Testimonials

Mr. Christopher G. Caulfield
Executive Director, Global Accounts & Customer Service

“Temptime Corporation (USA) hired Mr. Makoto Matsuo as our team’s translator for three days in March 2013. Our team of five traveled to Tokyo from the USA to hold the initial meetings with our business partner on the technology transfer of their chemically based heat sensitive ink formulation and manufacturing processes. These three days of meetings were a step by step guide to the manufacturing processes, techniques, and methods of the manufacturing of this product. In addition, there were many experiments performed and exchanges between research & development personnel at a highly technical level. Mr. Matsuo was critical to the successful, thorough, and seamless discussions between our company and our Japanese partner. The working sessions started early in the morning and carried late into the evening. Mr. Matsuo was pleasant, engaging, highly professional, and punctual each day. It was our team’s unanimous opinion that without Mr. Matsuo we would not have been able to achieve or accomplish our agenda. In fact, we had planned for two trips but accomplished everything on our agenda in three days. He helped us maximize our time and efforts. Hiring him was the best decision that we made for our trip to Japan and allowed our return on investment for this technology transfer to be maximized.

He was instrumental in helping our team maximize our time and gain as much knowledge as possible during the initial phases of a manufacturing process technical exchange.

Temptime recommends him highly and would specifically ask for him on all future trips to Japan. Mr. Matsuo was excellent.”

Mr. David M. Bullen
President, Magnatex Pumps, Inc.

“Makoto Matsuo is an excellent interpreter, 100% fluent in Japanese and English with a friendly, easy going but business-like personality. I can highly recommend him if you ever need interpretation services in Japan.”

Mr. Harris Mathura, CFA
Chief Investment Officer
TIM Partners K.K.

“I was very lucky to meet and work with Makoto Matsuo in Osaka. The Kinki Local Finance Bureau (provides local services for the FSA which is the Japanese equivalent of the SEC in the US) requested an immediate meeting regarding a company which we had purchased and planned to make a subsidiary of TIM Partners K.K. I told them I was based in Tokyo not Osaka (which is where the Kinki finance bureau is located). They did not care and only gave me a few days to show up. I was quite worried since my Japanese level is certainly not good enough to handle a meeting with financial regulators and I had to find someone on the other side of the country on very short notice.

I contacted Makoto around 8am on Wednesday, June 7, 2017. By 1030am he had replied to me by email asking for a time that we could schedule a phone call to discuss my situation. As soon as I noticed the email I called him. He took the time to listen to me complain about having to cross the country to visit a regulator because they would not let me deal with the Tokyo office. As well he listened to the details of my situation and got a clear understanding of what was going on. It was clear that he wanted to know what was going on in a broader context not just in preparation for a word for word translation. I was concerned that the regulators might throw some financial terms in keigo (high level Japanese) at him. I told him if they did to ask for simpler versions so I could understand. He laughed and said it would not be a problem. I believed him and asked him for his availability, then I scheduled a meeting with the regulators and bought a plane ticket.

Makoto and I had arranged to meet 15 minutes before the meeting with the regulators but Makoto was there well before that. He looked very professional: neat trimmed hair, clean dark suit, and shined shoes. Since we had time to review the details. I showed him the documents that I would present to the regulators. Makoto took the time to read the documents, confirm key dates, and the context of the use of the documents. This certainly put my mind at ease going into the meeting.

Once in the meeting he presented himself in Japanese to the three regulators, and he exchanged business cards. The meeting was supposed to go for thirty minutes but ended up taking two hours. This was especially hard on Makoto because he had to translate questions from two of the three officers almost constantly while translating my answers to them. The regulators were trying to apply pressure to me by asking questions quickly, perhaps to trick me or force me to say something they wanted to hear. I thought so from their tone, and demeanor but was not sure. Makoto subtly let me know that something odd was going on by using some side-eye. Highly unconventional but it worked. He used that and then paused the translation a bit longer to give me some more time to think and give a properly constructed answer. Also, his pauses for effect took the wind out of what at some points became an interrogation. He certainly was on my side. At the end of the meeting all parties were satisfied that everyone meant well and that the issue could be resolved amicably.

Rather than performing a mechanical translation of the words spoken, Makoto was able to translate not only the words that were said, but also the nuances and context, in a pleasant way that did not upset the other party. This is very important because Japanese is a highly contextual language full of nuance so misunderstandings are common. That is what makes Makoto stand out from other translators in his profession.

Since our first meeting I have used Makoto’s services for phone calls with Japanese financial institutions and he has performed admirably. I would highly recommend Makoto if you have very important business meetings requiring high-level translation. He will be there, early, professionally dressed, and on your side.”

Mr. Shane Marsan
Osaka YMCA International School
School Accreditation Coordinator (WASC)

“I was in a rush to get some very important documents translated for my wife’s visa interview. Osaka Language Solutions was the perfect choice for me because of their professionalism, responsiveness, and genuine care about our situation. The company president Makoto Matsuo replied to all my messages immediately and even went as far to call the post office to express how important it was for them to deliver our documents promptly. I will highly recommend Osaka Language Solutions to all my friends and colleagues for any translation needs.”

Japanese manufacturer: “Thank you for translating this distribution agreement. We really appreciate your hard work!”

CDMO Director: “Makoto has been so helpful and we could not be successful without him.”

Feedback from a law firm based in Singapore for an arbitration case: “Mr. Matsuo was very competent and was able to reflect the meaning of our discussions and not just a literal interpretation.”

Customer for a certified translation: “This is an excellent translation. I really appreciate the high quality of this work. Thanks very much.”

Feedback from a museum director: “Thank you for the excellent quality. This will be a great description of our museum.”

Feedback from a research student: “Thank you for this translation. I reviewed it over the weekend and I’m convinced that the quality of this translation is more than enough to be put to full use for my dissertation. Thank you!”

Feedback from a satisfied customer: “Thank you for following through with the rush translation. You are a savior. I look forward to working with you again.”