Thirty-two SWET members and guests gathered on June 28 to chat, network and enjoy the architecturally interesting space of the elegant, well-restored Shimazono House in Sendagi. SWET friendships and professional camaraderie that can now be traced back for more than two decades extended to welcome newcomers and rally volunteer energies for an organizational event.

A rainy July 13 afternoon kept all but the most enthusiastic water-babies out of the swimming pool and happily eating, drinking and talking about mailing-list etiquette or pay-rate battles or theater improvisation on the terrace of the Kobe Club, where the alfresco barbeque under an awning evoked the atmosphere of a boulevard caf’ in the rain. Hosted by Sue Herbert, the party featured the free-to-members [em]Wordcraft[/em] and sales of [em]Japan Style Sheet[/em] and [em]E-What?[/em] An annual event, the pool party keeps Kansai SWETers looking forward to the chance to reconnect every summer.

Born in Michigan, Arthur Binard lived in Milan and learned Italian, studied English literature at Colgate University, moving to Japan in 1990. He has had many books of his own poetry in Japanese published, and, in 2001, achieved the unusual distinction of winning a leading prize for Japanese poetry, the Nakahara Chūya Prize. In addition, a number of his translations have been published, so he was in an excellent position to talk about “Translating Poetry and Children’s Literature Both Ways.” The last stanza of one of the most difficult poems he has translated, “Words,” seemed particularly relevant and summed up his theme: “No matter how tame / they may seem, remember, / at any moment they can / turn on you.”

Dr. Judy Wakabayashi, associate professor at Kent State University, well known in the translating world as probably the best of the few full-time Anglophone teachers of Japanese-to-English translation at an academic level, spoke at the August 3 meeting in Osaka. Among her themes: the cannibalistic theory of translation and the subversive approaches of feminist and postcolonial translation. She reported that she uses “Over Their Shoulders” articles from the SWET Newsletter to good effect in classes, and shared screen shots and discussion of the substantial translation textbook she is preparing.

Seven SWETers shared their wisdom on the subject; in alphabetical order: Patrick Barron suggested being proficient at getting information via the Internet and working as a translator/editor at a medical communications center; Beth Cary shared her habit of doing the first draft by hand and found that copyediting someone’s else’s book helped improve her work; Dan Kanagy said, “practice, practice, practice” and relearn your mother tongue; Edward Lipsett built on a quote from Robert Heinlein, “Specialization is for insects” even though he recommends becoming an expert in something; Lynne E. Riggs noted that a deep respect for Japanese as a language and willingness to utilize the collaborative approach are keys to success; Fred Uleman stressed reading widely in one’s fields in Japanese and in English before doing for clients what they would do for themselves if they could; and Jeremy Whipple gave advice for the lazy translator’s success: live in Japan, be interested, and know English.

What would it be like if the English-speaking editor and the Japanese-speaking assistant working together in English-language publishing in Japan could be on the same wavelength, each with an understanding of the higher purpose of editing, each with trust in the other’s abilities, and each with opportunities for shining in his or her own area of expertise? Noda describes just this, based on half of her twenty-year career in Japan.

The Japanese Literature Publishing Project (JLPP) began in 2002 to launch the translation (in English, French, German, and Russian) and publication of works of modern and contemporary Japanese literature. The initial list of twenty-seven titles chosen by a five-person selection committee was strongly criticized, but the forty-titles-per-year project promises advantages undreamed of by previous literature translation projects of its kind.

Reporting on May-through-July activity on the SWET discussion list Ueda reported on topics concerning alphabetizing word lists, freelance vs. in-house work, requests for accurate terminology, discussion of ISO standards, and reactions to a message announcing a talk to be given by Professor Gregory Clark.

New features of the SWET Web site were introduced: content management, search engine optimization, mailing lists, and RSS feeds, all part of the on-going dynamic of the site.

The article relates the saga of the path from junior year in college to copy editor, rewriter, marketing-English instructor, and all-around expert on the English language and non-Japanese culture at the daily Japan Times.

A detailed look at morning email-handling, SWET-and-other-list browsing, followed by how planning, writing, checking, DTP, and illustration work on end-user manuals for professional audio equipment is accomplished via tasks on specific applications while listening to music, as well as days-out-of-the-office itineraries, made up the full-day report of a very hard worker.

Recommending the Web site, CM@Navi, McCreery took readers on a helpfully detailed tour.

Aunt Eva solved the dilemma of a rewriter and subeditor taking first steps into ghostwriting personal letters and speeches and wondering to what extent one needs to “become” the person who will be the official user of the product.

While wondering about the verb form needed for agreement with a subject that is a “[collective noun] of [concrete noun(s)],” Sargent referred to Spectrum’s article on spamming to illustrate the salient aspects of agreement.

The bimonthly graphic design magazine that has entranced McCreery since 1993 is the subject of a detailed review and strong recommendation.