Comments from customers

In 2003, a coincidental meeting between our business partner and a Blue-J Manager at a bagel shop led us to ask for help with our work process. Greenfield produces application documents for American work visas, and our customers do not necessarily provide the most coherent information. Even when presented with drafts based on that information, Blue-J clearly understands the uniquely Japanese phrasings, and checks specialized terminology and acronyms to produce appropriate English, so revisions are almost never required. Blue-J responds to our frequent rush requests. They are a very reliable partner.

The thing that makes Blue-J attractive is that they pick up on the nuances of the original document, and create natural English translations that don’t feel like translations. They understand our business and the standard translations that we use within our company, so there is almost never a need for revisions. Blue-J responds flexibly to high-volume requests and rush requests, and has been a reliable business partner for us.

We often receive requests for translations of introduction videos and websites for companies and government agencies. It goes without saying that these require accurate translations, but the English prose must also be easy for regular users to read.
Blue-J carefully checks technical terminology and proper nouns. Japanese texts often uses emotional language, and it can be difficult to see the logic, but Blue-J reorganizes this text into logical English prose that is easy for English speakers to understand.
Many translators get bogged down in the expressions and structures of the Japanese text, producing sentences that are unnatural in English. We had a very difficult time finding good translation staff, but Blue-J has been supporting us for many years now.

Blue-J has provided us with valuable support in the translation of external documents, homepages, pamphlets, and other materials for UMI and the companies that we invest in.
In addition to the speed of the output, Blue-J provides accurate English translations even when the Japanese is vague (including a variety of technical documents), and they have been a great help to us.

We often require English translations unexpectedly, and quickly, in a wide range of industries and on a variety of topics. In cutting-edge fields, there are cases where standard English has not yet been established, so it is essential to accurately pick up and translate the intent of the original document.
Our basic expectation for translations is “Quality that is equal to the original, so that no significant revisions will be required, and English-speaking readers can read the translation naturally.”
We work with numerous translators who are essentially highly skilled, but even among these, Blue-J is unique in the following three ways:

(1) Professionalism: A dedication to providing high-quality translations
(2) Flexibility, to meet our needs
(3) Speedy response

(1) There are too many examples to list here, but the one that comes up the most is that Mr. Castellano leaves comments where there is room for improvement in the original Japanese text.
To create a good translation, it’s important for the original document to be clear, but Blue-J reverses the order and helps us to improve the original as well.
On a few rare occasions, Mr. Castellano has contacted us even after the translation has been delivered, to say “I think this phrase would be better here,” leaving me both surprised and impressed. There is no advantage for Blue-J in terms of additional payment, and I assume that the translator was not embarrassed to revise his own translation himself. Every day, I am reminded that Blue-J always places an emphasis on “providing high-quality translations.”

 (2) Occasionally, we receive large and cumbersome projects, or specialized documents in difficult niche fields. Even when other translators throw their hands up in despair, Mr. Castellano understands our needs, and offers proposals on possible approaches based on our priorities.

One time, Mr. Castellano accommodated my completely unreasonable request when I said “I need as much material translated as possible in the next 30 minutes!” (I am so sorry about that...)
It is very reassuring to know that there is someone I can turn to when I am in a bind.

 (3) Communications are basically conducted via e-mail, but Blue-J also handles detailed confirmations and workflow over the phone. Our staff are all Japanese, so it’s very helpful that Mr. Castellano speaks fluent Japanese.

Anyone who starts working with Blue-J will soon recognize that Mr. Castellano is very easy to get along with, and there is never any hesitation in contacting him about anything. He is not so much a business partner as he is a “teammate working toward the same goal.”

We kind of want to keep this outstanding translator to ourselves, rather than see him become too busy with other work, so to be honest, I wouldn’t want him to be become too popular. At the same time, though, I hope that as Blue-J grows, it will help to foster other outstanding translators.