EAP Day 2: NIDS, Diet, and METI

Monday was the first real day of field research. It was a full schedule and a busy day – it wasn’t uncommon that we found ourselves running to catch a train or to get to our next appointment in time, and we only had about 45 minutes to eat lunch and travel 25+ minutes.

It was also my first day “on the job,” so to speak, as an interpreter, although I did not have to interpret all of the meetings.

The first meeting of the day was at the National Institute for Defense Studies, or NIDS. I knew it was near the Ministry of Defense, but not that it was directly adjacent (on the same grounds, really). That was a surprise, and really brought home to me how unique this opportunity was – how else would I have ever been able to set foot at the Ministry of a Defense of a country for which I’m not even a citizen?

This lecture was more of a panel discussion, with each of the four speakers having their own area of expertise, whether it be Russia, North Korea, China, etc. They were all proficient in English and my skills were not needed, so my partner and I took the opportunity to silently practice. I switched back and forth between note-taking practice and simultaneously interpreting in my head. When my hand cramped, I would switch to simul; when my brain became exhausted I switched to note-taking.

The panel itself was very interesting. There was no prepared presentation; instead, the students were able to ask their research questions and get detailed answers from the perspective of security. Of course, some lectures were more useful to each particular student than others, but overall I thought all of the speakers were very interesting. Even for myself, there as an interpreter rather than a researcher, it was fascinating to hear their thoughts.

Our second stop of the day was the Diet, where we met former House of Councillors member Mr. Masataka Suzuki. We first got a tour of the Chamber of Councillors and the whole House of Councillors wing (not the House of Representatives, though – we were told there is an invisible line between the two that cannot be crossed). The Diet was not in session when we entered the Chamber, although later there was a budgetary meeting that we caught glimpses of on the CCTV screens.

Our tour guide was an experienced guard, who seemed very nervous to be speaking English but did an admirable job. Humor is one of the most difficult things in learning a second language, but somehow he was able to make the tour both informative and amusing. I wish I had caught his name so I could give him his due, but alas he will have to stay anonymous.

Following the tour, we crossed the street to the administrative building for the House of Councillors, where we met with Mr. Suzuki in a small room. For me, this was the most nerve-wracking part of the whole trip. Mr. Suzuki doesn’t speak a word of English, so it fell to my partner and I to interpret his words to English, and the questions of the other students into Japanese. (The questions fell to my partner, who is a native Japanese speaker – I’m sure I would have bungled them, so I was glad to have her support.)

I honestly can’t remember that much of what he said. I was so focused on interpreting well, to make it a fruitful experience for my fellow students, but that kind of focus doesn’t lend itself well to long-term memory. It was a great experience for me though. Mr. Suzuki is one of those older Japanese men who don’t enunciate and don’t use subjects in their sentences and don’t make their point immediately obvious, preferring to speak around it (he is, after all, a politician) – in other ones, exactly the type of person I find hardest to interpret for. For that reason I did have a few mistakes and omissions, which my partner and Professor Akaha were kind enough to gently correct. As an interpreter, I often get stuck in my head of all the things that went badly, but not the things that went well. It was when students (even the ones who do speak Japanese) thanked me afterwards that reminded me that it’s okay to miss a few minor things, as long as the main point is there. Without me, they wouldn’t have understood anything, so 80% or 90% understanding is still much better than 0%. It’s easy to forget that in classes at MIIS, where we usually interpret from videos and are in a room with other interpreters deliberately looking for all the ways you messed up to give you useful feedback, so interpreting for a real life situation was a good reminder.

The final lecture of the day was by Mr. Kazunari Morii of METI, the Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry. I’m sure the ITED students were very excited about this opportunity! I myself found his experience and his lecture, which was done in English, very interesting as well. He was an engaging speaker. By this point in the day, I was rather mentally exhausted, so I was happy to take occasional breaks from my simul and note-taking practice just to listen to him speak about his area of expertise.

The evening was free. I ended up going to Shibuya with a couple of friends. We had a lovely dinner and a lovely time, although we couldn’t stay out that late due to our appointments on Tuesday!