SunFlare Co., Ltd.

Company overview

SunFlare Co., Ltd. is a long-established translation company founded in 1971. SunFlare’s greatest strength is its ability to handle a wide range of translation subjects. By training professionals at its affiliated SunFlare Academy, the company maintains a network of over 6,000 expert translators who support more than 90 languages across all industries and fields. Another characteristic of SunFlare is its active use of IT, including internally developed systems, to achieve both quality and efficiency by combining customer-specific terminology databases and notation check tools. In recent years, the company has expanded its business beyond translation to peripheral areas such as writing, creative production, research, and training, and continues to grow as a partner supporting the global expansion of various companies.
Since its establishment, the company has been hiring regardless of nationality, and upon reflection, Kiyomi OKANO of the Human Resources Department said: “Due to the nature of the translation business, the number of foreign staff naturally increased. The sensibilities and knowledge unique to native speakers, such as nuances of words and cultural backgrounds, become powerful assets when interacting with overseas companies.”
Ryan HICKS from the United States is one of them. He has loved the special effects of movies such as Godzilla since he was a child, studied Japanese at university, and experienced studying abroad in Japan. After coming to Japan again and working as an English teacher, he came across SunFlare while looking for a job where he could utilize not only English but also Japanese. He comments: “I felt the appeal of being able to support customers while utilizing my language skills.” Currently, Hicks is involved in the construction of “corpora”—databases that serve as the foundation for machine translation engines.

Work-life balance initiatives

The company has a friendly atmosphere where employees naturally talk to each other, and during lunch breaks, they can be seen enjoying meals in parks near the office. When exhibiting at trade shows, employees create booths with themes such as “café style” or “festival style” and have fun participating.
However, respecting each employee’s circumstances such as childcare and nursing care, interaction outside of work is not forced. The mindset of separating work and private life is also reflected in the result of average overtime hours being less than 10 hours. Okano comments: “Because we do order-based work, there is overtime depending on the period, but it is kept to a minimum by people around giving busy employees a hand. Many employees can work while watching the movements of the entire team, and a culture of helping each other has taken root.”
Consideration for employees raising children is also generous, and there is a track record of many employees taking childcare leave regardless of gender or nationality. Hicks also took it for about a year. He states: “My child was born earlier than the due date, but with the company’s understanding, I was able to start childcare leave earlier. Furthermore, after my child’s birth, the COVID-19 pandemic occurred while I was staying at my wife’s parents’ home in Vietnam, and we could not return to Japan for a long time. I returned to work during that time, but it was helpful that they allowed me to work remotely from overseas.” Another highlight is the option to work reduced hours until one's child finishes third grade. This helps parents overcome the “first-grade barrier”—a common challenge in Japan where balancing work and childcare becomes more difficult after a child starts elementary school. There was also a challenge in that few people could handle orders in the evening, but the company is proceeding with such operations while devising various measures, such as by utilizing working from home and a system that allows taking leave in two-hour units.

Human resource development initiatives

At SunFlare, where most employees join with no experience, a system is in place to train each individual within the company. After learning about the industry and the company through in-house training, they acquire practical skills through OJT. This is because it is necessary to customize the process in detail for each customer and project, and this cannot be taught fully with manuals. A culture of teaching juniors thoroughly has taken root, so new employees can rest assured that they can ask questions without hesitation. Upon reflection, Hicks also said: “I was really surprised because no matter how many times I asked questions, no one got angry.”
There are also many chances to expand one’s career. For example, because of the company's customer assignment system, it is possible to dig deeper into needs and connect them with additional proposals. There is also a case where, when a client company could no longer conduct on-site training due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SunFlare proposed the production of training videos instead of training materials. Also, since various tasks are assigned, discovering the appeal of new areas is also a merit. Hicks also deepened his understanding after being entrusted with work related to AI, and now it is said that “when it comes to AI, ask Ryan.”
“There are absolutely no limits on promotion or assignment to projects based on nationality,” said Okano. There are multiple foreign employees in management positions, and an environment is in place where employees can be promoted regardless of nationality. Perhaps because of this, more than 70% of the approximately 20 foreign employees have continued working for more than five years. Hicks also smiled and said: “This environment, where I can work stably, suits me.”

Message from our top executive

Human Resources Section, Human Resources Department / Kiyomi OKANO

"With the emergence of generative AI, the translation industry is facing a major turning point. While aiming to further improve translation efficiency and quality through the use of translation tools and generative AI, we will support the global expansion of companies in the future by leveraging our strengths in areas such as writing and creative production.
Our company tends to be perceived as being serious and formal, but in reality, we have an open corporate culture where employees candidly help each other. If you wish to utilize your knowledge of your home country's language and culture not only for your own work but also to help your colleagues, let's work together."

Message from foreign talent

Project Manager / Ryan HICKS(USA)

My current goal is to acquire the PMP (Project Management Professional) international qualification for project management and acquire a more efficient and high-quality way of working. Eventually, I would like to be promoted to section manager and become a person who can oversee American customers.
Public transportation is well developed in Tokyo, and there are plenty of parks, museums, and other things to enjoy. Tokyo provides an environment that is easy for children to learn and live in, and it is the perfect city to enjoy both work and daily life. Please come and give it a try.