Translator Showdown: Where Manga Meets the Novel — by publisher Bruce Rutledge

Posted on by David Jacobson

May GLLI Blog Series:  Japan in Translation, No. 21  Two of Japan’s all-time best-selling writers, the late Shigeru Mizuki of Gegege no Kitaro fame and contemporary writer Haruki Murakami, have translators who live about seven miles apart from each other in the Seattle area. My company, Chin Music Press, decided to get those translators together … Continue reading Translator Showdown: Where Manga Meets the Novel — by publisher Bruce Rutledge

Translating Sound Effects in Comics — Zack Davisson

Posted on by David Jacobson

May GLLI Blog Series:  Japan in Translation, No. 20 The greatest challenge you will face as a manga translator is the sound of silence. I mean that literally. When it comes to silence, Japanese has a specific sound effect for it. English doesn’t. When a Japanese character walks into a room and is encountered with … Continue reading Translating Sound Effects in Comics — Zack Davisson

Sinking into a Classical Sunset — by Translator Jay Rubin

Posted on by David Jacobson

May GLLI Blog Series:  Japan in Translation, No. 19   June 28, 2018 is the official UK publication date for my Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories, which will contain thirty-one complete stories, one segment from an episodic story, one novella, and two excerpts from novels. Assembling the pieces, which range in publication date from … Continue reading Sinking into a Classical Sunset — by Translator Jay Rubin

Selected Japanese Picture Books — by Andrew Wong

Posted on by David Jacobson

May GLLI Blog Series:  Japan in Translation, No. 18 Picture books anyone? I confess, I don’t remember reading many picture books in my childhood. I recall keeping a prized collection of The Adventures of Tintin and The Adventures of Asterix (eventually given away), but not many other kinds of stories told in pictures. Having missed out of … Continue reading Selected Japanese Picture Books — by Andrew Wong

Melek Ortabasi on Japanese Literature as World Literature

Posted on by David Jacobson

May GLLI Blog Series:  Japan in Translation, No. 17 I would argue that any literature, translated or not, is part of the international trove of human cultural production. But it is true that those of us who can’t read works in the original have to rely on translation to hear otherwise inaccessible literary voices. It … Continue reading Melek Ortabasi on Japanese Literature as World Literature

The Good Fortune to Publish Translations — Stone Bridge Publisher Peter Goodman

Posted on by David Jacobson

May GLLI Blog Series:  Japan in Translation, No. 16 I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve been pitched a literary translation with the line: “The author is a best-seller in Japan.” If you know anything about Americans, you know that that argument is a non-starter. We Americans don’t really care about accomplishments beyond … Continue reading The Good Fortune to Publish Translations — Stone Bridge Publisher Peter Goodman

The Four Immigrants Manga — Frederik L. Schodt

Posted on by David Jacobson

May GLLI Blog Series:  Japan in Translation, No. 15 Editor's note:  Fred Schodt is best known for his work popularizing manga and anime outside of Japan.  But he has also spent much of his career shedding light on little known aspects of Japanese popular culture and history:  for instance, the story of Native American adventurer Ranald … Continue reading The Four Immigrants Manga — Frederik L. Schodt

The Compassionate Imagination – Sally Ito on Translating Misuzu Kaneko

Posted on by David Jacobson

May GLLI Blog Series:  Japan in Translation, No. 14 Editor's note:  When I approached Canadian poet/translator Sally Ito about acting as translator for Are You an Echo? The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko, she and her aunt Michiko Tsuboi, her co-translator, had already translated at least a dozen of Misuzu's poems on their own.  The … Continue reading The Compassionate Imagination – Sally Ito on Translating Misuzu Kaneko

Anglophoned Fiction Favorites — by Smithsonian BookDragon Terry Hong, part 2

Posted on by David Jacobson

May GLLI Blog Series:  Japan in Translation, No. 13 Editor's note:  Today begins the second installment of Smithsonian BookDragon Terry Hong's current favorites in Japanese translated fiction.  It's interesting though perhaps coincidental to note that five of Terry's nine recommendations were written by women, and seven of the nine were translated by women.  I point … Continue reading Anglophoned Fiction Favorites — by Smithsonian BookDragon Terry Hong, part 2

Anglophoned Fiction Favorites — by Smithsonian BookDragon Terry Hong, part 1

Posted on by David Jacobson

May GLLI Blog Series:  Japan in Translation, No. 12 My two unfinished almost-ABD*-PhDs still makes my mother cringe. I know, I know: even in middle age, my tiger mother looms, not to mention I still have occasional nightmares about missing seminar with my beloved, last advisor. His passing remains my excuse for academic desertion, but … Continue reading Anglophoned Fiction Favorites — by Smithsonian BookDragon Terry Hong, part 1