AltJapan Co., Ltd. is a

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

based company specializing in the translation and localization of Japanese entertainment. It is particularly active in manga and

video game localization Video game localization (American English), or video game localisation (British English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is the process of preparing a video game for a ...

. It specializes in Japanese-to-English and English-to-Japanese translation, but also handles European language localization as well. It has worked on titles for companies including Capcom, Koei-Tecmo, Namco-Bandai, Konami, Taito, Square-Enix, and Platinum Games. Credits include '' Dragon Quest VIII'', the ''

Ninja Gaiden is a series of action video games by Tecmo featuring the ninja Ryu Hayabusa as its protagonist. The series was originally known as in Japan. The word "gaiden" in the North American ''Ninja Gaiden'' title means "side story" in Japanese. The o ...

'' series, the ''

Dynasty Warriors Gundam ''Dynasty Warriors: Gundam'', originally released in Japan as , is a 2007 video game based on the ''Gundam'' anime series. It was developed by Omega Force and published by Bandai Namco Games. Its gameplay is derived from Koei's ''Dynasty Warriors'' ...

'' series, ''

Lollipop Chainsaw is a 2012 hack-and-slash video game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles. It features Juliet Starling (voiced by Tara Strong in English and by both Eri Kitamura in the PlayStation 3 version a ...

,'' ''

Lost Planet 3 is a third-person shooter action-adventure video game developed by Spark Unlimited and published by Capcom for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game is the prequel to '' Lost Planet: Extreme Condition'' and '' Lost Planet 2'' ...

,'' and the 2014 remake of '' Strider.'' The company also produces the recording sessions for video games as well, most notably on the ''

'' and '' Dead or Alive'' series. In addition to localization, AltJapan is also credited with scriptwriting on titles including

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 ''Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2'', stylized as ''Ninja Gaiden Σ2'', is a port of the 2008 Xbox 360 video game '' Ninja Gaiden II'', and was developed by Team Ninja exclusively for the PlayStation 3 in 2009. It includes the entirety of the original story m ...

Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword ''Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword'' is a 2008 action-adventure video game released for the Nintendo DS, developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo (in Europe it was published by Ubisoft). A main installment in the ''Ninja Gaiden'' series, it fe ...

, and World of Demons. AltJapan's manga translation credits include '' Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan'', '' Togari'', and ''

Dorohedoro is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Q Hayashida. It was serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazines ''Monthly Ikki'' (November 2000 to September 2014), ''Hibana'' (March 2015 to August 2017), and ''Monthly Shōnen Sunday'' ...

''. At the 2013

San Diego Comic-con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...

, Fuijko F. Fujio Productions announced that AltJapan would produce the English version of the manga ''

Doraemon ''Doraemon'' ( ja, ドラえもん ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 ''tankōbon'' volumes and ...

'' in conjunction with Voyager Japan. Inc. Original content produced by AltJapan includes the books ''Hello, Please! Very Helpful Super Kawaii Characters from Japan'' (Chronicle Books, 2007) and the ''Attack!'' series, which includes '' Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide'' (Kodansha, 2008), ''Ninja Attack! True Tales of Assassins, Samurai, and Outlaws'' (Kodansha, 2010), and ''Yurei Attack! The Japanese Ghost Survival Guide'' (Tuttle, 2012).

Founders

Hiroko Yoda Hiroko Yoda is a Japanese entrepreneur, translator, writer, folklorist, and president of the localization company AltJapan Co., Ltd. She was also a Tokyo city editor for the CNN travel website CNNGo. She is a translator of video games and the aut ...

and Matt Alt worked together for several years prior to the foundation of their company; their first credit as independent translators was Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete for

Working Designs Working Designs was an American video game publisher that specialized in the localization of Japanese role-playing video games, strategy video games and top-down shooters for various platforms. Though the company had published many cult hits, it ...

. Yoda holds a master's degree in international peace and conflict resolution from the American University in Washington, DC. She was also a Tokyo city editor for the

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

travel website CNNGo. Alt is a former translator for the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...

. In 2013 he served as a judge for the Manga Translation Battle, and in 2014 he joined the cast of the NHK World television show

Japanology Plus ''Weekend Japanology'', ''Begin Japanology'', and ''Japanology Plus'' are Japanese television programs aired on NHK World NHK World-Japan (formerly and also known simply as NHK World) is the international arm of the Japanese state-controlled ...

. The pair makes frequent appearances as Japanese pop culture experts in a variety of international media. They made cameo appearances in the film ''

Death Kappa is a 2010 ''kaiju'' film directed by Tomoo Haraguchi. An international co-production of Japan and the United States, it stars Misato Hirata, Mika Sakuraba, and Ryuki Kitaoka. In the film, a series of military experiments result in the appeara ...

'' and participated as extras in ''

The Great Yokai War is a 2005 Japanese fantasy film directed by Takashi Miike, produced by Kadokawa Pictures and distributed by Shochiku. The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Hiroyuki Miyasako, Chiaki Kuriyama, and Mai Takahashi. The film focuses largely on creatures ...

''.

Translation Style

AltJapan is known for pairing native Japanese and native English speakers on its localization projects, a legacy of its founders' own experience working together and a rarity in the early days of the localization industry.

References

{{reflist Translation companies Mass media companies based in Tokyo Mass media companies established in 2000 Japanese companies established in 2000