SWET Newsletter, No. 127

April 17, 2011

Translating from Japanese to English
- Translation as a Teaching and Learning Tool • Ann Cary
English Writing in Japan
- Japan Writers Conference 2010: Highlights • John Gribble
  There’s No Business Like Po’ Business • John Gribble and Bern Mulvey
  EFL Publishing in Japan: Myths and Realities • Todd Jay Leonard
  Publish and Perish: Lessons in the Magazine Market • Peter Mallett
  Seven Things I’ve Learned About Writing a True Story • Margi Preus
  Freelancing to Periodicals • Hillel Wright
SWET Events
- How the Heck Do You Write About Japan? • Alice Gordenker
- Thinking Forward: SWET Starts Its Fourth Decade • Lynne E. Riggs
SWET Cyber Matters
- Stonewalling Clients and Timely Usage • Torkil Christensen
From the Trenches
- A Writer’s Look at the iPad • Lem Fugitt
Book Reviews
- A Pair of Fun, Passionate, Self-Published Thrillers • Bob Poulson and Jens Wilkinson

The delay in printing and delivery of SWET Newsletter, No. 127 was part of the testimony of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. We thank members for waiting patiently for it to appear.
The Komiyama Printing Company factory that does the actual printing of the SWET Newsletter is located in Motoyoshi-machi, Miyagi Prefecture, in the mountains along the line between Sendai and Kessenuma, the area devastated by the tsunami. On March 11, just as the PDF for printing No. 127 was sent to the factory, the powerful main quake occurred. Electricity was cut off and the employees of the factory scattered to check the safety of their families and homes. The safety of all the employees and their families was later confirmed and the factory suffered no damage, but 36 of the 200 employees lost their homes and are living in shelters. Transport to and from the area was severely restricted for three weeks, but as of April 4, all services were restored.

We would like to express our sincere thanks for the good work of the employees of the Komiyama factory and our hope that their difficulties will soon be overcome.

Translating from Japanese to English

Translation as a Teaching and Learning Tool, by Ann Cary

Professor at Kobe Women’s University, Hyogo prefecture, Ann Cary grew up in Kyoto, studied at Oberlin College, and completed her M.Ed. at Boston University, where she specialized in bilingual education. She has taught at Otaru Women’s Junior College in Hokkaido and Shinonome College in Matsuyama (Shikoku), and has been at KWU since 1999. Before starting her teaching career, she worked freelance as an interpreter and translator in Kyoto and Boston, on the editorial staff of Kodansha’s Encyclopedia of Japan, and as an in-house interpreter for a multinational company in Osaka.

English Writing in Japan

Japan Writers Conference 2010: Highlights, by John Gribble

There’s No Business Like Po’ Business, by John Gribble and Bern Mulvey
EFL Publishing in Japan: Myths and Realities, by Todd Jay Leonard
Publish and Perish: Lessons in the Magazine Market, by Peter Mallett
Seven Things I’ve Learned About Writing a True Story, by Margi Preus
Freelancing to Periodicals, by Hillel Wright

The SWET Newsletter is pleased to present some of the highlights of the Fourth Annual Japan Writers Conference held in Tokyo at the Ekoda Campus of Nihon University College of Art from October 9–11, 2010. Twenty-six wordsmiths of all sorts gave twenty-nine 50-minute presentations to colleagues and others interested in the written and published word. We thank the presenters, John Gribble and Bern Mulvey, Todd Jay Leonard, Peter Mallett, Margi Preus, and Hillel Wright, for agreeing to share the content of their talks and for preparing informative digests of their presentations.

SWET Events

How the Heck Do You Write About Japan? by Alice Gordenker

Journalist Alice Gordenker spoke to SWET on September 16, 2010 in Tokyo, providing a behind-the-scenes account of how she crafts her popular “So, What the Heck Is That?” column for the Japan Times. In this monthly column, now in its fifth year, Gordenker has achieved a balance of humor and respect in meticulously researched yet decidedly offbeat reports on everything from traditional talismans to industrial safety. This article is based on her lecture, in which she covered topics ranging from the genesis of the column to translation challenges and how she met them.

Thinking Forward: SWET Starts Its Fourth Decade, by Lynne E. Riggs

Only a few blocks away from the apartment building in Aoyama where, in November 1980, 100 writers, editors, translators, and others of their kind had gathered and founded SWET, 33 SWETers—young, not-so-young, and 30 years older—gathered at Wesley Center to celebrate the beginning of SWET’s fourth decade. Remarks by James Baxter, Janine Beichman, Juliet Winters Carpenter, Andrew Horvat, Lynne Riggs, Mark Schreiber, and Fred Uleman noted the strengths of the organization and made suggestions for the future. Messages were also received from Anne Bergasse, Torkil Christensen, and Leza Lowitz.

SWET Cyber Matters

Stonewalling Clients and Timely Usage, by Torkil Christensen
Rounding out 2010, SWET-L, our ever-reliable source of helpful and timely advice, keeps listers abreast of new crinkles in English.

From the Trenches

A Writer’s Look at the iPad, by Lem Fugitt

Lem Fugitt is a Tokyo-based geek-about-town, using his experience in technology and business to write regularly on items of technical interest. He writes here about his recent conversion to a new way of putting thoughts into written words.

Book Reviews

A Pair of Fun, Passionate, Self-Published Thrillers
Reviewed by Bob Poulson

Beneath Grey Skies, by Hugh Ashton. J-views, 2010. Hardcover. ISBN 978-4-990-5165-2-9, $29.99.

Reviewed by Jens Wilkinson
At the Sharpe End, by Hugh Ashton. J-views, 2010. Paperback. ISBN 978-4990516536, $18.50.