Honyaku Cloud → HonyakuOS™︎
A New Chapter for Our Language Services Platform
What began nearly a decade ago as a simple internal system has grown into a platform used by global teams across education, energy, government, and the arts. In 2024, we transitioned from "Honyaku Cloud" to HonyakuOS™, reflecting the maturity and modularity of the system we've built.
HonyakuOS™ is now more than just a tool for translation—it’s a multilingual content operations platform to bring consistency to clients' verbal identity across languages. Clients can manage their tone of voice across departments and regions, build and refine their termbases and translation memories, and tap into curated data, editorial oversight, and our proprietary Shunyaku™︎ AI tool—all from a single interface.
We’ve brought all messaging stakeholders—requesters, managers, linguists, and reviewers—into one system with clearer workflows, automations, and real-time feedback loops. The result has been greater consistency, faster turnaround, and stronger collaboration.
We’re continuing to expand functionality in 2025 with more robust editorial tools, clearer permission tiers, and better support for in-house content teams working across languages.
14-54 & Local Businesses: Renovated & Reimagined
14-54, our community and hospitality space in Towada, reopened this spring after two months of renovations. The entrance now features a beautiful new bar designed using a piece by artist-architect Quynh Vantu, and the layout of the entire space has been reimagined to better support day-to-night programming.
We’ve already hosted dozens of public and private events in the new space, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Under head pizzaiolo and bartender Mariano Perozzino, the pizzeria and cocktail bar menus have both expanded, and revenue is up significantly compared to the same period last year. More importantly, the space feels like it’s being used the way we always hoped it would: by locals, visitors, artists, and entrepreneurs alike.
We also continue to collaborate closely with the Towada Art Center just down the street and host its public Reading Room inside 14-54. We have made the entire building more inviting and accessible to those dropping in for pizza or drinks, attending an event or workshop, or looking to connect with people in the community.
Interest in slow travel and off-the-beaten-path destinations continued to grow in 2024, and our two hospitality properties in Aomori—Yakeyama House near the Oirase Gorge and YADO by 14-54 in downtown Towada—benefited from this renewed curiosity.
Occupancy across both properties increased more than 10% year-on-year. We’ve continued to focus on promoting longer stays, offering discounts for week- and month-long bookings, and introducing guests to regional artists, producers, and neighbors through programming and local itineraries.
What’s Next
In our January 2024 message, we shared three key goals for 2024 and 2025:
1. Expand Honyaku Cloud
We've launched HonyakuOS™︎ and are continuing to build out Shunyaku™—our proprietary editorial AI tool—with improved context handling, client-side review workflows, and integrations that make it easier for organizations to manage their multilingual messaging in real time. Several new enterprise users are already onboarding.
2. Reimagine 14-54
Renovations are complete. We’ve hosted dozens of events in the redesigned space, revenue is on pace to triple year on year, and we’ve introduced new menu items, private hire options, and cultural collaborations that extend 14-54’s role beyond hospitality into a true creative hub.
3. Grow Hospitality Ventures
Occupancy and engagement are both up year on year. The goal is to create meaningful engagement between our guests and the local community—something more than just tourism. We're continuing to explore new ideas for a longer-term residencies tied to cultural exchange and regional revitalization.
Each of these goals has required plenty of time and effort but the results have been well worth it. We’re grateful to everyone who has supported us along the way.
On behalf of the entire team in Aomori, Tokyo, London, and our colleagues all around the world—thank you for being part of our journey. Whether you’ve worked with us, stayed with us, eaten with us, or simply followed along, we appreciate your support.
We remain committed to our mission: connecting people through language, technology, culture, and community.
CEO & Founder, Queen & Co.
