Supporting U.S. Military Procurement with Faster, More Accurate Translation
Making translation visible, memorable, and practical with Yaraku Translate
Based in Okinawa, Antenna, Ltd. specializes in consulting and support for Japanese companies seeking to participate in U.S. military procurement projects. The company handles hundreds of pages of highly technical English documents—such as construction specifications and safety manuals—on a daily basis. For such documents, speed and precision are essential.
To meet these demands, Antenna introduced Yaraku Translate, a next-generation AI-powered computer-assisted translation (CAT) tool. Its ability to “visualize matches with colors” and “remember past translations” has delivered measurable benefits, even in the most demanding professional settings.
Company Profile
Antenna, Ltd.
Headquartered in Naha, Okinawa, Antenna provides end-to-end support—including consulting, translation assistance, and application services—for Japanese companies entering the U.S. military procurement market.
To date, the company has supported more than 3,000 businesses. Antenna is also a board member of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME JAPAN), reflecting its strong reputation in the industry.
Website: https://www.antenna-okinawa.co.jp/
Interviewees
- Hiroto Nakamatsu, President & CEO
- Masayo Matayoshi, Administrator
Background: Reaching the Limit of In-House Resources
Antenna had long relied on a small team to translate vast volumes of English documents for U.S. military procurement projects. These included technical specifications, bidding documents, and safety standards manuals—each often running into hundreds of pages.
The documents were not only highly technical but also stylistically complex: sentences were long, with few natural breaks, requiring both deep structural understanding and nuanced interpretation. During peak periods, translation work overwhelmed daily operations, and reliance on outsourcing increased.
“That feeling of, ‘Here we go again…’ became a constant source of stress,” recalls Nakamatsu.
To resolve these issues, Antenna turned to Yaraku Translate, which was evaluated as “a tool that balances quality and speed while reducing dependency on individual staff.”
Why Yaraku Translate?
According to Nakamatsu, Yaraku Translate fundamentally changed how Antenna approached translation:
“In the past, we managed peak demand by outsourcing more, but the quality of outsourced translations varied widely and often required in-house revisions. Yaraku Translate offered a way to maximize internal resources while maintaining consistent quality.”
The tool enabled the team to streamline review processes and reuse past translations, shifting from “translating and reviewing everything from scratch” to focusing only on areas that required attention.
Key Benefits
1. Color-Coded Matching: Less Burden, More Efficiency
Antenna particularly values Yaraku Translate’s color-coded translation memory match function:
“We can focus only on the untranslated segments. It gives our work a clear structure and eliminates the need to re-check everything. Efficiency has improved significantly.” (Matayoshi)
This feature has also proven useful in multi-person review processes, reducing workload across the team.
2. Memory Function: Reducing Dependency on Individuals
By registering terms and expressions into Yaraku Translate’s translation memory, Antenna has eliminated the need to rely on individual staff members’ recollections:
“Before Yaraku, only the person in charge remembered the right expressions. Now, Yaraku ‘remembers’ for us, and handovers are as simple as a quick check.” (Nakamatsu)
This systemization has helped standardize quality and reduce inconsistencies.
3. Speed and Quality: Three Times Faster
The impact is clear in numbers: a project that previously took ten people a year to complete can now be finished by four to five people in just four months. Native reviewers increasingly find “little to no corrections are needed.”
“It’s refreshing to hear people say, ‘It’s much easier now that Yaraku does the first pass.’” (Nakamatsu)
Remaining Challenge: Layout Issues with PowerPoint and PDF
One challenge Antenna mentioned is occasional formatting disruption when translating PowerPoint and PDF files:
“Sometimes the order of segments gets jumbled or unwanted characters appear. We’ve developed workarounds, like converting to Word or Excel first, but we hope to see improvements in this area.” (Matayoshi)
Note: Yaraku Translate continues to update regularly. The July 2025 version already improved PDF layout stability, and work is ongoing for PowerPoint improvements.
Related article: New MT Engines & Higher Translation Limit for Generative AI Translation Engines
Conclusion: AI as a Trusted Partner for Small Teams
For specialized, high-volume technical documents such as U.S. military procurement materials, AI-powered translation is becoming indispensable. For Antenna, a lean but highly skilled team, Yaraku Translate is more than just a tool—it is a partner that supports tasks beyond human capacity alone.
“That sense of dread—‘here we go again’—has been lifted. With Yaraku, there’s a real sense of relief.” (Nakamatsu)
Editor’s Note
The story of Antenna, Ltd. illustrates how Yaraku Translate helps organizations streamline workflows, reduce outsourcing dependence, and maintain consistent quality. Particularly noteworthy is the effective use of translation memory, which turns individual expertise into shared organizational assets. This case highlights the power of human + AI collaboration in achieving faster, higher-quality translation.