Alexander O. Smith

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Alexander O. Smith (born February 8, 1973) is a professional English / Japanese 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. Smith is multilingual, with fluency in English and Japanese, basic knowledge of Chinese, Cantonese, Korean, Dutch, and French, and reading knowledge of Anglo Saxon, Old Norse, Classical Chinese, and Classical Japanese. He currently resides in Mitaka, Tokyo, where he operates his own contract localization business, Kajiya Productions.

Born in Vermont, Smith obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Asian Studies from Dartmouth College/Keio University in 1995, and a Master of Arts degree in Classical Japanese Literature from Harvard University in 1998. He began working for video game designer Square Co. in the late 1990s, working as part of the localization team for several games, including Final Fantasy VIII, Chocobo's Dungeon 2, Front Mission 3, and Parasite Eve 2. In 1999, he worked as the main English translator for Vagrant Story. Reviewers noted the high quality of the English script, in which Smith utilized various anachronistic English idioms and slang that distinguished the game from its straightforward Japanese counterpart. In addition to working as a translator for Square Enix, Smith has worked for Bowne Global Solutions (later acquired by Lionbridge), where he was contracted to work on several other video game localizations, including Bloody Roar 3, Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

As a translator, Smith frequently employs both Japanese and American pop culture references. The English script for Final Fantasy X referenced the Macarena, while the dialogue of the character "Sal Manella" from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was presented entirely in leet-speak. Smith's familiarity with Japanese language and culture has been utilized outside of video games, as well, including the Kamigawa block of collectible card game Magic: the Gathering, which references the Japanese Shinto religion.

In addition to his work as a translator, Smith has also occasionally worked as a video game voice actor, usually in minor roles. In addition to providing English lyrics for two songs on The Skies Above, the second album of the band The Black Mages, he performed the spoken intro to the song "Maybe I'm a Lion" on that album. He also wrote the lyrics to "Otherworld" from Final Fantasy X as well. He has served as the assistant voice director for Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2. He has also translated "Eternity" on the Blue Dragon Original Soundtrack, composed by Nobuo Uematsu.