{"id":83535,"date":"2026-03-18T16:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T07:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yaraku.com\/?p=83535"},"modified":"2026-03-18T16:48:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T07:48:55","slug":"yarakujin-rina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yaraku.com\/en\/news\/yarakujin-rina\/","title":{"rendered":"To Maximize \u201cEnjoyment\u201d at Work: A Linguist\u2019s Career Vision and Yaraku\u2019s Open Culture of Authenticity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The “Yaraku-Jin” (People of Yaraku) series explores the essence of Yaraku and Yaraku Translate by focusing on the people involved\u2014our team members, customers who use Yaraku Translate, and our partners. This time, we spoke with Rina Watanabe, who handles Internal Communications and is a Linguist in the HR & General Affairs team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you do at Yaraku?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I work as an Internal Communications and Linguist. Specifically, I build our internal portal site, suggest appropriate wording for back-office request workflows, create interview articles, and translate product UI text. While I belong to the HR and GA team, I feel like a bit of a “free agent,” collaborating with various teams across the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Linguist” is a title we don’t hear often in Japan. How did you come to have that title?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Actually, I originally worked at Yaraku as a part-timer. When I was offered a regular employee position last year, the invitation was: “Would you like to try Internal Communications?” At that point, I was already convinced that I could grow comfortably at Yaraku, so I definitely wanted to take the opportunity. However, having “Internal Communications” as my only title didn’t feel quite right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted to contribute to the company specifically through language, and I had already been given tasks that allowed me to do that during my time as a part-timer. So, I asked my manager, “Could you add ‘Linguist’ to my title?” and gratefully, both she and the company accepted it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 So that\u2019s how it happened. Specifically, what kind of work do you do as an Internal Communications\/Linguist?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
From what I hear, a linguist is defined as someone proficient in languages who acts as a professional regardless of the genre. Personally, I feel that a major part of my job involves creating that awareness for using language more precisely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, when we had the phrase ‘Removing language barriers,’ I proposed an alternative like ‘Communicating across languages,’ which avoids negative connotations and adds a more ‘Yaraku-ish’ feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, on the internal portal, there was a page titled ‘\u7d50\u5a5a\u3057\u305f\u3089\u884c\u3046\u624b\u7d9a\u304d,’ and the English translation was ‘Things To Do After Your Marriage.’ I realized this could potentially be read as ‘after the marriage ends,’ which could mean after a divorce, so I suggested ‘Things To Do After Getting Married.’ Proactively choosing words while considering their literal meaning, their modern context, and the people receiving them is my role, and it is exactly where I enjoy exercising my strengths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Since most of us work remotely at Yaraku and have fewer opportunities for face-to-face interaction, it\u2019s crucial to verbalize and share information so that everyone can stay on the same page. Rina-san\u2019s work as a linguist is truly the cornerstone for smooth internal information sharing!)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking Ownership of the Company<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Did you feel any gap when transitioning to a full-time employee?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Rather than a ‘gap,’ it felt more like I was stepping deeper into the company. When I was working part-time, I felt a bit of a barrier, partly because part-timers don\u2019t usually participate in our quarterly onsite Meetups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have always worked as a freelance translator. When I was part-time for Yaraku, translation was at the center of my career, and I viewed the company as a place that offered various opportunities, and as another source of income in exchange for my time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since I was hired as a short-time regular employee, I\u2019ve gotten to know the company much better, and I feel like I\u2019ve truly started to take ownership of my role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
(At the October 2025 Meetup)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are your goals at Yaraku?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I want to build Yaraku\u2019s linguistic assets. I want to create data and guidelines so that no matter who writes, the text feels “distinctly Yaraku.” I also want to create more opportunities for people to realize the power of words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What specific things have you done to build these linguistic assets?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
For example, I developed a style guide for writing portal pages and a text guide for making announcements to all members on Slack. By establishing these, I feel a shift in the mindset of those sending information\u2014from “just writing it” to “pausing to think about how to write so it truly gets across.” I believe staff members are now able to receive simpler, more sufficient information, making it easier for them to tackle those sometimes tedious back-office applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What inspired you to pursue translation even before joining Yaraku?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I really enjoyed going to after-school English classes when I was in 4th grade. That experience led me to choose a university that offered study abroad programs, and I went to England during my second year. When I came back in my third year, the Translation Studies class I took with Yamada-sensei (Professor at Rikkyo University & Evangelist at Yaraku) was so incredibly interesting. From there, I joined a translation seminar and thought, “Translation is my career!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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