by a group of computer hobbyists who write software and sell it cheaply to each other, and who will often supply help or even instruction for custom adjustments to their programs. And it's about the cheapest plain meat-and-potatoes word processing you can get.
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SARAKIN: Financing for White Collar Workers ("Loan Sharks" in the Vernacular)
by Frederik Schodt
Sarakin is a typical word in the modern Japanese lexical jungle, in that it is a contraction of a phrase, Sarariiman Kinyu which is itself comprised of an English-derived "salaried man" (read "white collar worker") and the Japanese term for "finance" (kinyu). But it brings to mind far more than a boring "financing for white collar workers." In recent years sarakin is most likely to be mentioned on the page of Japanese newspapers normally reserved for accounts of extortion, suicides, murders, and assorted personal disasters.
Save for an occasional embarrassed foray into a pawn shop, most Japanese have historically purchased items with the savings they have on hand, but as Japan's economy has exploded into a consumer's paradise in recent years, credit cards, installment buying plans, and regular bank loans have all become commonplace. Still, young salaried workers, and others on relatively low incomes have sometimes found themselves strapped for quick cash (whether for a marriage ceremony, educating the children, or a weekend of gambling) and unable to qualify for a loan from a conventional source. Sarakin is a uniquely Japanese type of consumer financing that has grown through the cracks of the established finance industry.
If a person is gainfully employed and has no record of debt defaults, he or she can go into a sarakin office and, after presenting a health insurance certificate or driver's license, walk out with a loan of around $2000 ($13,000 if a home owner) in less than thirty minutes. Unlike other financial institutions, sarakin companies will not require any collateral or guarantors, nor will they ask what the money is to be used for. The transaction will be kept an absolute secret from employers and spouses (this is a highly attractive feature for men in a land where wives normally control the pocketbook). It is a personalized system relying on trust and the basic stability of Japanese society. The sarakin employee must ascertain a client's ability to repay a loan on the basis of his character, his occupation, his disposable income. For the company, the bigger the loan, the better, but if a client is allowed to borrow too much money, he will default, and the goose that lays the golden eggs will have been killed.
The "golden eggs" in this case are the interest payments. On the average they are around 50%, but smaller companies with less capital may charge up to 75%, even 100% per annum. Although such interest rates evoke images of slavery in the West, and would invite punishment in the Mideast, in Japan they have become an issue primarily when people default on their loans, and, as is too often the case, shoplift, rob banks, or kill themselves and their families in desperation. Several smaller sarakin firms, moreover, have been linked to the underworld, arid are known to use unsavory methods in collecting overdue debts.
While the sarakin problem in Japan today may reflect society's rampant materialism, it also symbolizes how important personal relations and trust still are. In many countries, loaning money with as few conditions as sarakin would be unthinkable, no matter how high the interest.
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UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD OFFERS COURSE
The University of Sheffield has a Centre of Japanese Studies which offers a Reading Course in Scientific & Technical Japanese. The course requires no previous knowledge of the language and is said to lead to independent translating ability. The course can be taken as either a full-time residential course (seven weeks), a part-time residential course, or a correspondence course. The course is available continuously between October and June. For details contact:
Mary Gillender, Centre for Japanese Studies
Sheffield University,
Sheffield, U.K. S10 2TN
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INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MACHINE TRANSLATION
An international conference on machine translation methodology and techniques was to be held February 13–15 in England. The conference was organized by Cranfield Institute of Technology (CIT) in conjunction with the Natural Language Translation Specialist Group of the British Computer Society. Among the speakers were scheduled two Japanese professors, Prof. Nagao and Prof. Nakamura, who were scheduled to speak on Kyoto University's GRADE software for grammar. Language monthly, Jan. 1984, p. 10.
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BRAVICE AND WEIDNER FORM COMMUNICATIONS TIE-UP FOR TRANSLATION, MOVE TO EXPORT TRANSLATION SYSTEMS
Bravice International of Tokyo recently began to use international communication lines for exchanging data about its joint translation operations with its affiliate company in Chicago, Weidner Communications Corporation. Both Bravice and Weidner are engaged in computerized translation work. They intend to share translation jobs with each other and to aim at increased efficiency by making use of each other's computers during offtime. The two companies will utilize the VENUS-P system (the "packet exchange" system) of the Japanese KDD and the American TYMNET service to exchange data between them. The data exchanged will concern translation jobs accepted by both companies and software for the translation systems which they plan to develop jointly in the future. The "packet exchange" system is a system in which data is transmitted by breaking it down into small signal units called "packets." If 9600 bits per second can be transmitted, one letter-size page (A4) can be sent at a cost of about ¥70 (about 30¢). (Nikkei sangyō shimbun, January 26, 1984)
In another development, Bravice and Weidner have embarked jointly on an effort to export their "translation systems." Inquiries have already been received from a Saudi Arabian electronics trading firm and a Tunisian semi-governmental agency; full-scale negotiations will soon begin and are expected to be concluded as early as spring of this year. The systems in question are two-way translation systems for English, French and Arabic. VAX-11 minicomputers (DEC) are used as the host computers. The systems themselves were developed by Weidner, but improvements of the French-Arabic translation system will be necessary to meet the users' specifications. Bravice believes that the two systems amount to some $3,500,000. (Nikkei sangyō shimbun January 28, 1984)
* * *
EPSON SON OF EP
We bave mentioned the name Epson in previous issues, but do you know who manufactures the Epson computers and printers and the etymology of the word "Epson" itself? You might be interested in the illustrated article about the Epson company on pages 138–167 of the February, 1984 issue of the Japanese magazine Common Sense (published by Kyoikusha). I obtained some of the information below from that article.
