Articles
October 9, 2022
If, for J-E Translators
If you can render prose in real English idiom While all about you Cling rigidly to translation word-for-word; If you can stand by natural wording Though clients claim they know better, But respect their sensibilities as far as conscience can; If you can grapple with obscurantism And articulate it in clear expository style; Or, being left with ambiguity, not perpetuate ambiguity, Or, given insider codes, not let cryptic phrases... more
September 4, 2022
Editing in Japan: Three Perspectives
by Damon Shulenberger
The June 25, 2005 SWET on Saturdays featured three veteran editors of English in Japan presenting the perspectives of freelance editing, editing of translations, and book editing to 23 working and aspiring editors. The presentations by Phil Ouellet, Lynne E. Riggs, and Ginny Tapley included stories from their experiences, general advice about editing in Japan, and specific pointers... more
April 14, 2022
Accessing the Professionals’ Toolboxes
On February 26, 2022, translator and editor Rebekah Harmon joined veteran translator and editor Lynne E. Riggs to talk about ways the professional know-how of editors and J-to-E translators can be accessed and better shared. Lynne E. Riggs is co-founder of the Center for Intercultural Communication (1990) and spent 12 years as managing editor of Monumenta... more
January 9, 2022
The History of SWET
The late 1970s were years of growth and ferment in English-language book and periodical publishing in Japan. Book publishers Charles E. Tuttle, Inc., John Weatherhill, Kodansha International, and the University of Tokyo Press released dozens of new volumes in English annually. Japan Echo, the Japan Interpreter, and Japan Quarterly published high-quality Japanese journalism and writing in English translation. Four daily... more
January 7, 2022
Writing from Japan: English-Language Newspaper Columnists in the 1980s and 1990s—Janet Ashby
As part of SWET’s 40th anniversary celebrations, we are chronicling the memories and experiences of some of the many columnists of that era. We have asked these writers to reflect on how they wrote and communicated back in the pre-digital days, a time when Japan boasted four English-language newspapers and plenty of magazines looking for English-language contributors. It was... more
November 29, 2021
Writing from Japan: English-Language Newspaper Columnists in the 1980s and 1990s—Angela Jeffs
As part of SWET’s 40th anniversary celebrations, we are chronicling the memories and experiences of some of the many columnists of that era. We have asked these writers to reflect on how they wrote and communicated back in the pre-digital days, a time when Japan boasted four English-language newspapers and plenty of magazines looking for English-language contributors. It was a... more