言語資源開発センター　-Center for Language Resource Development- Japanese NINJAL
 

Application Q & A

  • Q: I live outside of Japan. May I apply?
  • A: Yes, you may. You may apply no matter where in the world you live.

  • Q: Are applications and inquiries accepted by telephone?
  • A: Please apply via the Web.
     Please inquire by email to the following contact point.
     Contact point: Contact form

  • Q: Is it necessary to pay the usage fee after each automatic renewal of the contract?
  • A: It depends on when the first contract concluded.
    　　　You do not need to pay usage fees at the time of automatic renewal of subscription if
    ・Contract was signed on 30 September 2021 or earlier
    ・Contract was signed on 1 October 2021 or later for anything other than commercial use (contract period: 2 years)
    　　　※You only need to pay once at first.

    　　　You need to pay usage fees at the time of automatic renewal of subscription if
    　　　・You signed a contract on 1 October 2021 or later for commercial use (contract period: 2 years), and the contract period runs from the signing of the contract until 31 March, two years after the first 1 April that follows the signing. "Derivatives" generated during the contract period can be used even after the contract period ends. Even after the contract period, those who use the corpus or generate new "Derivatives" and privide them to the third parties need to renew the contract every two years. Please see Article 1 of the Agreement for the definition of "Derivatives". The terms and conditions of the renewed contract remain unchanged, but you will be required to pay the usage fee every time the contract is renewed.
    ※We will contact you about the renewal of the contract around one month before the expiration date.

  • Q: In addition to the invoice, I need a delivery slip. Will you be able to issue it?
  • A: We will enclose the delivery slip with the corpus on dispatch. We will also issue a receipt upon request.

  • Q: I need a quote. Can you issue one?
  • A: It is possible, so please let us know when you apply.
    　　　If you need it for use before applying, please send an email to the public contact person.

  • Q: Is it possible to have different recipient addresses on the corpus and on the invoice?
  • A: Yes. Please enter the necessary information on the application form at the time of application.

  • Q: My organisation intends to purchase a paid version. What should I enter in the fields for ‘Corpus Administrator’, ‘Contact Representative’, and ‘Subscriber’?
  • A: Corpus Administrator: This is the person responsible for managing the use of the corpus. If the corpus administrator changes, please contact kotonoha[at]ninjal.ac.jp.
    　Contact Representative: This is the person who sends and receives documents related to the corpus contract. It could be the same as the corpus administrator.
    　Subscriber: This is the person listed as B in the contract. Please make sure that they have the authority (position) to conclude the contract.
    　For more details, refer to the information for subscribers, contained in the paid edition of the Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese.

  • Q: I am abroad and do not have a seal. Is it okay to sign the contract?
  • A: In such cases, it is not a problem to use your signature.

  • Q: Is it possible for a library to subscribe to the paid edition and lend it to users?
  • A: You cannot.

  • Q: Are past data the same as the most recent version? I have past data, but if revisions have been made, do I need to buy the most recent version again?
  • A: The most recent version corrects errors that have been identified since the publication of older data versions.
    　New information is also added.
    　If you have an older version, the public contact person for the Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese will provide the difference in data.
    　For more details, refer to the webpage “Released Data” for details.

Application category:

  • Q: I am working at a corporate research institute. Can I set the ‘application for use’ category to ‘academic’ in my application?
  • A: No. What we consider ‘academic research institutions’ are institutions with at least some public character, such as technical colleges, junior colleges, universities, graduate schools, incorporated administrative agencies, national and public research institutes, and public corporations.

  • Q: We have a joint development team with members who belong to subsidiaries. Do we need a license contract for each?
  • A: One and the same license is sufficient for everyone within the scope of the authority, obliging them to comply with the provisions of the contract as long as the corpus is used under the supervision of the corpus administrator.
    When filling out the application form, describe the range of use clearly (department, number of users, etc.). We will consider the contents and decide whether or not to allow it.

  • Q: Is the following usage allowed with a single license?
    • • Copying (duplicating) from media to HDD
      　　　　　When experimenting, etc., we recommend copying to an HDD for convenience.
    • • Data format conversion (modification)
      　　　　　We acknowledge format conversion for experiments, etc.
    • • Accessing the data from multiple computers (transmission between computers)
    • • Accessing data from multiple computers (transmission between computers)
      　　　　　We acknowledge that multiple computers will be used to access data.
    • • Copying to computers of more than one person
  • A: All of the above is allowed as long as the usage falls within the scope permitted under the contract.

  • Q: There is no ‘laboratory’ unit at the university where I work. Can we apply as ‘graduate school’?
  • A: If that is the smallest unit, please apply as a graduate school. In the ‘Corpus Administrator's name’ field, enter the name of the actual manager of the corpus, and then enter the scope of the persons who will be using it (___ seminar, ___ person, etc.) in the application form.

  • Q: When applying as ‘Academic (non-student) (laboratory use, etc.)’, does the person who affixes the seal and signs the contract need to be a person who is officially recognised as a representative by the organisation to which they belong?
  • A: If you apply for a subscription other than an individual (e.g. ___ University, ___ Faculty at ___ University, ___ Laboratory at ___ University, etc.), the person who affixes the seal and signs the contract should be someone with that authority.
    　Furthermore, in the case of an individual subscription, the corpus can be used by multiple persons who belong to the same laboratory, etc., if the scope of use is given as ‘laboratory use’. In addition, you can continue to use the corpus even after changing the research institute.
    　※When you change your affiliation, please contact kotonoha[at]ninjal.ac.jp.

  • Q: I am thinking of applying for use as ‘Academic (non-student) (laboratory use, etc.).’ What happens if the ‘Corpus Administrator’ in the application form transfers to another institution?
  • A: If you are subscribing as an individual, you can still use the corpus at the new institution. 　　　If you are subscribing as anything other than an individual (e.g. ___ University, ___ Faculty at ___ University, ___ Laboratory at ___ University, etc.), the usage right can be passed on by changing the ‘Corpus Administrator’ to a new chairman. If doing so, please contact kotonoha[at]ninjal.ac.jp with the name of the new chairman who will be the ‘Corpus Administrator’. Moreover, if the transferring professor wishes to continue usage, a new application can be submitted.

  • Q: Is it possible to let graduate students I supervise use this corpus?
  • A: If you have entered into a licensing agreement for laboratory use, anyone who belongs to that laboratory will be able to use it.

  • Q: Can I apply as an undergraduate student?
  • A: Yes. You can apply under the ‘Academic (student) (personal use)’ category. Undergraduate students/researcher students, master’s students, and PhD students can apply.

  • Q: In case of corporate use, I am not sure what the scope for general usage is.
  • A: Although it is very difficult to draw a clear line, consider the following:
    　An application for general use should be made when it will not be used for product development but instead mainly for basic research within the company.
    　If there is a possibility of product development, we recommend that you apply for commercial use with a possibility of publication of the results.
    　If there were no plans for commercialisation at the time of application for general use, but you subsequently reach a commercialisation stage, please contact the National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics. Since it is not possible to change the contract, we will ask you to make a new application for commercial use, wherein we will examine whether commercial use is possible or not based on the outline of the product and so forth. If, as a result of the examination, it is determined that there is no problem with commercial use, we will conclude a new commercial use contract.

Filling out the license agreement

 
 

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