Translating Japan

Along with anime and manga, contemporary Japanese literature continues to grow in global appeal. While this is hardly surprising, considering that Japan’s literary landscape is home to such international luminaries as Haruki Murakami and Banana Yoshimoto, producers of popular culture in Japan tend to be lukewarm about promoting their intellectual properties overseas. As pointed out by Mr. Roland Kelts, the author of Japanamerica, a highly acclaimed treatment of the layered relationship between Japanese pop culture and the American cultural mainstream, this reluctance appears to be symptomatic of a nationwide, isolationist trend, coined "the Galapagos syndrome."

Nevertheless, a growing appetite across the world for works of literature from Japan that go beyond the usual Zen and martial arts fare are prompting a good number of the doubters in the J-Lit world to think again. Enter TranNet, a literary translation agency based in Tokyo whose primary focus is to promote the works of Japanese authors to a broader international audience. To this end, in addition to attending book fairs on behalf of the authors they represent, they have been circulating an email newsletter to around 1,800 overseas publishing firms in fifteen countries to help expose them more directly to the diverse world of Japanese publishing.

Some of the works TranNet is currently promoting include Hajime Yorozu's The Art of Pinching a Seat on a Train, a how-to guide drawing on the powers of psychoanalysis to help you become a better seat hunter;

See Your Entire World in a Single Notebook by Nobuyuki Okuno, a low-tech information management guide prioritizing chronological classfication;

Fujisan, a collection of four short stories by Randy Taguchi reflecting four different views of the iconic Mt. Fuji;

Tengu, by Keiichi Michihira, a mystery thriller revolving around an investigative reporter's quest to unearth the truth behind a series of murders believed to have been committed by a creature of mythical lore known as Tengu;

Live with Meaning/Die with Passion by Fumitada Naoe, a moving account of the author’s life-affirming odyssey from a poverty-stricken boy in an Asian shantytown to a business superstar in Japan. Featuring poignant photographs that offer glimpses into the human condition, and translated by yours truly, this work has been released by One Peace Books, a US publisher of “visually compelling” literature.

Tengu and Fujisan may soon be released under the AmazonCrossing imprint, which aims to redress the current dearth of literature in translation in the anglophone world. Hopefully, with TranNet also in the fray, the Galapagosization of Japan may become a thing of the past sooner than expected.