Epson is a company belonging to the Seiko group, which manufactures and sells the world-famous Seiko watches. The Seiko group centers around K. Hattori & Co., Ltd. (Hattori Tokeiten K.K., more recently called Hattori Seiko), which is in charge of sales for the Seiko group. The products are manufactured by three companies: the Seikosha, the Seiko Denshi Kogyo (formerly called the Daini Seikosha) and the Suwa Seikosha (located in Suwashi, Nagano-ken, founded in 1942). The company manufacturing the Epson prirters and computers was founded in 1961 as the Shinshu Seiki K.K., a subsidiary of Suwa Seikosha. In November, 1969, the company began manufacturing its mini-printer called the EP-101 (EP standing for Electric Printer), and in July, 1982 the company's name was changed from Shinshu Seiki K.K. to Epson K.K.
As to the etymology of the word "Epson," you would be forgiven if you assumed it to be the name of a Mr. Epson. However, according to the article in Common Sense it means "Son of EP," that is the son of the EP-101. The hassoohoo is rather similar to that followed in naming Datsun, which was derived from "son" or "sun" of DAT.
I saw an article in the January 9, 1984 issue of the Nikkei sangyō shimbun which said that Epson is planning to begin to manufacture printers and personal computers in the United States. Some time this year the company will locate a site and construct a plant. The American plant will first manufacture printers, then personal computers and handheld computers.
The move is aimed at counteracting anticipated trade friction between Japan and the U.S. in this field. Epson is the leading Japanese manufacturer of printers, turning out more than 10,000 units a month. 60% of its output of printers is being exported to the U.S., and for this reason Epson has been planning for some time to begin operations in the U.S. Epson has already established a subsidiary in France for the same purpose and will begin knock-down production this summer in that country.
Epson already has a U.S. sales company called Epson America and 12 sales subsidiaries. The number of American employees exceeds 500.
Incidentally, Epson has announced that it will develop an upgraded version of its 8-bit personal computer, to be called the QC-lOII, and will market it beginning in February. The QC-10II will come equipped with a Japanese dictionary housed in five ROM cards, making possible kana-kanji conversion on the bunsetsu level for all programs. The new unit will cost ¥795,000 and up, including printer and software. (Nikkan kōgyō shimbun, January 27, 1984)
* * *
IBM JAPAN TO EXPORT 5550
According to the Nikkei sangyō shimbun (January 28, 1984), IBM Japan has now begun to export its IBM Multistation 5550 to Taiwan. The units are equipped with newly developed Chinese-language software (see report in our last issue, no. 11, p. 19–20). The Taiwan IBM branch company expects to seel several thousand units annually in Taiwan.
The hardware is identical with the 5550 sold in Japan, but the software was modified to suit Chinese specifications at IBM Japan's Fujisawa Research Institute. The IBM product is expected to pose a challenge to the, Chinese word-processors made by Wang Laboratories of the U.S. for a share of the Taiwan OA market.
IBM Japan has also received numerous inquiries about the 5550 from South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore, and IBM Japan has begun studying the development of software for Hong Kong (Cantonese) and Korean. There are also plans to export the 5550, equipped with English-language software, to the United States in the future. IBM Japan intends to request Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., the company manufacturing the display and memory devices for the 5550, to increase its production of these units to meet the increasing Japanese and overseas demand for the 5550.
* * *
BILINGUAL WORD-PROCESSING FOR IBM 5550
A Tokyo company called Future Land (Ginza 4-9-13, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104) has developed English-language word processing software for the IBM Multistation 5550. The software is called F/L Writer and costs ¥98,000. The software operates with the IBM Multistation 5550B type with 256 kB and two diskette drives. The same company also offers Japanese-language word-processing software called F/L Hoobun (¥68,000).
