Amanda Jun Katsurada was born in Gunma, Japan in 1975 to a Japanese father and an American mother. She attended high school in the United States and received her college education at Pennsylvania State University. Amanda earned her dual BA in Anthropology, with a focus in Meso-American archaeology, minoring in Classics and History after studying in Athens, Greece. She graduated in the class of 1998.
Upon returning to Japan, Amanda was hired by Square as a videogame localization specialist, translating text into English and checking in-game body language for culture-approrpriateness for various Englisih-speaking territories. She was involved in the localization of Vagrant Story, Legend of Mana, and Kingdom Hearts, among others. Most recently she has been active as a translator and interpreter in international coverage of World Rally Championship events.
