3 posts tagged with "Translation"

This month, I had the opportunity to demonstrate my English-Japanese interpretation skills to Wendy Kroeker, a curriculum developer and educator. I interpreted most of the lectures and workshops in her Japanese program. Working with Wendy made me contemplate the concept of a "happy ending" in children's literature and in real life situations. Being Wendy's voice was a fulfilling experience, and I am eagerly anticipating the chance to work with her again.

The art of translation is not exempt from the passion and eloquence that comes with a love for one's work. Numerous famous translators, such as Haruki Murakami, have published essays that detail the magic and process of translation. However, there are many untold stories that are equally compelling. One such story is shared by Bruce Allen, the translator of Ishimure Michiko's Lake of Heaven and other Japanese-language stories. In his speech, he speaks of the importance of the spirit of words in translation, known as "kotodama" in Japanese.

Recently, with the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus, Japan has adopted new terminology from English language epidemiology, such as "cluster," "overshoot," and "lockdown." These terms were presented to the Japanese people in Katakana language, which is a way of writing foreign words in Japanese. However, the Japanese Ministry of Defence requested a charactisation of these Katakana terms into natural Japanese language. The Katakana term "cluster" became "集団感染" (shuudan kansen), which means "mass infection." "Overshoot" became "感染爆発" (kansen bakuhatsu), meaning "massive spread of infection," and "lockdown" became "都市封鎖" (toshi fuusa), meaning "city blockade." Most Japanese people seem to prefer these new terms written in characters, which are more natural for the Japanese language, over the former Katakana terms written in the alphabet for foreign words.