* * *
KOREAN-LANGUAGE WORD PROCESSOR
An Osaka software house called Koodensha has announced that it has marketed a trilingual word processor capable of processing texts containing Korean, Japanese and English text. The word processor, called "My Letter Kankokugo," uses an NEC PC9801 computer and lists for ¥1,200,000 ($5,128 at a recent exchange rate) including display and printer. The software alone can be bought for ¥200,000 ($854). (Nikkei sangyō shimbun January 27, 1984)
* * *
JAPANESE VERSION OF MACINTOSH IS IN THE WORKS
Apple Computer Japan Inc. has announced that the Macintosh, the new 32-bit personal computer, will become available in Japan in late March. It will cost about ¥690,000. The Japanese branch of Apple is working on a Japanese-language version of the operating system for Macintosh, and a Macintosh with Japanese-language word-processing capability will become available in the fall. The Japanese Apple organization hopes to market 10,000 units in the first year after the Japanese version becomes available, and sales are expected to increase to 30,000 units in the third year. (Japan Economic Journal, January 31, 1984)
* * *
"THINGS ARE BAD ALL OVER" DEPARTMENT
An article from the Nihon keizai shimbun January 27, 1984 (evening edition):
* * *
ALPHABET SOUP AND ALPHABET INDUSTRIES
One of the "10 big news" stories noted by the Nikkei sangyō shimbun for 1983 was the fact that Japanese business has entered the "5A era." What, you ask, are the 5 A's? The five A's are: FA (factory automation), OA (office automation), SA (store automation), BA (bank automation) and LA (laboratory automation). If you add HA (home automation), you will come out with the "6A era." (Nikkei sangyō shimbun Dec. 27, 1983).
Here are some other alphabet-soup abbreviations encountered in recent Japanese publications.
EB is used in Japan for "electronic banking." F is "firm banking" (a wasei eigo abbreviation referring to electronic banking service aimed at enterprises, as opposed to "home banking," which is aimed at consumers). In America there is something similar called CMS (cash management service). CMA is a "cash management account."
SE is "systems engineer."
INS stands for Information Network System, but some Japanese, tired of the ceaseless propaganda from the NTT, have been suggesting their own humorous etymologies: "Ittai, Nani wo, Suru no deshoo." Or, "Ittai, Nan da ka, Sappari wakaranai." The international abbreviation for INS is said to be ISDN, which stands for Integrated Services Digital Network.
In order to develop the economy of the Nagoya area, "alphabet industries are necessary." So says Mr. Keiichi Kawakatsu, president of the Tōkai Kōun Kyōkai. What is his recipe for industrial alphabet soup? Mr. Kawakatsu lists six such industries, corresponding to the first six letters of the alphabet. A is automation; B is biotechnology; C is ceramics; D is data processors; E is electronics; and F is fine chemicals. (Nikkan kōgyō shimbun, January 12, 1984)
* * *
TELETOPIA
The Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has been formulating a project called the "Teletopia Concept" (teretopia koosoo) a sort of "communication utopia." Another name for it is the Futuristic Communication Model Cities Concept (mirai-gata komyunikeeshon moderu toshi koo soo). About ten Japanese cities will be designated, and communications infrastructures anticipating the information society of the future (koodo joohooka shakai) will be built in them so that various types of "new media" can be disseminated in them. (Nikkan kōgyō shimbun, January 14, 1984)
* * *
NEW DICTIONARIES
The Nihon keizai shimbun Sha has just published a 1984 edition of its dictionary of new economics terms, Keizai shingo jiten. The dictionary has 4,500 words and costs ¥1,500.
There is a dictionary of about 600 words connected with electronic banking. It, is called Erekutorobankingu yoogoshuu has 344 pages, and costs ¥1,800. The publisher is Ginkoo Kenshuu Sha (Kita-Ohtsuka 3-10-5, Toshima-ku, Tokyo).
Kyoikusha published on January 25 its Nihon arumanakku, a 1780-page book containing one million pieces of data about all aspects of Japan. ¥5,000. A desirable feature of the almanac is its 320 pages of colored maps. The almanac appears to be especially valuable as a source for-census and statistical information about Japan and each of the Japanese prefectures. Kyoikusha is the publisher of the magazines Newton and Common Sense noted for their high-quality color graphics.
* * *
E-C-J AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY DICTIONARIES
The Noorin Tookei Kyookai has published two English-Chinese-Japanese dictionaries, one of agricultural science and technology, the other of forestry terms. They appear to be Japanese editions of Chinese dictionaries. It is unclear whether the dictionaries have Japanese indices. Here is an advertisement (I'm putting it in sideways to save space):
* * *
TEXTILE DICTIONARIES
Linda Moffett of Denver, Colorado writes: "I was wondering if you might ask your readers if they know of any good textile terms dictionaries. I find some of the terminology I need in Kenkyusha's big dictionary and Rigaku Jiten, but not all of them."
