株式会社アドアストラ
What is Adastra?
Our company name is derived from the Latin phrase ad astra per aspera, meaning “through hardships, to the stars.” Adastra was founded in 2014 by Mikico Tashima and Jason Morgan. We were hoping to avoid the hardships mentioned in the Weren’t expecting as much hardship when we started our company in 2014, but little did we know of the hardships that awaited us.
In 2016, our third year in business, Kumamoto was struck by a series of powerful earthquakes that damaged much of the city and left Kumamoto Castle in a significant state of disrepair. Much of our tourism work had to be put on hold and we struggled, but survived to grow as a company.
Then, in 2020, COVID-19 spread around the world and interrupted demand for multilingual services as both international trade and tourism were deeply affected by the pandemic. But, as we did with the Kumamoto Earthquakes, we intend to work hard to overcome this hardship and keep our sights set ever higher.
Our Strengths
Communication
We listen to what our clients need and offer advice that goes above and beyond what our clients expect.
People
We are a small company with a large network of linguists, meaning we are able to work flexibly and quickly while handling projects both large and small.
Local
Almost all of our linguists currently live or have lived in Kumamoto. This means we understand the culture, geography, and people of Kumamoto much better than national-level agencies.
Quality
We make sure every translation is done by a native speaker of the target language, and the translated document is checked again by a separate linguist before delivery to the client.
Know-How
We have decades of experience and have done everything from translating personal letters to entire books. We have done one-off, one-person phone interpretation work and we have organized 60+ linguists for massive business expos. There's very little we can't handle.
Adaptability
Our past experience plays a big part in how we operate, but we are extremely flexible to the needs of our clients and the goals of each project.
Our Team
Four people make up our core team. Our strength lies in our network of 60+ linguists, most of whom are located in Kumamoto.
Mikico Tashima
Jason Morgan
Ai Mominoki
Satoko Anai
15 Languages
- Japanese, English, Korean, Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese), Portuguese, Hebrew, French, German, Spanish, Swahili, Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese, etc.
Network of over 60 linguists
- Covering many languages, with special focus on English, Korean, and Chinese
- We use linguists based in and around Kumamoto whenever possible
- We actively seek out and provide work for linguists with children, etc., who may have difficulty with the rigid schedule of full-time work
Locally Focused
- We have worked on projects with over 27 municipalities within Kumamoto Prefecture
- We know Kumamoto better than any other translation agency and are expanding our services throughout Kyushu.
Company Overview
Company Name (Japanese):
株式会社アドアストラ
Company Name (English):
Adastra Co., Ltd.
Address:
Senikku Kuhonji #501, Kuhonji 1-16-6, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto, Japan 862-0976
Email: info@adastra.co.jp
Phone: 096-321-6115
Directors:
Mikico Tashima (Representative Director), Jason Morgan (Representative Director)
Founded on: 1/14/2014
Scope of Business:
Translation, interpretation, inbound tourism, local coordination, web/printed material design, consulting
Some of our clients
Other Stuff We Do
