Looking forward to SWET’s 45th year!
Since 1980, a community of wordsmiths working with the English word relating to Japan
• Regular networking events online and in-person
• Talks with experienced professionals
• Supporting the Japan Style Sheet website, the SWET-L mailing list, SWET Manga Special-Interest Group, and SWET Facebook page
(Photo courtesy: Martie Jelinek)
A Community for Japan-Related Writing Professionals
Based in Tokyo, Japan, SWET comprises people engaged not only in the three professions of writing, editing, and translating, but also in teaching, research, rewriting, design and production, copywriting, and other areas related to the written word in Japan.
Japan Style Sheet
A cross-professional guide
The SWET Guide for Writers, Editors and Translators
News View all
Greetings in the New Year: SWET 2025 Album
Reaching out to colleagues and fellow wordsmiths wherever they are, SWET offers a home base for networking, collaboration, and experience-sharing. Writers who edit and translate, translators who write, edit, and proofread, editors who work with Japanese and English manuscripts, authors, and publishers——all testify to the cross-professional nature of wordcraft that bridges languages and cultures. We look forward to the new year of online and in-person events and of sharing via the monthly SWET Bulletins and other platforms that bring us... more
Swet Columns View all
Dealing with AI Usage in University Writing Classes
By R. Paul Lege
While there are advantages and disadvantages to allowing some use of AI tech in completing assignments, trying to establish an actual boundary as to what constitutes improper usage is becoming harder to nail down (especially as AI evolves). The problem is particularly acute because AI has taken over the once useful corrective software tools on the market (such as Grammarly or translation tools), and most learners cannot distinguish between soft corrective instruction and an AI agent engaging... more
Articles View all
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 win the day. And yet not fear small expedients, Nor over-rate the laws of English logic.
If you can empathize—but not let passion... more
SWET Spotlight View all
Entering into the World I Created: Interview with Karen Hill Anton, author of “A Thousand Graces”
Karen Hill Anton is well known for her columns in the Japan Times, which she described in an article for SWET’s series on English-language newspaper columnists. Her memoir, The View From Breast Pocket Mountain, beloved by a wide readership, has earned three literary awards. She spoke to SWET about her memoir at length for a SWET Talk Shop in August 2021, available on YouTube, and again in October 2022 about the craft of memoir writing. Now... more
A Community for Japan-Related Writing Professionals
Based in Tokyo, Japan, SWET comprises people engaged not only in the three professions of writing, editing, and translating, but also in teaching, research, rewriting, design and production, copywriting, and other areas related to the written word in Japan.
Japan Style Sheet
A cross-professional guide
The SWET Guide for Writers, Editors and Translators
Join SWET-L, our mailing list
Check it out (non-members OK)
SWET Newsletter Archive
SWET Newsletter articles feature topics especially of interest to writers, editors, and translators and other wordsmiths connected with Japan.
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