Please feel free to stop by and discuss your needs for translating into Japanese; instruction manuals, safety manuals, and other manuals; complete books, drawings; SDS; production/inspection software localization; contracts; reports; presentations, PR material; and so on for your products for the Japanese market, and support for your local office in Japan.
Services & Solutions
Expanding into overseas markets is the ultimate objective for many young, dynamic companies. The path to success in unfamiliar territory, however, is strewn with obstacles, both linguistic and cultural. Simply speaking the language is not enough. Only through a firm grasp of a country’s culture and much diligence and perseverance will a company finally find its way on the path to building trust and getting a return on its initial investment.
This is a time-consuming and costly procedure that may not produce the desired objectives within the target timeframe.
At Initiate, we apply our many years of experience to identify and clear all hurdles experienced by clients in their endeavor to build a successful base of operations in the Japanese market, and create tailor-made strategies designed to maximize sales potential. We never forget that your success is our success.
Katsuyuki Tsujino
CEO & President, Initiate Inc.
[Translation]
In addition to English and Chinese, Initiate offers translation services in almost all languages. With over 40 years of experience in the automotive, engineering, manufacturing, IT, and business fields and a vast network of highly skilled technical writers, Initiate is ideally positioned to deliver time-critical, high-quality translations to meet all your needs.
Each job is handled by a translator with years of experience in the applicable field, and all projects are assigned to writers whose native language is the same as that of the target language. For example, all translations from Japanese into English are handled by either American or British natives, [1] and any translations of English into Japanese are always handled by Japanese natives. [1]
[1] There may be exceptions for fields requiring highly-technical knowledge or experience.
Material We Handle
- PR requirements for Japanese market
websites, presentations, company overviews, company & product catalogs/pamphlets, business PR periodicals, etc. - Documentation for exports
installation manuals, instruction manuals (user manuals, reference manuals, etc.), nameplates, warranty certificates, safety manuals, user websites, technical reports, defect investigation reports, etc. - Documentation for overseas affiliates, plants
technical standards, human resource/labor related documents, business contracts with local companies, operation manuals, MSDS, contracts, plant and building design drawings, etc. - Documentation for international business
tender quotations, contracts, standards, patent publications, bid documentation, reports for clients, etc. - Documentation for use / sale of exports
presentations, company overviews, company & product catalogs/pamphlets, installation manuals, instruction manuals (user manuals, reference manuals, etc.), nameplates, warranty certificates, safety manuals, MSDS, specifications, sales contracts, websites, etc. - Research & development documentation
Japanese theses, patent publications, articles for technical journals, etc. - Documentation for announcing results of research and development
thesis abstracts, theses, white papers, magazine article redrafting, etc. - IR documentation
material for shareholders’ meetings, documentation for investors (letters, annual reports), etc. - Material for exhibitions / trade shows
panels for display at exhibitions, attraction video creation (DVD, Flash movies), etc. - Documents required for submission to government offices
transcripts (company/family registration), certificates, etc. - Other
letters, e-mails, newspaper articles, website articles, etc.
*1: Native checks are available upon request for any of the above documents. Man-to-man native checks are also available.
*2: We also offer layout editing, DTP, and web document formats (PDF, XML, HTML, etc.)
Translation Team Members
Japanese to English: 30+
English to Japanese: 30+
Japanese to Chinese: 10+
Chinese to Japanese: 10+
Other: One or more translators for all other languages
- Dedicated terminology is strictly managed based on both client and business field to avoid mistakes.
- We always use the same translators for specific companies and business fields to ensure uniformity.
- Unless specified so by the client, translation projects are not distributed among multiple translators.
- We do not use automatic translation software.
- In order to prevent increases to the amount of time spent maintaining quality, translation support software is not used unless requested by the client.
We keep records of styles and terminology used by each company and use this as a reference for future projects. - Projects involving the translation of contracts, patents, finance, accounting and so on are handled by translators specialized in the respective fields.
