Magma Far East facilitates lasting international business partnerships that generate results.

 
 
 
Engaging with Victor Cha, former National Security Council Director for Asian Affairs.

Victor Cha, former National Security Council Director for Asian Affairs.

Doing business with partners in Eurasia can be vastly profitable. At Magma Far East, we forge powerful and enduring international business relationships based on clear understanding and respect.

We go well beyond helping you understand what your international partners are saying. Magma Far East enables the shared understanding of intentions, assumptions, and expectations between Western and Eurasian organizations and professionals.

Whether you represent a government office, business, or non-governmental organization, we facilitate and enhance clear communication with your Eurasian business partners to produce lasting relationships that generate results.

 
 
Matthew was adept at negotiating with American organizations while keeping in mind Japanese and American cultural expectations, backgrounds, and means of communication. He demonstrated understanding of the various barriers of communication between Japan and the US and succeeded in negotiating challenging contracts.

— Mikiko Nakayama, Sales Representative, Toyo Rice Corporation
 

 

Our Services

  • Liaison

  • Representation

  • Mediation

  • Solve systemic problems challenging the international partnerships of our client organizations from within

  • Market entry consultation

  • Translation

  • Interpretation, consecutive and simultaneous

  • Multilingual native level writing and editing

  • Research

  • Apologies

 
In front of the U.N. Security Coucil.

The U.N. Security Council.

 

 

Work Examples

 
 
MMA.jpeg

Interpreting for Yuki Kawan

Professional MMA Fighter

 
 

Identifying for a NYC tech startup why their contract with a large Japanese insurance company had not produced its intended results after eight months. We facilitated a working solution in three days.

Coordinating a survey of 200 Japanese NGOs on behalf of an international women’s rights organization. We translated the questionnaire into Japanese and oversaw data quality control, preserving the integrity of survey answers and enabling the organization to effectively support community needs.

Develop and deliver the type of apologies that are vital in Eurasian cultures. We support the creation of communication that enable relationships to grow.

My Story

 
 

I was born, raised, and educated in Nara, Japan, by two American parents to age 23. My childhood years were spent exploring bamboo forests, rice paddies, and centuries old Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines surrounding my countryside home with neighborhood Japanese friends and my two younger brothers.

My intellectual curiosity was guided under my two academic parents - my father a Chinese art historian and my mother a translator of Japanese literature. East Asian classics such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the works of author Ryotaro Shiba were some of my favorite books growing up in the ancient capital of Japan.

Previous positions include manager of the Manhattan branch of an import/export firm representing the Japanese Self Defense Force to working frontlines in Sendai 2011, aiding tsunami refugees for Japan International Food for the Hungry. As U.N. reporter for The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s most circulated newspaper, I received a letter of recommendation from then U.N. Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon. An honor I consider the pride of my life.

Having provided consulting services for corporate executive teams, international NGOs, and law firms, my interpretation has received multiple recognitions from organizations such as The Walt Disney Company. I have also worked as the simultaneous Japanese interpreter for the DOJ and Homeland Security, contracted through SOSi.

I received my Bachelor of Arts Dean’s List from the University of Washington in Law, Politics, and Economy after studying Political Science and Law at Doshisha University in Kyoto, one of Japan’s oldest universities. I also received my Master of Arts in International Policy: Security from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.  

My articles on the geopolitics of Eurasia have been published by Stratfor, a leading geopolitical risk analysis firm, among other publications. My articles and blog all on this website.