The best source for textile terms, I think, is the JIS yoogoshuu published by the Japanese Standards Association (Nihon Kikaku Kyookai). One of the volumes of the Yoogoshuu is devoted to "Chemistry and Fibers" (Kagaku-sen'i hen) The edition I have, dated 1967, has a large number of pages (pp. 247–434) devoted exclusively to textiles (JIS standards numbers L0204, L0205, L0209, L0206, L0210, L0207, L0211, L0212, L0208 and L0201). The Japanese term, its reading, its definition (in Japanese), and an English equivalent are given for each term, and at the end of the volume there are indexes of the Japanese and English termss. No doubt this volume has come out since then in a newer edition and is surely in print.
However, all of these terms and their Japanese definitions have been incorporated, with many others from other fields, in the one-volume JIS koogyoo yoogo daijiten also published by the Japanese Standards Association in 1982. It has an English index and sells for 22,000 (it was reviewed in no. 1 of this newsletter). Remember, this is a large fullscale dictionary containing the definitions of 46,000 words all approved by the JIS.
If you need only the Japanese words and their English equivalents (without the definitions) you can find all of them also in the Inter Press Dictionary of Science and Engineering (reviewed in no. 2, p. 3–5). If you can afford to buy that, it will surely be useful to you also in many other fields besides textiles.
I also have two all-English dictionaries which you might find useful. One is Dictionary of dyeing and textile printing by H. Blackshaw and B. Brightman (London, George Newnes Ltd., 1961). The other is Textile terms and definitions, 7th ed., Manchester, The Textile Institute, 1975. Both of these come from England but should be available in some libraries, or perhaps could be ordered.
Do other readers have any additional information?
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DICTIONARIES FOR SALE
Richard Patner has duplicates of two dictionaries: New Japanese-English Dictionary of Economic Terms by Toyo Keizai Shinpo Sha 1977, 4200 yen; and Dictionary of Mechanical Engineering (Jap-Eng-Ger) by Omu-sha, 6000 yen. He would sell tham at 200 yen/dollar plus postage if someone is interested. (See his address in Directory, below in this issue.)
* * *
気になる単語のいろいろ
オクション。 億ションともいう。分譲価格が1億円を超えるマンションの通称。大衆向けと違い、住宅設備に世界の一流ブランド商品を取りつけているのが特徴。東京都心部の高級住宅地である程度の広さを持つマンションは地価が高いため、どうしてもオクションになる。首都圏で昭和57年中に供給されたオクションは20物件にのばり、その大半は港、渋 谷両区に集中していた。（日経ハイテク辞典より）
Uターン。 主に地方出身の学生が東京、大阪の都会いったん就職、再び郷里に戻って就職する現象をいう。郷里に戻らず、都会からの途中の地方中核都市に就職するケースをJターンと呼ぶ。 （’83産業用語事典より）
パナマックス船。 パナマ運河を通行できる最大の船型のこと。その幅は三十ニメートル。重量トンで約七万トン程度の船で、それより大きい船は通行できないため生まれた呼び方。 （’83産業用語事典より）
リスケ。 リスケジュール（債務の返済操り延べ）を略した和製英語。元来、リスケジュールとは、債務返済不能に陥った債務者を救済するため、当初の返済期間を繰り延べることを意味する。1960年代から70年代にかけて、公的機関を中心に行われた多国間債務交渉で、もっともよく使われた債務救済措置であったため、債務再交渉全般を指す言葉としても使われるようになった。英語では、リストラクチャー（restructure）という言葉も用いられる。 （コモンセンス誌、1984年2月号より）
* * *
A LIST OF TECHNICAL DICTIONARIES
The following is a list of technical dictionaries published in Bessatsu The English Journal Erekutoronikusu jidai no eigo (September,
1982), pp. 161-163. It was kindly sent in by Bernard Susser of Kyoto:
* * *
GLOSSARY OF MEDICAL TERMS
Going through my files, I picked out some words from medicine and allied fields and made up a glossary. I tried to pick words which you were likely to find in few (or no) dictionaries, which were illustrative of some principle or other, and/or which had some feature which was striking or unexpected.