Languages We Handle
Almost all languages
(European languages)
English (any region), French, Canadian French, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish (Spain, Mexico, other latin American countries), Catalan, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Albanian, Armenian, Estonian, Greek, Croatian, Swedish, Slovene, Serbian, Danish, Turkish, Norwegian, Finnish, Bosnian, Macedonian, Moldovan, Romanian, Montenegrin, Latvian, Latin, Lithuanian, Bulgarian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Slovak, Ukrainian, Icelandic, Irish (Gaeilge), Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Maltese, other European languages
(Asian languages)
Simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese (taiwan, etc.), Cantonese (Hong Kong, Macau), Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Khmer, Lao, Burmese, Indonesian, Javanese, Bengali, Urdu, Nepali, Hindi, Marathi, Malay, Persian, Hebrew, Arabic, Tagalog, Visayan, other Asian languages
[Interpreter Dispatching]
We dispatch interpreters both in Japan and overseas.
Our interpreters are available for permanent on-site work, presentations, company tours, factory tours, product overviews, exhibition booth product overviews, machine or equipment installations, trial production, safety instruction, negotiations with overseas companies, etc.
[Company / Product Brochure Creation]
Product catalogs and company brochures are of course essential to sell products.
We create sales material in both Japanese and foreign languages that are laid out and designed with the target market in mind.
Once we’ve received the material in its original language, we then create the material in the language of the target market.
Rest assured that all jobs are thoroughly checked by staff whose native language is the same as that of the final product.
Software We Handle
Microsoft products
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Visio
- Other
Adobe products
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe Photoshop
- Other
CAD softwares
Other softwares
[Website Localization / Web Application Development]
Website Localization
One of the biggest mistakes overseas businesses make when attempting to penetrate the Japanese market is failing to have the basic marketing tools in place beforehand. One of the first places a Japanese company will look to research your company background is your corporate website. If it’s not in Japanese they’ll most likely move on quickly to somewhere else. Initiate’s website localization service focuses on providing a Japanese version of your website tailored to the type of format that potential Japanese customers are familiar with. This may involve simply translating the language on your website into Japanese. Very often, though, this is not enough. Differences in marketing culture and tastes in website design often require changes to the format of your website to suit the culture of the target client. At Initiate, we use only Japanese native translators and web designers familiar with the Japanese market. Our Japanese in-house marketing strategist also plays a part in ensuring your site is targeted directly at your market, and in a similar style to that of Japanese companies.
In addition to website localization, we can also translate e-mails to and from you and Japanese companies for a total communication environment.
Web Application Development
- Consulting, Planning, Configuration, Suggestion; Contractor Project Initiation Completion & Approve, Requirements Completed & Approved, Design Completed & Approved, Website configuration; Web UI design; Programming, Testing, Upload & release; SEO, Web marketing, Website maintenance, Website improvement, etc.
- Motion contents (planning, design, and programming)
- Website diagnosis
- Optimization for cellphones, iPhone, Android, and the other mobile platforms
- CMS (WordPress, MovableType)
Development Environments
- Open source: Linux, Apache, MySQL, Python, etc.
- Language: PHP, C++, C#, etc.
- xml, xslt
- PR movies
Application Software for Website Creation
Adobe products
- Adobe Dreamweaver
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Acrobat
Microsoft products
- Microsoft Visual Studio
[Market Matching]
Our primary focus here is to provide support to overseas SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) wishing to establish a business presence in Japan.
We provide our clients with the following services.
- Translation of e-mails to and from Japanese clients
- Preparation of written replies to inquiries from Japanese firms
- Translation of quotations and contracts
- Translation of relevant documentation such as websites, presentations, manuals, technical reports, product specifications, etc.
- Interpreters for presentations, company visits, negotiations, etc.
- Japanese website planning, development and release
- Creation of company / product catalogs or brochures for the Japanese market
- Formulation of market strategies for the Japanese market
- Copyrighting and product slogan creation for the Japanese market
- Introduction to potential customers
- Acting as local agent
- Help with regulatory affairs
- Japanese / English business card creation
- Assistance with short/long-term accommodation