News

Celebrating SWET’s 40th Anniversary - Add Your Voice!

SWET is pleased to mark the beginning of its fifth decade this month and celebrate the professional support, friendship, and networking role it has played in the lives of Japan-related wordsmiths. Founded in November 1980, SWET has provided society and networking opportunities for writers, editors, translators, and others engaged in English-language-related professions through four decades of change in the tools of our trade, the media of our communications, and even the content of our work.

Today, the SWET website is the headquarters of our activities and the archive of... more

Swet Columns

Word Wise: Getting It Out There

By Richard Medhurst

The Internet has made it possible to send whatever we want around the world with the stroke of a key, but what do we hope to achieve by doing so? Some basic uses for the Japanese word 発信 are to do with transmitting or sending various kinds of messages, such as an SOS when in danger. When translating the term, however, it is quite common to find that “transmit” or “send” do not really work as natural English... more

Articles

From Behind Cloistered Walls: A Tale of Two Translations

Lynne E. Riggs

____________________________________________________________________

In February 2009, In Iris Fields: Remembrances and Poetry by Abbess Kasanoin Jikun, edited by Barbara Ruch and Katsura Michiyo, was published by Tankōsha (Kyoto). The book’s prose was translated by Beth Cary and its numerous poems by Janine Beichman. In early April, Amamonzeki—A Hidden Heritage: Treasures of the Japanese Imperial Convents, edited by Patricia Fister and Monica Bethe, was published as the catalog for an exhibit co-organized by the Medieval Japanese Studies Institute... more

SWET Spotlight

Manga Lettering and Translation

By Susan E. Jones

One of the fantastic aspects of SWET is its inclusivity. Not limited to just one part of the long process of publishing in English, it welcomes writers, translators, editors, and other wordsmiths who contribute in various ways to the finished product. The SWET Talk Shop on August 22, 2020 looked at the skilled craftspeople who are contributing to manga-production by giving the floor to three dedicated manga letterers: Sara Linsley, Brandon Bovia, and Phil Christie. Lettering appreciator... 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.