Probing factors

There are many factors that may explain the rarity of Japanese - Western language interpreters who are non-native Japanese. The standard perception nurtured over a few centuries of reciprocal exoticism is the measurement of language difficulty, with Japanese scoring high in the mind of non-practioneer. I won't delve into that territory. Let's simply remark that Russian to take an example among others looks daunting from a Japanese point of view.

Two more serious factors are to be taken into account. In many countries, the highest level of Japanese education offered may simply be too low and cripples the will to consider targeting interpretation. A second factor is that the helping hand that is a budding interpreter in many non-specialized liaison type of settings will quickly want to go elsewhere professionally. Lacking mentorship, the example of elder interpreters, being turned out by condescending professionals in the market will not entice beginners to want and pursue further into interpretation. Things won't change anytime soon, but the question that may be raised is, does it matter? Yes and no. In early days prior to Pearl Harbor, the US was not aware that mostly no American were fluent Japanese language speakers. When the time came to urgently decipher the secret messages of the enemy, reality struck hard, but the answer to that reality was strong as well. We are no longer in war. I know the tune. Economic exchanges are goodwill relationships, innocent ballet of kind humans blowing kisses to each other. Economy is no longer a war but an harmonious play of tennis the way it was practice in the very early days of that pastime.

I found a rare and well researched page describing the translation and interpretation market in Japan over Macquarie University. It doesn't take into account nationality factors that influence access to the market for non-Japanese professionals or aspiring professionals. In the rare occasion I have been able to expose the fact that it is not simply a matter of competence but that nationality does play a role, interpreters I talked have shown total mistrust. I think they are sincere while sharing the ingrained belief that "by nature, only Japanese national can do it. The pervasive, invisible traces of this "a priori" is deeply ingrained but there are new dynamic factors that are yet changing the landscape, not in favor of interpretation as a career for non-native of Japanese. The shift of interest from Japanese to Chinese is one such factor. There are signs that the level of Japanese education is dipping further in some countries - France being an example. This is the result of over-democratization of Japanese language teaching and collateral result of the craze for some aspect of Japanese pop culture. One consequence though is that the number of Japanese speakers is growing, whatever the level and registries concerned. The over dominance of English is also a mega-factor that is too easy to forget. In fact, as needs reside mostly with English (and certainly Chinese), the hardcore non-native wanting to pursue into the profession might be well advised to focus on the JP-Eng combi with her own native language on top of it, and look for the adequate schools available in the English speaking world. There will be always some room even if tiny for rarer languages in the liaison domain where formal training will be less of a factor and a motivator.