Alexander O. Smith

Alexander O. Smith is a professional Japanese to English translator and author. While his output covers many areas such as adaptation of Japanese novels, manga, song lyrics, anime scripts, and various academic works, he is best known for his software localizations of Japanese video games including Vagrant Story, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and Final Fantasy XII. He currently resides in Kamakura, Japan, where he operates his own contract localization business, Kajiya Productions, and is co-founder of a translation and publishing company, Bento Books.

Biography Smith first gained an interest in Japanese after attending an exchange program in northern China. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Japanese from Dartmouth College/Keio University in 1995, and a Master of Arts degree in Classical Japanese Literature from Harvard University in 1998. Just before graduation, he interned at Sega, during which he was asked to perform voice-over for Winter Heat. His first work in translation was as a subtitler for Japanese television dramas. Smith joined Square after earning his master's degree, working as part of Richard Honeywood's nascent localization team. On his first project, Final Fantasy VIII, he and the other translators were not given access to the game files; they were instead forced to hack in their new dialogue using GameSharks during testing. In 1999, he worked as the main English translator for Yasumi Matsuno's Vagrant Story. Reviewers noted the high quality of the English script, in which Smith utilized various archaic English idioms and slang that distinguished the game from its straightforward Japanese counterpart. His last major work as a Square employee was on Final Fantasy X, for which he was awarded "Best Localization" of 2001 by RPGamer.

Smith left Square in 2002 to found Kajiya Productions—a freelance translation and localization company—with Joseph Reeder, his co-translator on Final Fantasy XII, though he would continue to collaborate on Square and Square Enix titles. By working as a contractor, he found that he had better access to the development team to aid in his translation process, free from the fetters of corporate communication protocols. Smith joined the Final Fantasy XII project after Yasumi Matsuno, the original director, had left and was not able to collaborate on the script with him directly, unlike with Vagrant Story. Principal voice recording took place over eight weeks, with months of translation work both before and after that. Smith worked with Matsuno again on the 2011 PlayStation Portable remake of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (titled Wheel of Fortune), which received a brand new translation. In 2011, Smith co-founded a book translation and publishing company called Bento Books with his friend Tony Gonzalez and his Kajiya Productions partner Joseph Reeder. The company's first major work was Math Girls, a mathematics-themed young adult novel by Hiroshi Yuki. For both of these titles, Smith relied on Matsuno's dense notes on the world's backstory to capture subtle and implied connections and preserve the rich texture of the game.

Works

Video games TitleYearPlatform(s)Notes Winter Heat 1997 Sega Saturn Cast & narration 428: Shibuya Scramble 2018 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 Editor Ori and the Will of the Wisps 2020 Microsoft Windows, Xbox One Writer Humanity 2023 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 Writer

Other works TitleYearMediumOriginal author Notes Guin Saga 2003–2008 Novel Kaoru Kurimoto Novel series; translated with Elye Alexander Samurai Deeper Kyo 2004–2007 Manga Akimine Kamijyo Volumes 6–21; translated with Rich Amtower Shaolin Sisters 2005 Manga Narumi Kakinouchi Volumes 1–5; translated with Rich Amtower Dr. Slump 2005–2009 Manga Akira Toriyama Translated with Rich Amtower Fullmetal Alchemist 2005–2007 Novel Makoto Inoue Light novel series; translated with Rich Amtower The Twelve Kingdoms 2007–2010 Novel Fuyumi Ono Light novel series; translated with Elye Alexander Brave Story 2007 Novel Miyuki Miyabe Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation 2007–2010 Manga Yoshiyuki Nishi Cowa! 2008 Manga Akira Toriyama All You Need Is Kill 2009 Novel Hiroshi Sakurazaka The Summer of the Ubume 2009 Novel Natsuhiko Kyogoku Translated with Elye Alexander and Amanda Jun Katsurada The Book of Heroes 2010 Novel Miyuki Miyabe Harmony 2010 Novel Project Itoh The Devotion of Suspect X 2011 Novel Keigo Higashino Translated with Elye Alexander Rocket Girls 2: The Last Planet 2011 Novel Hōsuke Nojiri ICO: Castle in the Mist 2011 Novel Miyuki Miyabe 10 Billion Days & 100 Billion Nights 2011 Novel Ryu Mitsuse Translated with Elye Alexander Salvation of a Saint 2012 Novel Keigo Higashino Translated with Elye Alexander Malice 2014 Novel Keigo Higashino Journey Under the Midnight Sun 2015 Novel Keigo Higashino A Midsummer's Equation: a Detective Galileo novel 2016 Novel Keigo Higashino