Swet Columns

SWET Kansai Event Report: Juliet Winters Carpenter—Reflections on the Translation of Ryōma!

By Susan E. Jones

In October, 17 SWET members and interested others eagerly gathered at Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts in Kyoto to hear illustrious translator Juliet Winters Carpenter talk about her latest work, a joint translation project with two other translators of Ryōma! The Life of Sakamoto Ryōma:  Japanese Swordsman and Visionary by historical novelist Shiba Ryōtarō. The Japanese... more

EVENT REPORT – SWET Travel Writing Meet-up

By Rob Goss

The new travel writing group within SWET is up and running. Seventeen people came together on July 19 for the first meeting on a hot and humid night in Tokyo, some traveling from as far as Niigata and Kobe to the Book House Cafe, Jinbocho, Tokyo. We had a mix of writers, photographers, translators, interpreter-guides, and two tourism ambassadors... more

SWET Kansai Event Report: Photography and Flash Fiction Workshop

By Rebecca Otowa

I had been dreaming of putting together John Einarsen’s evocative photography and a writing workshop for some months, and on June 9, it came true. It was held in central Kyoto and seven people attended.

In addition to being the founding editor of the respected Kyoto Journal, John has published several books of his photographs, including Kyoto:... more

EVENT REPORT – Travel-Related Events and Updating the Japan Style Sheet

May 16, 2018 (Wednesday), Book House Cafe, Jinbocho, Tokyo

Ten people gathered for a SWET Talk Shop to discuss two topics: (1) the idea of setting up special-interest group (SIG) in SWET for travel writers and (2), the proposed plan for SWET to publish a new edition of the Japan Style Sheet.

Rob Goss introduced his ideas for a... more

Japan Writers Conference 2016 Remembered

We asked three people who attended the Japan Writers Conference, held October 27 and 28 at Tokushima University, on the island of Shikoku, to share their impressions and notes from the talks they attended. While by no means comprehensive—and we regret not including reporting on all the sessions—our three authors give us lively and diverse accounts of what they gained... more

Teaching Translation

SWET Presentation by Susan E. Jones Sept. 25, 2016 Report by Don Todt

If you’re a female college student in Japan who’s interested in becoming a translator, Susan E. Jones wants you prepared.

In fact, she’s so intent on accomplishing this goal that she’s spent the last ten years developing a course in teaching translation at Kobe College (神戸女学院大学).

Japan’s low birthrate has caused a... more