Transifex is faster, specially if there is a url for auto-updating the language files. Instead to upload en-GB file for every new release, this can be done via URL. I usually use GIT Hubs for .POT files. Saves me a lot of time, when (for example) GNOME extension developer did correction to the code and language, he/she submit it to the selected GIT hub and Transifex instantly takes it to the template.
Eg. if you have hike 1.5.5 installed somewhere, Transifex will import them to the template. Something like demo.hikashop.com/components/com_hikashop/language/en-GB/en-GB.com_hikashop.ini.
Another good point is Translation Memory, not currently applicable for any Joomla! extension developers.
If the string:
DEFINE_ARTICLE is mention let say for example drupal.pot (for 7.9) and the same DEFINE_ARTICLE is used in WordPress, translators will avoid double typing for something that's already translated. In past when J! 1.5.x was more actual, there was some standards and some strings was just avoided in the language files and was used the build in strings.
Eg. There is Ordering in HikaShop which is different then J! core files. But this not affect TM at this moment, only if u start 2nd extension, and some of the strings used in HikaShop are used in the new one, then TM will apply.
For the other three strings in japanese, it's a miss I didn't see when editing them.
This misses are not only for French and Japanese, they're for all languages. Now except, English, French, Japanese and Bulgarian.
Btw, French and Japanese are not updated on Transifex yet.
For current translators and upcoming translators for languages not listed there, remember:
Joomla! uses xx-XX naming for locales, from kernel (Linux) 2.4.15, xx.locale is no longer used, in modern distributions it's a symlink to xx-XX.locale, but some ppl with BSD and Windows avoid linking. So when u apply for translation, select your proper locale, for example:
Spain (Spanish) is es-ES
Spain (Catalan) is es-CA
Danish (Denmark) is da-DK (there is no such things as da or dk) (so the one applied for Danish, read your PM on transifex and decide which proper locale should be.)
English (America) is en-US
etc.