This Japanese legal term refers to the act of requesting that a third party act on one’s behalf, or perform services for their benefit.
It often throws translators off because it does not have a single consistent counterpart in English. Two popular English translations are consign and entrust, but both of these English terms typically refer to placing property in the control of another person, while the Japanese term typically refers to requesting services from another person. Sometimes the word subcontract is used, which is completely incorrect since the English word only refers to outsourcing a portion of one’s own contracted obligations to a third party.
Here are some tips on how to translate this term more naturally and correctly.
“Outsourcing” or “Delegation”
Both of these words are fairly close to the meaning of itaku in Japanese, so if a general-purpose noun is needed to stand in the place of itaku, these are both decent choices.
Simply Omit It
When the term is used as a noun, the best way to translate it into English is often to leave it out. For example:
業務委託契約書
service [outsourcing/delegation] agreement事務の委託を受ける
undertake/accept [the outsourcing/delegation of] administration
“Itaku” could be translated in either of these contexts, but the phrase makes perfect sense and has the same meaning without “itaku” being translated at all.
In the first case, many translators will use a phrase like “business consignment contract,” which sounds ridiculous to anyone who deals with contracts for a living. A 業務委託契約書 is what we call a “service agreement” in English.
“Independent Contractor”
In some contexts, the Japanese term is used to distinguish an independent contractor relationship from an employer-employee relationship. For example:
業務委託社員と労働者の違い
the difference between an independent contractor and a worker役員（代表取締役等）、業務委託、外注先が従業員に該当しない者になります。
Officers (such as representative directors), independent contractors, and suppliers are persons who would not constitute employees.
A friend of mine once related that a chain of English language schools in Japan where new teachers were hired as independent contractors, the recruiter repeatedly asked new teachers if they understood the meaning of the Japanese word “itaku.” If only they knew that we already had a good word for this in English…
“Ask” or “Request”
This is a usage that I noticed in the official Japanese government translation of the Civil Code. While the official translation is not always grammatically correct or easy to read, I find this usage to be an easy and natural way to reflect “itaku” in situations where it is used as a verb.
Article 458-2 et seq. contains the following phrase:
保証人が主たる債務者の委託を受けて保証をした場合…
If a guarantor gives guarantee as requested by the principal obligor…
Meanwhile, Article 643 is officially translated as follows:
委任は、当事者の一方が法律行為をすることを相手方に委託し、相手方がこれを承諾することによって、その効力を生ずる。
A mandate becomes effective when a first party asks a second party with performing a juridical act, and the second party accepts this.
And Article 657 is officially translated as follows:
寄託は、当事者の一方がある物を保管することを相手方に委託し、相手方がこれを承諾することによって、その効力を生ずる。
A bailment becomes effective if one of the parties asks the other party to keep a certain thing in custody, and the other party gives consent to keeping it in custody.