Swet Columns
December 15, 2017
Word Wise: Making Assessments
評価 Hyōka
By Richard Medhurst
Japanese words with distinct, similar meanings can be troublesome. This is especially true when they have small but crucial differences. The primary dictionary definitions of 評価 tell us that this word is used to decide the value of something or someone. This suggests English words like to “assess” or “evaluate.” With 専門家の評価, we have an expert’s “appraisal” or... more
August 15, 2017
Word Wise: Focusing on Translation
を中心に o chūshin ni
By Richard Medhurst
When choosing how to translate を中心に, there are two basic sets of options I regularly consider. If a product is described as 女性を中心に人気, this could be translated as “particularly popular with women,” “mainly popular,” “especially popular,” “primarily popular,” and so on. On the other hand, I may render研究課題を中心に, as “focused on research issues,” or “centred... more
July 4, 2017
Collect These Jewels
Reviewed by Anna Husson Isozaki
Translator Perspectives: Honyakusha no mesen 2015. Tokyo: Japan Association of Translators, 2015, 137 pages. ISBN 978-4-906408-11-5. Translator Perspectives: Honyakusha no mesen 2016. Tokyo: Japan Association of Translators, 2016, 59 pages. ISBN 978-4-906408-13-9.
“The essays are to inform and inspire both translators and translation clients. This is the work we do. This is why it is important. This is how... more
June 5, 2017
Word Wise: Deal With It
対応 Taiō
By Richard Medhurst Translators are constantly dealing with work assignments. Many of them contain the word 対応, which itself could be translated as “deal with” or “handle.” In this sense of an action with an object, 対応 also commonly becomes “respond” or “response.” The first suggestions seem in general to be an easier fit for ongoing situations, like “dealing with customers”... more
April 5, 2017
Word Wise: Baffling by Design
整備 Seibi
By Richard Medhurst
There’s a Japanese Wikipedia article on 整備文, a term devised by Canadian author Iain Arthy to refer to the obfuscatory language deployed by elites in his book Oeragata no Nihongojuku 『政・官・財（おえらがた）の日本語塾』(1996). It singles out words like 検討, 施設, and 等 for sapping readers’ will to understand. But the word he chose... more
February 3, 2017
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