Japanese PDF Annotator and Transcriptionist

SaidGig; New York (NY); Remote; USD 45,000 - 50,000; Part time

Job summary

SaidGig is seeking a remote hourly annotator to build high-quality training data for document AI, focusing on Japanese transcription and detailed structural annotation across diverse document types. You will verify page language, layout, and content, ensuring precise character-level transcription and correct reading order.

The role requires native-level Japanese fluency, meticulous attention to detail, and comfort with vertical text and complex layouts.

Qualifications

• Native-level Japanese fluency including kanji, hiragana, katakana, furigana, and variant forms.
• Experience in interpretation, journalism, transcription, translation, editorial work, or similar document-intensive work.
• High accuracy with a quality-first approach.
• Ability to apply a consistent annotation taxonomy across large volumes.
• Comfort with vertical text and multi-column layouts.

Responsibilities

• Review assigned PDF pages to confirm Japanese language, legibility, and privacy compliance.
• Identify, bound, and classify every meaningful page region.
• Assign component type and reading-order index to each region.
• Link regions to corresponding figures or tables via parent identifiers.
• Transcribe text exactly as displayed, including handwriting, and flag illegible regions.
• Record page metadata including language, document type, source, and page dimensions.
• Review colleagues' work end-to-end as an experienced annotator.

Skills

Native-level Japanese fluency

Attention to detail

Reading Japanese scripts (kanji/hirig/

Tools

OCR tools

Job description

Role Overview

Help build high-quality training data for document AI by creating detailed structural annotations and exact Japanese transcriptions from real, publicly available PDF pages. You will work with diverse materials, including newspapers, textbooks, examinations, flyers, forms, manuals, menus, brochures, notices, and worksheets, with particular attention to challenging content such as handwriting, dense multi-column layouts, vertical text, tables, diagrams, and mixed-script pages.All annotation and transcription work is performed in Japanese. Each page is completed by people, including region identification, component typing, reading order, and transcription.

Key Responsibilities

• Review assigned PDF pages, which are provided to you, and confirm that each page is Japanese-language, legible, substantive, and free of personal information before beginning work.
• Identify, bound, and classify every meaningful page region, including titles, headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, figures, diagrams, captions, formulas, questions, and answer fields.
• Assign a component type and reading-order index to each region.
• Connect relevant regions to their associated figures or tables using parent component identifiers.
• Transcribe all text exactly as displayed, including kanji, hiragana, katakana, furigana, and handwritten content, and flag illegible regions.
• Record page metadata, including language, document type, source, page dimensions, and indicators for tables, formulas, and handwriting.
• Review colleagues'' completed tasks end to end as an experienced annotator.

Qualifications

• Native-level Japanese fluency, including full command of kanji, hiragana, katakana, furigana, and variant character forms.
• Professional experience in interpretation, journalism, transcription, translation, editorial work, or similar document-intensive work.
• Exceptional character-level accuracy and a quality-first approach.
• Ability to apply a consistent annotation taxonomy across a large volume of pages.
• Comfort working with vertical text, multi-column newspapers, exam papers, handwritten forms, and unfamiliar document layouts.

Preferred Experience

• AI training-data annotation, labeling, grading, or bilingual evaluation.
• Transcription, localization, MTPE, subtitling, bilingual QA, OCR correction, or post-editing.
• Japanese-language typesetting, copy-editing, proofreading, or digitization.
• Unicode normalization, Japanese input methods, full-width and half-width forms, and kanji variant handling.

Quality Expectations

• Capture, bound, and classify every meaningful region accurately.
• Reflect the actual reading order, including vertical and multi-column layouts.
• Produce Japanese-script transcriptions that match the source character for character, not romaji.
• Submit work that passes second-expert review on the first review cycle.
• Identify unsuitable pages before substantial annotation time is spent.

Work Terms

• Remote, hourly engagement.
• Compensation$33.58 per hour.
• EligibilityJapanese language proficiency is required.