I have been living in this country for 47 years and beside working as a translator am sometimes called as an interpreter (mostly on-site) for assignments where some technical expertise is required.

While I do not hold academic degrees in interpretation and/or translation, having lived and worked in Japan for 47 years gave me a lot of "real-life" experience and familiarity with country and people that cannot be obtained through studies. Assignments as an interpreter involve in most cases assistance of engineers doing presentations, on-site inspections, factory visits or work on construction sites requiring some technical expertise. These situations may also require some understanding of the Japanese working class, since the involved people (engineers etc.) talk and react differently from the presidents and managers of the respective companies. If someone might be looking for something in relation to oriental medicine, I believe there are not so many people who can handle the subject. I do live approximately 2 hours travel away from Tokyo. Assignments of less than 4 hours in places like Tokyo do not really "pay" for me. Unless the customer willing to pay a higher than normal rate.