| 異化物質 | catabolite |
| 異化物抑制 | catabolite repression |
| 一回換気量 | tidal volume |
| 易熱性 | thermolability |
| 易熱性毒素 | heat-labile toxin |
| 過角化 | hyperkeratosis |
| 核磁気共鳴コンピュータ断層撮影装置 | NMR-CT (nuclear magnetic resonance computed tomography) |
| 鎌状赤血球貧血 | sickle cell anemia |
| 過免疫する | hyperimmunize |
| 肝癌 | hepatoma |
| 冠状拡張剤 | coronary dilator |
| 陥入 | invagination |
| 感作 | sensitization |
| 感作原性 | sensitinogenicity |
| 感作血球凝集反応 | passive hemagglutination reaction |
| 肝糖新生 | hepatic gluconeogenesis |
| 活性調節機構 | mechanism for allosteric regulation |
| 下垂体放出因子 | corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) |
| 経皮吸収 | percutaneous absorption |
| 血清阻止能 | serum blocking power |
| 血清淡泊結合 | serum protein binding |
| 血栓形成 | thrombogenesis |
| 血糖降下剤 | hypoglycemic agent |
| 気導一骨導差 | air-bone gap |
| 起炎菌 | pathogen |
| 起炎性刺激 | phlogistic stimulation |
| 筋原線維タンパク合成 | myofibrillar protein synthesis |
| 近位尿細管 | proximal tubules of kidney |
| 気悩写（悩室撮影法） | pneunioventriculography, ventriculography |
| 菌体 | cell, cell envelope |
| 菌体成分 | cell components |
| 筋弛緩タンパク | muscle relaxing protein |
| 既往現象 | anamnestic phenomenon (microbiology) |
| 気質 | substrate (microbiology) |
| 基質類似物質 | quasi-substrate |
| 基質特巣性 | substrate specificity |
| 基底膜 | basement membrane |
| キチン分解活性 | chitinolytic activities |
| 降圧利尿剤 | hypotensive diuretic |
| 降圧作用 | antihypertensive effects |
| 降圧剤 | hypotensor |
| 高度好熱菌 | extreme thermophile |
| 抗炎症薬 | anti-inflammatory agent, antiphiogistic |
| 抗癌剤 | anticancer agent |
| 抗肥満剤 | antiobesity drug |
| 向活性域試薬 | active site-directed reagent |
| 抗血栓剤 | antithrombotic drug |
| 高血圧自然発症ラット | spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) |
| 抗コリン性副作用 | anticholinergic effects |
| 好熱性株 | (facultatively) thennophilic strain (of bacillus) |
| 抗利尿ホルモン | antidiuretic hormone (ADH) |
| コルヒチン結合タンパク質 | coichicine-binding protein |
| 向精神薬 | psychotropic drug |
| 高脂血症 | hyperlipemia |
| 鼓室形成術 | tympanoplasty |
| 枯草菌 | Bacillus subtilis |
| 抗吐剤 | antiemetic |
| 骨髄抑制作用 | myelosuppression |
| 抗鬱剤 | antidepressant |
| くも膜 | arachnoidea |
| 胸骨核 | sternebra |
| 協力作用 | synergism |
| 協力剤 | synergist |
| 胸線由来細胞 | thymus dependent cell |
| 求核試薬 | nucleophilic reagent |
| 求心性線維 | afferent (centripetal) fiber |
| 末梢血管拡張剤 | peripheral vasodilator |
| 免疫抑制剤 | iininunosuppress ive agent |
| ミセル形成臨界濃度 | critical micelle concentration (CMC) |
| ムコ多糖類 | mucopo lysaccharides |
| 無髄神経線維束 | bundle of unmyelinated nerve fibers |
| 内皮細胞 | endothelial cells |
| 内装生理処理用品 | intravaginal tampons for menstrual hygiene |
| 粘液分解剤 | mucolytic |
| 日内リズム | circadian rhythm |
| 二重盲検臨床試壌 | double blind clinical trial |
| 脳内在性アミン | endogenous brain amines |
| 尿細管腎症 | tubulopathy |
| 尿酸排せつ促進剤 | uricosuric |
| 尿素（性）窒素 | blood urea nitrogen (BUN) |
| 黄色ブドウ球菌 | Staphylococcus aureus |
| 卵管溜膿腫 | pyosalpinx |
| 立毛 | piloerection |
| 類洞 | sinusoids (?) |
| 緑膿菌 | Pseudomonas aeruginosa |
| 緑色レンサ球菌 | Streptococcus viridans |
| 細胞質多角体病ウイルス | cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus |
| 催寄生 | teratogenic effects |
| さく酸ダーリア押し潰し法 | acetic-dahlia squash technique |
| 生物学的応答変換物質 | biological response modifier (BRM) |
| 青斑 | locus ceruleus (LC) |
| 生検 | biopsy |
| 静菌剤 | bacteriostat |
| 正向反射 | righting reflex |
| 生体膜 | biomembrane |
| 生体模擬来 | biomimetic system |
| 生体適合性材料 | biocompatible material |
| 清澄因子 | clearing factor lipase (CFL) |
| 正中隆起 | median eminence |
| 赤血球生成剤 | erythropoietic drug |
| 赤血球凝集素 | hemagglutinin (HA) |
| 赤血球沈降速度（赤沈値） | erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) |
| 腺房 | acinus |
| 染色糸 | chromonema |
| 接種菌量 | inoculum size |
| 資化 | assimilation (microbiology) |
| 糸球体ろ過量 | glomerular filtration rate (GFR) |
| 斜切開 | loxotic incision |
| 小気管支 | bronchiole |
| 植物性血球凝集素 | phytohemagglutiri, plant agglutin, lectin |
| 植物性細胞分裂促進因子 | phytoinitogen |
| 出血因子 | hemorrhagic factor |
| 宿主経由法 | host mediated assay |
| 収縮物質 | spasmogen |
| 腫よう壊死因子 | tumor necrosis factor (TNF) |
| 多発神経症 | polyneuropathy |
| 体内動態 | metabolic fate |
| 多感覚的収れん | multisensory convergence |
| 耐熱性αアミラーゼ | thermostable alpha-amylase |
| 代謝回転 | turnover |
