IWAMOTO ARCHIVAL PROCESS GROUP
ARCHIVE REFERENCE
BR-1878-0248
COLLECTION
Business or Corporate Records
CREATOR
Iwamoto Jirō
DATE
Meiji 11 (1878)
ACCESS
Reference for The Street had no Name
BUSINESS OR CORPORATE RECORDS
On the Establishment of Translation Within the House
Meiji 11 (1878)
The matter of language, and of its proper handling, is to be regarded as essential to the continued strength and advancement of the Iwamoto ki.
It is not to be treated as an auxiliary function, nor as a dependency upon external parties, but as a capability to be established and maintained within the House itself.
In recent years, the volume of foreign material entering the country has increased steadily.
This includes technical documents, mechanical specifications, instructional texts and commercial correspondence.
Such materials arrive with precision in their own language, yet when mediated through others they become subject to delay, omission and error.
In matters of trade and manufacture, even minor inaccuracies carry consequence.
Where the House relies upon external translators, it places itself at a remove from the source.
Knowledge is filtered.
Interpretation is uncontrolled.
Timing is determined by others.
This introduces uncertainty into both judgement and action.
It is the position of the House that such uncertainty should be reduced wherever it is practicable to do so.
By establishing translation within the ki, the House gains direct access to the language of foreign works.
Technical documents may be read in full, without reduction.
Instructions may be followed as written.
Correspondence may be conducted without mediation.
In this, both speed and accuracy are improved, and the House is no longer required to defer to the understanding of others.
Of particular importance is the application of this capability to the acquisition and use of foreign technologies.
Where machinery, processes or methods are imported, their value depends upon correct understanding.
Partial knowledge leads to misuse.
Approximation leads to inefficiency.
With proper translation, the House may adopt such technologies fully and with confidence.
Further, early and correct adoption creates advantage.
Where others hesitate, or proceed through error, the House may move with clarity.
The knowledge gained through this process need not remain solely for internal use.
It may be ordered, retained and, where appropriate, extended outward as a service.
In this, the House does not merely employ foreign knowledge.
It becomes a point through which such knowledge is made usable to others.
Commercial dealings are likewise strengthened.
Direct correspondence with foreign companies permits clearer negotiation, firmer terms and reduced dependence upon intermediaries.
The position of the House is thereby strengthened in both understanding and standing.
For these reasons, the establishment of a translation function within the Iwamoto ki is to be regarded as necessary.
Its work is to be conducted with discipline and accuracy, and its output treated as a matter of record.
In time, this capability is to be expanded through the training of others, so that it may serve every branch of the House.
The advantage gained through language is seldom immediate in appearance, but it is cumulative in effect.
If maintained with care, it will extend to every undertaking of the ki.
CREATOR
Yūko Saitō
DATE
Reiwa 5 (2023)
ACCESS
Reference for The Street had no Name
ARCHIVAL NOTE
Reiwa 5 (2023)
The addendum authored by Iwamoto Jirō concerning the establishment of translation within the House is to be regarded as an early and highly deliberate articulation of control through understanding.
At a time when foreign knowledge entered Japan largely through mediated channels, Jirō recognised that language itself constituted both a barrier and an instrument.
His position—that the House should possess this instrument internally—demonstrates a clarity of judgement uncommon outside formal state departments of the period.
In the late 1870s and early 1880s, organised translation capability remained primarily the domain of government ministries and associated institutions.
Within private enterprise, there are few documented examples of translation being established as a structured, in-house function at so early a stage.
The decision taken by the Iwamoto ki therefore stands apart, both in its timing and in its intent.
That this decision coincided with the arrival of Iwamoto Eiji and Iwamoto Chiyu proved to be of considerable consequence.
Eiji’s command of English and German, together with Chiyu’s command of English and French, later extended through her study of Italian, provided the House with immediate capability across the principal languages of industrial and commercial exchange.
Their combined knowledge enabled direct engagement with technical, mechanical and commercial texts without reliance upon intermediaries.
The practical effect of this arrangement was twofold.
Internally, the ki was able to adopt foreign technologies with a level of precision uncommon for the period.
In the fields of weaving, printing, metalworking and woodworking—each increasingly influenced by steam-powered processes—accurate translation ensured correct installation, operation and refinement.
This reduced inefficiency, limited error and accelerated institutional competence.
Externally, the knowledge thus acquired did not remain confined to the House.
Through its commercial arm, particularly in association with Okada Shōten, the Iwamoto ki was able to extend this capability to its customers.
Where machinery and industrial processes were supplied, the ki could provide not only the physical technology, but also the interpretation and instruction necessary to render it effective.
Translation thereby became more than a support function.
It became a value-bearing service.
It is the position of this office that the establishment of the translation function, as set out in Jirō’s addendum, contributed materially to the expansion of the ki between 1878 and 1900.
The growth observed during this period—across multiple industrial sectors and in the securing of governmental contracts—corresponds closely with the advantages conferred by early, accurate and controlled access to foreign knowledge.
In retrospect, Jirō’s assertion that language would yield cumulative advantage is borne out by the historical record.
What began as a practical necessity became a structural strength.
Today, the Iwamoto Corporation continues this principle through its Global Services Division, which maintains internal capability across the principal languages of international commerce.
Its continuing independence from external translation services represents a direct continuity of practice traceable to Jirō’s original addendum.
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