Japanese to English translator specializing in video game localization

Working languages:

Japanese to English

Timothy Merchant
Video game localization specialist, MA.

Bristol, England, United Kingdom

Local time: 10:21 BST (GMT+1)

Native in: English (Variants: British, US)

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What Timothy Merchant is working on

Jan 9, 2020 (posted via ProZ.com): Currently working on mobile role-playing game patches. I tend to play on consoles and PC, but it's interesting to see how far video games have come on mobile. ...more »

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Translation

Specializes in:
Games / Video Games / Gaming / Casino

Japanese to English - Standard rate: 0.04 GBP per character

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Sample translations submitted: 2

Japanese to English: Video Game Sample
Source text - Japanese シビュラ「過去に戻ることはできぬ。しかし、やりなおしを試みることはできよう。「忘れるな。時間は待ってはくれない。今は過去より続き、未来は今によって方向づけられる。「常に考えろ。生きるということは決断の連続だ。我らはその『時』が来るごとに、選び取り続けるしかないのだ。「その選択は、正しい、間違いといったものではなく、ただ、別の未来に続いている。 …私が言えるのはこれくらいだな。アルフォンス「…シビュラ、貴女はなぜ『教皇の手』に？シビュラ「理由などない。戦争孤児だった私は６才のときに神都ガリウスに送られ、「『教皇の手』となるべく教育された。そして今や、ローディス教会の忠実なしもべとして、任務についているわけだ。アルフォンス「それは、貴女の選んだ　生き方なのか？	Translation - English Cybil What's done is done. Now to the purpose must thy wits attend, and forge thy path anew! Heed me, Alphonse. For time is a mistress that doth wait for no man, She presents herself a spindle, upon which ye might pick up the threads of the past, and with them weave a future of thy own making. Follow thy own path, wherever it may lead. Place not thy faith in others, for each has his own truth assigned him. Think upon my words, ser, for we are seekers all. Alphonse Prithee, Cybil, upon what purpose did thee become Hand of the Pontifex? Cybil The tale is but a droll one, As so many, I too was made an orphan by the flames of war, and sent to Galius when I was but a child. There I was educated to become Hand of the Pontifex's, A path laid out before me, ‘ere I arrived. God is my guide, and in service to him hath I chosen to devote my life to the Church of Lodis. Alphonse So, 'tis faith that guides you?
Japanese to English: Light Novel ライトノベル General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: Poetry & Literature
Source text - Japanese もし高校野球の女子マネージャーがドラッカーの『マネジメント』を読んだら. 川島みなみが野球部のマネージャーになったのは、高校二年生の七月半ば、夏休み直前のことだった。それは突然のことだった。ほんの少し前まで、みなみはまさか自分が野球部のマネージャーになるとは思っていなかった。それまでは、どこの部活にも所属していないただの女子高生にすぎなかった。野球部とは縁もゆかりもなかった。ところが、思いもよらない事情から野球部のマネージャーをすることとなった。そのため、二年生の夏休み前という中途半端な時期ではあったが、野球部に入部したのである。マネージャーになったみなみには、一つの目標があった。それは、「野球部を甲子園に連れて行く」ということだった。彼女はそのためにマネージャーになったのだ。それは夢などというあやふやなものではなかった。願望ですらなかった。明確な目標だった。使命だった。みなみは野球部を甲子園に連れて「いきたい」とは考えていなかった。連れて「いく」と決めたのだ。しかしそう決めたはいいものの、どうしたらそれを実現できるか、具体的なアイデアがあるわけではなかった。前述したように、これまで野球部とは無縁の生活を送ってきた。だから、野球部はおろか、マネージャーのこともよく分かっていなかったのだ。しかし、みなみは、それを全く気にしていなかった。なんとかなるーーーと単純に考えていた。彼女にはそういうところがあった。考えるより先に、まず行動するのだ。野球部のマネージャーになったのもそうだった。「どうやったら野球部を甲子園に連れていけるか」と考える前に、まず「野球部を甲子園に連れていく」と決めてしまった。そして、そう決めたらもう考えるのをやめ、すぐ行動に移したのである。第一章　みなみは「マネジメントと出会った」みなみが通っていたのは、「東京都立程久保高校」という公立の普通高校だった。程久保高校―通称「程高」は、東京の西部、関東平野が終わって多摩の丘陵地帯が始まる、大小さまざまな丘の連なる一角にあった。校舎は、そんな丘の一つ、身晴らしのよい高台の上に建っていた。教室の窓からは、多く奥多摩の連山や、晴れた日には富士山まで見通せた。その一帯は、昭和の半ばに山林を切り開いてできたベッドタウンで、周辺にはまだ雑木林も多く残り、東京とはいえ自然豊かなところだった。程高は進学校だった。偏差値は六十を超え、大学進学率はほぼ百パーセントで、毎年数名の東大合格者を出すほどだった。それに比べると、スポーツの方はさっぱりだった。部活動そのものは盛んだったが、全国大会に出るような強豪は一つもなかった。それは野球部も同じだった。決して弱くはなかったが、強くもなかった。甲子園を狙えるようなレベルにはなかった。これまでの最高は、もう二十年以上も前に一度だけ五回戦（ベスト１６）に進出したことがあるだけで、いつもはよくて三回戦止まりだった。そのことはみなみも知っていた。だから、もともと今の野球部に大きな期待をしていたわけではなかったが、それでも、いざ入部してみると愕然とさせられた。現状が、あまりにもお粗末だったからだ。これでは、甲子園はおろこ、一回戦を勝ち抜くのさえどうかと思わされた。みなみがマネージャーになったのは、夏の都予選に負けて三年生が引退した直後だった。だからというのもあったが、この時期の練習にはほとんどの部員が参加していなかった。別に休みというわけではなかった。練習はちゃんと行われていた。それにもかかわらず、多くの部員がほとんどなんの理由もなしに、またなんの報告もなしで、練習をサボっていたのである。この頃の野球部には、そういう雰囲気があった。出るのも休むのも全くの自由。	Translation - English When Minami Kawashima, High School Girl and Baseball Club Manager, met Peter Drucker, Management Consultant. It was mid-July, just before the summer break of her second year at high school, that Minami Kawashima became a manager of the school baseball club. It had happened very suddenly. A few days ago, Minami never would have thought that she would become a manager. Up until then she had just been your average high school girl, not belonging to any extra-curricular clubs, and certainly not the baseball club. She had, in fact, become manager due to unforeseen circumstances, having joined despite the fact there was barely any time before the second years broke up for summer. In her role as manager, Minami had but one goal, which had served as her prime motivation for joining in the first place: to take the team to the national high school baseball championships, held at the famed Koshien stadium. It wasn’t just a dream or anything similarly vague, nor was it even a mere desire. It was a clear objective; a mission. Rather than thinking, ‘I want to take the baseball team to Koshien,’ Minami had decided, ‘I will take them to Koshien.’ However, while she might have made such a decision, it didn’t mean that she necessarily had any concrete ideas about how to make it in to a reality. She had been living quite happily without anything to do with the baseball team whatsoever, up until now, so she didn’t know the first thing about them, let alone how to manage them. This didn’t bother Minami at all, however, who thought that she would simply just… handle it somehow or another. That was the thing about Minami; act first and think later. So too had it been with her becoming manager. Before considering ‘How will I take the team to Koshien?’ first, she would simply… take the team to Koshien. Then, with that settled in her mind, rather than wasting anymore time, she got started right away. Chapter 1 When Minami met Management. Minami’s school was your average public high school called Tokyo Metropolitan Hodokubo High. The school, known as Hodo High for short, was to be found in West Tokyo, upon a hilly range where the Kantō plains ended and the Tama heights began. The school building itself was built upon one of these hills, atop a high elevation with a great view. From the classroom window you could see much of the Okutama mountains, and on a good day you could even see as far as Mount Fuji. The whole region had been carved out of a mountain forest and transformed in to a commuter town, sometime in the ‘50s. Despite being in Tokyo, it was a place steeped in natural beauty, surrounded by lush forested groves. Hodo High was a high-ranking school focused on securing places for students at top universities. Average grades were over 60%, and almost every student passed the notoriously difficult national university entrance examinations. The school even managed to produce several students every year who would get in to the prestigious Tokyo University. In contrast to this, the school had a near non-existent sporting scene, and while the club activities themselves were popular, not even one school team had ever made it to the national tournaments. The same went for the baseball club. While they were by no means a weak team, they weren’t exactly great either, and certainly not at a level where they could aim for Koshien. Their best performance to date was the time they had once reached the 5th round of the national high school tournament, placing in the best 16, but that was over 20 years ago. Usually, at best, they would retire as early as the 3rd round. Minami was aware of this so she didn’t have high expectations to begin with, but now she had actually joined the club, she couldn’t believe her eyes. They were in a complete shambles. She wondered how they would even get through the first round in this state, let alone make it to Koshien. Clearly this was, in part, due to the fact that, just before Minami’s appointment as manager, the third years had retired after failing to even pass through the preliminary rounds at the summer try-outs. It didn’t excuse the fact, however, that barely anyone was turning up for practice at all... You couldn’t really say it was due to the summer holidays either, as practice was ongoing just as ever. Regardless, many of the players were simply skipping sessions for pretty much no reason at all, and without giving any prior notice. Such was the atmosphere at the club lately, people felt free to come and go as they pleased.

Master's degree - University of Portsmouth

Years of experience: 8. Registered at ProZ.com: Jul 2017.

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Adobe Acrobat, memoQ, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint

CV available upon request

Bio

I have helped localize AAA video game titles for major publishers from Japanese to English, including Square Enix, Nintendo and Sega.

I have subtitled anime, Japanese drama and video game cut-scenes, as well as supported voice actors as a translator advisor.

Punctual and thorough, with a portfolio of translations highly appraised by both clients and academics.

Recent projects

Yokai Watch 3 (Level 5, 2019) - Japanese to English Translator

Education

University of Portsmouth – Translation Studies MA (Distinction)

University of Leeds – Japanese BA (Hons)

法政大学 Hosei University, Tokyo (1 year)

Keywords: Japanese, video games, game localization, localization, Japanese to English

Profile last updated
Jan 20, 2021

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