| 端部動原線型染色体 | telocentric chromosome |
| 単核白血球（＝単球、単核細胞） | monocyte |
| タンパク分解酵素 | proteinase |
| 蛋白結合 | protein binding |
| 蛋白結合抗原 | protein-binding antigen |
| タンパク質分解酵素 | proteolytic enzyme |
| 多剤耐性大腸菌 | multiple drug resistant strains of E. coli |
| 転移巣 | metastatic focus |
| 鉄沈着 | hemosiderosis |
| 窒素血症 | azoteinia |
| トルラ酵母 | Torulopsis utilis |
| 糖新生 | gluconeogenesis |
| 捻転移反応 | transglycosylation reaction |
| 糖転移作用 | transglycosylation |
| 突然変異誘発物質 | mutagen |
| 直鎖状基質 | linear substrate |
| 中脳一辺縁路 | ineso-limbic tract |
| 中脳一皮質路 | meso-cortical tract |
| 中心粒 | centriole |
| 中枢抑制剤 | central nervous system depressant |
| 中腸線 | hepatopancreas (?) |
| ウイルス核酸 | viral nucleic acid |
| 薬研（やげん） | crusher |
| 薬物動態 | pharmacokirietics, phannacodynamics |
| 溶血性レンサ球菌 | Streptococcus hemolyticus |
| 浴菌酸素 | bacteriolytic enzyme |
| 浴連歯感染症 | Streptococcus infection (hemolytic?) |
| 有効成分 | active ingredient (A.I.) |
| 遊走阻止因子 | migration inhibitory factor |
| 漸増反応 | recruiting response |
| 腎血しょう流量 | renal plasma flow (RPF) |
| 仁期 | nucleolus stage |
| 臓器垂量体重比 | organ-body weight ratio |
| 増強反応 | augmenting response |
| ズーグレア菌 | Zoogloea |
| 常染色体 | autosome |
| 除神経 | denervation |
* * *
GLOSSARY OF CHEMICAL TERMS
This is the fourth part of a glossary of terms on chemistry and allied fields contributed by D.A. Fraser, 22 Gresley Road, London, N19 33Z. (See No. 9, p. 16-17 for my introductory comments.) Mr. Fraser will be glad to have your corrections or confirmations.
| ri-fingu | leafing |
| rigunamubaita | lignum vitae, guaiac |
| rikeisei | mould release property |
| rihu hiruta | leaf filter |
| rindora syokubai | Lindlar catalyst |
| rireki | hysteresis |
| rinuron | linuron (herbicide) |
| rissoku katei | rate-determining process |
| rittai kisokuse | stereoregularity |
| rō kami | waxed paper |
| rōeiryū | leakage flow (plastics man.) |
| rōka | deterioration |
| rokai | filtration residue |
| rōbō | age resister (abbrev.) |
| rokasuto-bin gamu | locust bean gum |
| rozai | filter medium or material |
| ruisu san | Lewis acid |
| rusyaterie no hōsoku | Le Chatelier's law |
| ryūkyo suru | to distil off |
| ryūsui(溜水) | seems from context to be an abbreviation for distilled water |
| zyōryūsui (蒸溜水) | |
| ryūzai | granules (ag.cem.) |
| saihen ten-i | reconstructive transformation |
| saikinsyō | biofilter |
| saimu yu | thyme oil |
| saireiki | aftercooler |
| saizinkei | dust counter |
| saizingu pure-to | sizing plate |
| sakkazai | sequestering agent (?) |
| sakutekitei | complexometry |
| sanka seniso | oxycellulose |
| sanpai | rancidity |
| sei-arukoru | normal alcohol (as opposed to iso- and other branched chains) |
| satudanizai | acaricide |
| sa-zingu | surging (plastics man.) |
| sazyō kōbunsi | linear polymer |
| sei-ion | cation |
| seikei | pelletization (in addition to usual meanings) |
| seikin | bacteriostatic |
| seiki（生機） | unset (of fibres opposed to "heat set") |
| seikeisei | processability |
| seisoku yōeki | regular solution (i.e. one whose entropy agrees with that of ideal solutions) |
| seisuiatu | hydrostatic pressure |
| seikei zairyō | "compound" (plastics man.) |
| sekisyutubutu | precipitate, deposit |
| sekiyu kōbō | petro-yeast |
| sekkainyū soda kagōhō | lime-soda process |
| semento morutaru | cement mortar |
| sen'i han | fibrous cardboard |
| senkōtai | optically active substance |
| sensyokusō | dyeing vat |
| senkōkei | polarimeter |
| sensyokudan（浅色団） | hypsochromic group (dyes) |
| sen'iso esuteru | cellulose ester |
| senzyō kōzō | linear structure |
| seraito | cellite |
| serosaizin | cellocidin (ag.chem,) |
| setorimido | cetrimide |
| sia si | Shea nut oil |
| siaromusin | sialomucin |
| sikiryō | formula weight (molecular weight expressed in grains) |
| sigaisen bōsizai | anti-UV reagent |
| sikisotoropi- | thixotropy |
| sinsyuku sindō | stretching vibration |
| siozuke eki | brine |
| sinyu | lipophilic (?) |
| sisa netubunseki | differential thermal analysis |
| siru zai | sealing agent |
| siryōtai | tetramer |
| situzyun tikan | wet-relaxed (fibres) |
| situryō bunsekikei | mass spectrometer |
