I'd like to add a little note of caution to those looking to translated Japanese articles for a possible "scoop" on developments. Japanese language being what it is, a hazy-yet-precise mode of communication: misinterpretations abound.
One case in point: one of the Japanese articles for which an English-translated link was posted here last night had my heart racing for a short while, when I saw the kanji character for "takeover" in a phrase which seemed to say that Fujifilm was going to take over Cynata's technology. The English article which was linked here, and which you've no doubt all read, didn't mention anything of the sort. So I dived deep into all the possible interpretations of that phrase, and finally convinced myself that it only seemed to indicate that Fujifilm were going to "utilize" the tech for the purpose of trials, rather than "take over". Be still, my heart! (disclaimer: my Japanese capabilities are beginner level, like pretty much everyone...)
So in this case the translating journalist got it right (presumably, given there was no preceding market announcement. Or?) But what if they hadn't - we'd be having feverish discussions here this morning, no doubt.
I'll say this: I've been reading Japanese news sources for many years, and it's not unusual to see glaring mistranslations, together with astonishing ignorance of cultural differences promulgated by those who work for mainstream Japanese media (I'm referring here to English/US journalists living in Japan, and employed to provide the English-facing content for those media outlets). I'm also continually amazed at the lack of willingness I see amongst the ranks of certain English speakers in Japan to move beyond their inept blundering through the cultural divide. It gets pretty ugly at times, and yet somehow we English speakers manage to be blindly unaware of the ugliness. So please take what you're reading out of the Japan-sourced English articles with a grain of salt, realising that there may be multiple meanings to be derived from certain statements, and you're relying on a single translator who we are hoping knows his/her stuff!
And I can't emphasise enough how important it is to be fully across all the implications of cultural nuance in business when dealing with Japanese companies. It's not merely the bowing and the business cards and the gifts. It runs so so much deeper than that, and if RM & co haven't sought out a cultural mentor yet, to work alongside them as they move towards a deal, it's high time they did. Fujifilm may well be supplying an interpreter for their interactions, but relying on this alone would be naive - it requires so much more than mere language-translation-in-real-time. If they get this wrong, it's gonna be costly.
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