Since 1980, a community of wordsmiths working with the English word relating to Japan
• Wordsmiths working with the English word relating to Japan
• Talks with experienced professionals
• Supporting the Japan Style Sheet website, the SWET-L mailing list, SWET Manga Special-Interest Group, and SWET Facebook page
(sketch courtesy of Stuart Ayre)
Japan Style Sheet: Further Reference Tools
Did you know that SWET maintains a growing list of reference tools on the Japan Style Sheet website? Click the image above to access links to dictionaries, thesauruses, glossaries, and other references for wordsmiths. If you know of a resource that belongs on the list, please let us know!
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
Hepburn System Romanization, Macrons, and Flexibility
In a decision made official on December 22, 2025, the Japanese government finally abolished the romanization rules adopted in 1954 specifying the Kunrei system as the official romanization system to be used in schools and the National Diet Library, and adopted the Hepburn system, which has been in widespread use by some government ministries, most publishers, media, non-Japanese individuals, and organizations since it was created in the 1860s. For details about the Hepburn system, please see the Japan Style... more
Swet Columns View all
Making Sense of “Mao Suit” and “China Dress” Nomenclature
By Mark Schreiber
Both in day-to-day conversation and in writing, we often need to bridge the gaps between the way we express things in our own language and the way speakers of other languages say what are essentially same things. I was reminded of this when the English-language news services and television networks described North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as wearing a “Mao suit.” Neither Japanese nor Chinese use such a term. Nor, apparently do the North Koreans, who refer... more
Articles View all
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 Nipponica. A recent SWET member, Rebekah Harmon formerly worked for institutions under METI and MEXT and now works freelance. The... 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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