Welcome to the HICOM Website

Hokkaido has many skilled interpreters to meet a wide variety of interpreting needs. This page is intended to give you an idea of what to expect when hiring an interpreter in terms of fees and labor guidelines.

I. Standard interpreting charges(units are in Japanese yen)Note: Rates shown do not include taxes.

General interpreting(business negotiations, inspection tours, parties, etc.)

1day half day each additional hour
45,000 35,000 7,000

Tour guide interpreting

1day half day each additional hour
35,000 20,000 5,000

Conference interpreting(specialized conventions, seminars, lectures)

1day half day each additional hour
70,000 45,000 12,000

Simultaneous interpreting

Class A interpreting

1day half day each additional hour
100,000 67,000 16,000

Class B interpreting

1day half day each additional hour
72,000 48,000 12,000

※Payment: Cash upon completion of interpreting work.
We cannot accept payment by credit cards.

II. How to determine fee categories

Time restrictions

1. One day should be understood as being up to and no more than seven working hours. Anything more will be charged according to the additional hourly rate.

2. Half day should be understood as being up to and no more than three hours either before noon or after noon. If an interpreting job that began in the morning continues into the afternoon, the full day fee will be charged.

3. When an interpreting job stretches over the lunch period, one hour should be allowed for a lunch recess. But this hour will not be included in the calculation of total working hours.

4. If an interpreting job stretches over the lunch period and a lunch meeting takes place during that time at which the interpreter's services are needed, extra fees according to the additional hourly rate will be charged.

Early morning and Late evening fees

1. Early morning (from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.) work will be charged 25% above and beyond the standard fees.

2. Late evening (8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.) work will be charged 25% above and beyond the standard fees.

3. Through the night (10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.) work will be charged 50% above and beyond the standard fees.

Business Travel Fees

1. If the interpreter has to leave his or her town of residence for less than a full day's work and the total of travel time and actual work time is within three hours, the charge will be equivalent to the half day fee. If the total exceeds three hours, the full day fee will be charged. However, if the total of travel time and actual work time exceeds 8 hours, a travel fee amounting to 50% of the half day fee will be added to the standard fee.

2. If the interpreter has to leave his or her town of residence for more than a day, the following business travel fees will be added to the standard fee.

1. 50% of the half day fee if travel time (including waiting for connections) before and after the meeting date is less than four hours each way.

2. 50% of the full day fee if travel time (including waiting for connections) before and after the meeting date exceeds four hours each way.

3. When calculating travel time, residents of Sapporo city shall consider the Sapporo JR Train Station as their starting point. Interpreters residing in towns other than Sapporo will consider their starting point to be the nearest base of public transportation.

4. An allowance of \5,000 to \7,000 per day will be added to the standard fee for meals and other incidental expenses.

Cancellation charges

If a job is canceled after being contracted for, a cancellation fee will be charged as follows:

1. 10% of the estimated charges for the job if cancellation is made up to two weeks in advance.

2. 30% of the estimated charges for the job if cancellation is made 4~7 days in advance.

3. 50% of the estimated charges for the job if cancellation is made 2~3 days in advance.

4. 100% of the estimated charges for the job if cancellation occurs on the day prior to or on the starting date of the job.

Preliminary meetings

The client will be charged for any preliminary meetings which the interpreter must attend before the start of the actual interpreting job at the same rate as for actual working hours.

Taxi charges

When the interpreter is required to travel in the early morning or late evening (after 9 p.m.) the actual taxi fare will be added to the standard fee.

The standard fee for interpretation between languages other than English and Japanese will be 20 - 30% more than the standard fee stated above.

III. The number of interpreters

1. In regard to simultaneous interpreting, a job that takes no longer than three hours requires the presence of two interpreters. A job exceeding three hours requires the presence of 3 - 4 interpreters.

2. In regard to consecutive interpreting, one interpreter in addition to the one performing at any one time is required for a half-day job. 3~4 interpreters in addition to the interpreter performing at any one time are required for longer jobs.

3. At seminars and similar functions, if one interpreter is to provide consecutive interpreting, he or she will require a rest break every 50~90 minutes.

4. When there are numerous presenters at a meeting, there will be a need for preliminary meetings and two interpreters will be required.

IV. The scope of interpreting duties

The duty of an interpreter is to interpret only. If a translator (for written material) is required, the services of a translator should be secured separately or according to a separate contract with the interpreter, in which case a translator's fee should also be paid to that interpreter. Public relations or any work other than actual interpreting are not to be considered a part of the interpreter's duty.

V. The interpreters association

This association will not involve itself in a contract between the client and the interpreter. The contract must be made between the client and the interpreter only and any trouble arising between the two parties must be solved by themselves.

Contact information

When you send an E-mail, please replace "Ⓐ" with "@".

For more information and inquiries about our interpretation service
Contact person Sunny Izumi
Location Sapporo, Japan
Email info-chairⒶhi-com.org
For inquiries about our medical interpretation services
Email medicalⒶhi-com.org
For inquiries about our translation services
Email translationⒶhi-com.org