Leadership Corner: Joanne Ninomiya
Interviewed by Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
Name: Joanne Ninomiya
Age: 63
Title: President
Organization: JN Productions Inc.
High school: Roosevelt
College: Bachelor of arts in Japanese language, University of Hawai'i-Manoa; some coursework at Keio University in Tokyo.
Breakthrough job: Joining KIKU TV (now KHNL) in 1967.
Little-known fact: Ninomiya loves to cook. Her specialities include an Okinawan potato salad and Fuji apple pie. She also washes her rice — high-quality, short-grain — with bottled water. "It really makes a difference," she said.
Major challenge: "Finding a suitable work environment for my staff and video production company," Ninomiya said. Her immediate challenge is having a nine-volume DVD box manufactured. It has to be custom-made and no one in Hawai'i manufactures them, she said.
Q. You founded JN Productions Inc. in 1981, starting with producing commercials and broadcasting Japanese language programs on cable. Now, JNP is a full-service video production house servicing various global clients with the capability to translate videos in English, Japanese and Chinese. Where has JNP seen its biggest growth?
A. Taking on high-end Japanese (productions) into English translations in the field of manga and anime. This market is growing by leaps and bounds in the U.S. It's the third largest export from Japan now. Locally, with the Japanese tourist market coming back, we have lots of opportunities to produce video and DVD for retailers and organizations who sell to this market.
Q. How are Japanese manga (comic books) and anime (animated shows) different than American-style cartoons?
A. It's a different drawing style. The Japanese work is very intricate, they're very artistic people. The storylines and humor are different, too.
Q. The themes and plots of these stories are heavily tied into Japanese culture and history. Yet, anime and manga found a following in America, especially Hawai'i. What has the industry done in Japan to make itself more marketable to an American audience?
A. Because it's such a large industry in Japan, now the trend is to make the themes a little more universal. They have the audience in mind more.
Q. Is it difficult to find people who know enough about the details of the Japanese culture and language to make accurate translations into English?
A. We always laugh about that. It's hard to find people (who can do this). Most of my translators have been with me for more than 20 years. Now it's more difficult to find good translators. Most of ours are local- or Mainland-born but who have a background in the Japanese language, have lived in Japan and know how to write (in Japanese).
Q. JNP produced training videos for high-end retailers that marketed to Japanese visitors during the '80s and '90s. Are you still producing these videos now that the Japanese are returning to the Islands?
A. Not so much now but (Japanese) tourists are just coming back so I imagine that retailers and those marketing to the Asian tourists eventually will want them again.
Q. Do you think these training videos will become important when Chinese visitors start coming to Hawai'i?
A. I think (this area of our company) is going to grow because China with its economy growing and its population becoming more affluent, I'm sure they'll come here. ... When the Chinese start coming, it's going to be interesting, especially with the training that will need to be done.
Q. How did you get involved in Japanese translations?
A. Because of my background in Japanese television. I used to do all the buying for the Japanese stations, then of course you had to do all the subtitling for that. I was always interested in Japanese language and culture and history. Then I found so many people here that with Japanese backgrounds were interested in the same things I was interested in. It all started to fall into place.
Q. How did Japanese productions gain such worldwide popularity in such a short amount of time?
A. Because TV networks in Japan were so ambitious, they wanted to sell their products elsewhere. They entered a lot of festivals and contests. They started off entering their drama and animation in Cannes (Film Festival). ... This started 30 years ago. Of course, for the Japanese to sell to a whole (continent), like Europe, the money is so much greater. But because Americans have a hard time relating to the culture, it's easier for the Japanese to sell to the Arabs, Europeans, Chinese. But basically the translations still have to be done (from Japanese) into English before they're sold, because everybody understands English. Then each country can translate (the production into its own language).
Q. Why do you think Japanese films are embraced by the European market more easily than the American market?
A. I guess the mannerism and maybe the appreciation for history and the fine arts are the same. Because of their long histories — America is only 200 years old —ÊEuropeans and Japanese respect traditions and history ... It's hard for Americans to understand.
Q. What do you find so fascinating about the Japanese culture?
A. They want to do everything perfectly, even their food. ... They have this long tradition and rich culture. Sometimes it holds you back because they have to have it a certain way. And it's just not practical by our standards and the way Americans live. But it's taught us and I try to tell the staff that we don't cut corners. Because we work so much with the Japanese, our work has to be nothing less than perfect. That's the way they expect it. Of course that's true for any business, no matter who you supply, you have to send in a perfect product. But it's those little things (the Japanese) do.
