Nathaniel Guy

Software Research and Development Lead
Astroscale Japan, Inc.
’05 Georgetown University Japanese and Computer Science
​Goiryoku blog: https://goiryoku.club
Favorite Word: お土産話

Back in high school in the late ‘90s, I developed an interest in a number of languages—Spanish, French, and ultimately Japanese—and Japanese was by far the most difficult, fascinating, and beautiful language I had ever encountered. I decided to major in Japanese at Georgetown University, which ended up being one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life. I fell more in love with the language, and using it every day filled me with joy. Combining it with Computer Science to make a double-major gave the language useful context and made sure I never had to suffer the curse of too much free time.

In 2003, I went to Nagoya to spend a year abroad studying Japanese at Nanzan University. After I returned from this transformative year, I rededicated myself to learning the language in-depth, passing the JLPT Level 1 and looking for jobs where I would be able to use and develop my skills. I took a job at Nintendo of America, in Redmond, Washington, as a bilingual software engineer.
At Nintendo, I took my professional and technical Japanese skills to a much higher level than before. I translated technical e-mails, interpreted at important meetings, and helped Japanese developers understand the American market. I even got the opportunity to meet childhood idols like Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto. I also spent three years fulfilling another childhood dream: to be a Japanese-to-English video game translator. I translated the text for major titles like Tales of Vesperia, Monster Hunter Tri, and many others. This type of translation let me exercise my creative skills and really challenged my abilities; translating jokes was the hardest and most rewarding part of the experience!

In 2013, I went back to graduate school for aerospace engineering, motivated by a desire to work in the space industry. My Nintendo experience, industry connections, and language skills helped me find internships at NASA, SpaceX, and the Hakuto Lunar XPRIZE team—the latter of which was located at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. At Hakuto’s lab in Sendai, I built and tested an actual lunar rover with fellow engineers, many of them Japanese. My language skills helped immensely with communication and collaboration, and generally enriched the whole experience. After this, I worked at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory for over two years as a software engineer, where I built 3D software that rover drivers will use to understand and control the next generation of rovers we’ll send to Mars. I also got to work closely with Japanese engineers and even had the opportunity to give a private demo of my projects for visitors from the Japanese space exploration agency, JAXA.

In 2018, I moved to Tokyo and joined a space industry start-up called Astroscale. At Astroscale, I work on revolutionary software for custom satellites that will help clear space debris from Earth’s orbit. I use Japanese every day for presentations and technical discussions, and even gave a guest lecture in Japanese at Tokyo University about space industry technology.
My study of the Japanese language has changed my life and afforded me opportunities that I never would have had otherwise. It remains a core part of my being, and I’m extremely glad that I started this journey over 20 years ago.