Here's the situation : I m supposed to begin soon an internship so I have to apply for a designated activites visa and among other document it requires an agreement between my school and the company . We have been sending students in japan for college exchange and internship for about 20 years and up now we never had any problems .However according to one of my friends , who was the very first to apply for this visa , starting this year english written document aren t deemed acceptable anymore and from now on application requires a document translated in japanese !
I read closely the document and I guess I could translate it from english to japanese in a satisfactory way. But considering my previous experience with japanese administration I m willing to bet it has to be made by a certified translator and anyway I don t have much time .
I looked on craiglist and elance but didn t find anything that fitted the bill .

Anyone knows of a reliable certified translator ? obviously fast and cheap would be a plus.The document is about 4 pages and 20000 characters long .


On a side note , anyone heard about this change ? or is this just the misdeed of a disgruntled civil servant ?

I would probably get it done by someone who is ATA (American Translators Association, a professional group) certified, since this is going to be a bureaucratic thing.

You can search for an individual or company to do the translation for you: http://www.atanet.org/onlinedirectories/

I'm not sure what the rates may be, but if you plan on having a long-term relationship with this translator they might be able to cut you a break in return for the steady business.

You might also post to: http://groups.google.com/group/honyaku

It's list/discussion group of professional Japanese <=>English translators. I can't guarantee that they're all certified, but it appears to be a reputable and knowledgable group of people. They might be able to give you a quote at the very least.

Good luck!