Besides translating from English to Japanese, I also provide translations from Japanese to English although I am a Japanese native speaker.
Let me talk about the rule “native-only.” Those in the translating community agree that a translator should only translate into one’s native language because this results in better quality and accurate. I totally agree with the idea if the translation of the language pair is between fixed-word-order languages, for example, from English to French or from French to English. Having said that, however, Japanese has significant cultural and linguistic differences to western countries.
Needless
to say, a translator working into his or her native language is less likely to
make grammatical errors, and is more likely to be able to produce text in the
desired style of the target language and/or market. However, the availability
of such English native translators who are capable of translating from Japanese to English is
very limited and therefore they charge high prices for their service.
Conversely, a translator working from his or her native language is less likely to make mistakes in comprehension of the source text (I personally think that this aspect is more important than how a text is produced in the desired style of the target language.) However, he or she is more likely to make grammatical errors and to be limited in his or her command of syntax and style in producing the translation. Some non-native writers are still capable of producing fine text, and this is what I am aiming for.
Conversely, a translator working from his or her native language is less likely to make mistakes in comprehension of the source text (I personally think that this aspect is more important than how a text is produced in the desired style of the target language.) However, he or she is more likely to make grammatical errors and to be limited in his or her command of syntax and style in producing the translation. Some non-native writers are still capable of producing fine text, and this is what I am aiming for.
As mentioned, due
to the small number of native English speakers who understand Japanese well
enough to translate it, the Japanese to English translation market is dominated
by native Japanese speakers who translate out of our native Japanese into
English. I am also one of them.