| situsan | chamber acid |
| situzyun kyōryoku kami | wet-strength paper |
| syamotto | chamoyte |
| sohaio-hō | Sohio process |
| sōkan idō syokubai | phase transfer catalyst (FTC) |
| sorube-hō | Solvay process (ammonia soda process) |
| sōyōsei | compatibility (plastics man.) |
| suiha（水簸） | elutriation, clarification |
| suisai | (water) granulation |
| suisoka bunkai | hydrogenolysis |
| suiwazai | wettable powder (ag.chem.jargon) |
| suitoningu | desulphurization |
| suito-yu | desulphurized oil |
| supitichi tindenkan | sedimenting glass |
| sure-n | threne (indanthrene) dyes |
| surassyu seikei | slush moulding |
| suta-ra | stirrer |
| suti-ru boru | steel balls |
| syasyutu seikeiyō kinkei | injection mould |
| syasyutu tyūkū seikei | injection blow moulding |
| syō-ion | deionization |
| syōhōsei | defoaming properties |
| syōka | slaking (of quicklime) [also syowa] |
| syokusō | shade (in dyeing) |
| syōkaku-hō | furnace for destruction by fire |
| syōyu wanisu | thin varnish |
| syukuro suru | to filter off |
| syurenzai | astringent |
| syusei tōryō | spirit varnish |
| syuzai | principal injredient |
| tabun sisō kyūtyaku | multilayer adsorption |
| tabunsan-kei | polydispersed system |
| taensi bunsi | polyatomic molecule |
| tahōzyō poriuretan | polyurethane foam |
| taibōtyō | cubical expansion |
| taikōsei | weathering properties |
| taisyō yōeki | reference solution |
| tairyū zikan | retention or contact time |
| taisya | burnt sienna |
| taisyō yōso | symmetry factor (plastics man.) |
| tanban | single-ply plywood |
| taneabura | vegetable oil |
| tane-ita | photographic plate |
| tane mizu | yeast water |
| tansekiso | bilirubin |
| tansan suiso gasu kagōhō | Carbonation process (for manufacture of precipitated calcium carbonates) |
| tantai | elementary (e.g. sulphur) |
| taru pitchi | asphalt ritch |
| taza haiisi | polydentate ligand |
| tehuron | Teflon (fibre trade mark) |
| teikyūka | degradation |
| teikōkan | resistant column (in chromatography) |
| teiryōkei | dosing apparatus, proportioning hopper |
| teityōeki | hypotonic solution |
| tenka rōto | dropping funnel |
| tekkusuhan | fibreboard |
| tekiryōkei | burette |
| tenka genso | alloy |
| tenkai yōzai | developing solvent |
| teromerize-syon | telomerizotion |
| terupinen-nuki seiyu | deterpenized (ethereal) oil |
| tetugōkin | ferroalloy |
| tikantai | substitution product |
| tikanbun | substituent |
| tikka | nitration |
| timian yu | thyme oil |
| tindendō | contact-deposited copper |
| tindenbutudame | settling tank |
| timituka | densification (powder metall.) |
| tinsyati | settling tank |
| tiuramu | thiram (ag. chem.) |
| tiridame no | dustproof |
| teyo-ku karamu | choke column (chromatogr.) |
| tōdokei | saccharimeter |
| tōkaritu | permeability rate |
| tōka keisū | coefficient of transparency |
| tōkōdo | transparency |
| to-na kara- | toner color |
| turansuha seikei | transfer moulding |
| torensu siyaku | Pollens reagent |
| tori-ingu | treeing (plastics man.) |
| toruku | torque (value) |
| toreron | Trelon (fiber trade mark) |
| tōsyuturyoku | throwing power (electrolysis). tukimawari seems to mean the same |
| tōteni | transglycodisation |
| tuyadasizai | polishing material |
| tyōmi | aromatization |
| tyōsituzai | moistener, humidifier |
| tyōzōsei | storage properties |
| tyūkeihō | casting method |
| tyōtinden | superprecipitation |
| tyūkū seikei | blow moulding (plastics man.) |
| tyūsyututō | extraction column |
| tyūnyūeki | elutrient (in chromatography) |
| tyūwaki | neutralizer |
| uidoma- bunryuki(kan) | Widmer spiral |
| waruden hanten | Walden inversion |
| wanuei hōsiki | one way system (plastics man.) |
| yōhensei | thicotropy |
| yōzai kiretu | solvent cracking (plastics man.) |
| yuen | lamp black |
| yōsyutu | elution |
| yusei tyakusyokuzai | oil coloring agent (plastics man.) |
| yuten | oil-expanded (rubbers) |
| yuyaku | glaze |
| zeika | degradation (of textiles) |
| ziazinon | diazinon (ag.chem.) |
| ziasutereo iseitai | diastereoisomer |
| ziki sadō neturyōkei | differential scanning calorimeter |
