Swet Columns
March 16, 2015
EVENT REPORT - SWET Shop Talk: Translation Quandaries
February 18, 2015 (Wednesday), Books on Japan Library, Jinbocho
Ten people gathered around the large table at the Books on Japan Library in Jinbocho for the February SWET Shop Talk, some with sandwich/onigiri and drink in hand as we introduced ourselves. Four present were completely new to SWET, though had clearly been involved in “wordsmithing” work for years in... more
March 16, 2015
EVENT REPORT - Walk ’n Write in Kyoto: A SWET Event with Rebecca Otowa
March 1, 2015, Kyoto
Excited to be part of a walking, writing, and sharing event led by Rebecca Otowa, author of At Home in Japan and My Awesome Japan Adventure, I was one of the eight people who gathered in the rain on March 1 in the shadow of the beautiful gate of Heian Shrine. Although we had prepared... more
August 1, 2014
SWET’s Presence at IJET-25 in Tokyo
On June 21-22, 2014, the Japan Association of Translators (JAT) held its 25th annual International Japanese-English Translators’ Conference (IJET) at Big Sight, Tokyo, Japan. A total of 560 people registered—the most in IJET’s history. The SWET Steering Committee thought it the perfect opportunity to advertise our organization to fellow wordsmiths who had gathered from Europe, Australasia, and the... more
February 12, 2014
An Afternoon with Amy Chavez
By Ted Taylor
Amy Chavez spoke to SWET Kansai about her life as a writer and the challenges of the profession, especially with the publishing of her latest book, Running the Shikoku Pilgrimage: 900 Miles to Enlightenment. (See also Japan Funny Side Up.) Chavez came to Japan in 1993 on an exchange program to fulfill her requirements... more
May 2, 2003
Kanji Core Meanings, Software Lexicons
by Lynne E. Riggs
Launching “SWET on Saturdays,” Jack Halpern told how one student of Japanese wound up creating a Japanese-English character dictionary and massive Chinese, Japanese, and Korean lexical databases now used to aid Internet search engines.
Starting with an encounter with a Japanese language textbook on an Israeli kibbutz, the story of how one man’s fascination... more