| zimetoe-to | dimethoate (ag.chem.) |
| ziramu | ziram (ag.chem.) |
| zitianon | dithianon (ag.chem.) |
| zōnenzai | thickening agent |
| zōtyūzai | thickening agent |
| zyūnan ondo | flex temperature (plastics man.) |
| zyūsōhō | ring test (in serology) |
* * *
DIRECTORY
In this issue we are starting a new feature, a professional services directory listing translators in various countries and their specialties. (Remember, the newsletter goes to readers on three continents.) Translators, interpreters, or persons offering other services may send in items for insertion without charge, but your name will not be included without your permission. Information should include: your name, address, and phone number, languages you handle, subject areas, equipment you use, and any other pertinent information describing the type of services you offer. Items can be as long as you wish but will be edited. The directory will be useful to persons looking for Japanese translators and interpreters and also to translators who wish to contact each other.
CHANDLER,. Brian. 10, Simmondley Grove, Glossop, Derbyshire SK13 9NQ, England. Tel. Glossop (04574) 61906. Japanese to English Technical Translation. Specialties computers, electronics and patents.
FRASER, D.A., BA, MIL, 22 Gresley Road, London N19 3JZ, England. Japanese to English. Chemistry, medicine, life sciences. Freelance translator.
GLEASON, Alan, 1280 4th Ave., No. 3, San Francisco CA 94122. Tel. (415) 753-2702. Member NCTA. J-E translation and J-E/E-J consecutive interpreting. Fields: electronics, chemistry, computers, business, economics.
ISHIMOTO, Paul, Japan Patent Service, 2025 Eye Street, N.W. #307, Washington, D.C. 20006. Specializes in translation of Japanese patents. Worked as translator in U.S. Patent Office for more than 15 years.
KAY, Carl, owner, Japanese Language Services, 607 Franklin Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139. Tel. (617)661-9784. Offers Japanese translation, typesetting, interpreting and research services.
MOFFETT, Linda, 749 Ash Street, Denver, Colorado 80220. Tel. (303) 3880284. BA, University of Colorado Japanese Studies, background in chemistry and pharmacy. Specializes in chemistry, batteries, textiles, medical.
NISHIMURA, Keiichi, 461 Grizzly Peak Blvd., Berkeley, CA 94708. Patent attorney. Translates technical and scientific documents including Japanese patents into English.
PATNER, Richard. 4110 Derek Road, Madison WI, 53704. Tel. (609) 249-2506. Japanese to English translation of patents and technical documents with over ten years experience.
SCHODT, Frederik L., 144 Parnassus Ave. Apt. 14, San Francisco, CA 94117. Tel. (415) 681-9803. Member A.T.A. and N.C.T.A. Japanese-English interpreting, translation. Specialties computers, electronics. Epson QX-l0 word processor.
SHKOLNIK, Alexander, 4434 Fulton St., Apt. #2, San Francisco, CA 94121. Tel. (415) 387-0290. Member A.T.A. and N.C.T.A. Japanese-English-Russian technical translations. Specialization in patent matters, mechanical engi- neering, metallurgy and chemistry. Worked as patent agent since 1963. Translating since 1959 from English to Russian, since 1965 from Japanese to Russian, and since 1970 into English from both.
UYAMA, Hiroshi, director, Japan Technical Information Center, 706 Seventh Street, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003. Tel.: (202)544-6314 (days), (703) 979-0054 (evenings). B.A., Chemistry, International Christian University in Tokyo, M.S. Inorganic Chemistry, Tokyo Institute of Technology. Since 1975 Japanese-English interpreting, translation, and consulting services in Washington, D.C. Science, technology, politics, social sciences.
* * *
Send in your tidbits, and I will incorporate them in another issue. From now on, those who send in glossaries should provide the kanji for the Japanese words. I will type them in Japanese if necessary. Don't forget to write if you want your name to be included in the Directory in the next issue.
February 10, 1984
Donald L. Philippi
715 Tenth Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 752-7735
* * *