Swet Columns
April 23, 2007
Mind the Gaffe!
Reviewed by Kay Vreeland
Mind the Gaffe! by R. L. Trask. New York: Harper, 2001, 2006. 290 pages. Paperback. ISBN-13: 978-0061132209; ISBN-10: 0061132209. $11.16; ¥1474.
Larry Trask led a double life—two countries, two careers, two wives—but he had one great passion for linguistics. Ranked by his peers with Noam Chomsky and Stephen Pinker, and author of classics on language, its history, and... more
March 31, 2006
Markuz Wernli Saitō on Book Design
by Peter Goodman
A Swiss designer with a background in commercial and website design, Markuz Wernli Saitō was the photographer/designer of Stone Bridge Press’s Mirei Shigemori: Modernizing the Japanese Garden, a book based on the doctoral dissertation of author Christian Tschumi on the twentieth-century scholar and garden designer. On January 22, 2006 Wernli Saitō spoke about how the photographs... more
December 1, 2005
Kyoto Journal Inspired
by Damon Shulenberger
The Kyoto Journal has always been a source of admiration and inspiration to editors, translators, and writers connected with Japan. In 2005, founding editor John Einarsen and associate editor Stewart Wachs spoke to a large SWET audience about their different perspectives on the journal’s making and showed a lively collection of slides of KJ covers and... more
November 1, 2005
On Staying Published
by Kay Vreeland
Publishing a guidebook to Kyoto is a daunting undertaking, so seeing it on bookshelves eight years after publication is gratifying. What is involved in staying in print and in maintaining a relationship with a publisher that is taken over by other presses along the way? Judith Clancy talks with SWET about the process and the rewards of remaining... more
December 14, 2004
Notes from a Garret
by Michael Hoffman
You don’t have to pay half your salary in rent or brave commuter crowds every day to pursue a successful writing or translating career in Japan. From his “garret” looking out on the waters of Ishikari Bay in Hokkaido, Michael Hoffman contributes articles regularly to two of Japan’s English-language dailies, translates, and, most recently, writes fiction. How did... more
March 15, 2004
The In-house Dogsbody
by Doreen Simmons
How far is an employer justified in changing or adding to the job description of a new employee? Our lovable old tabby is positively cross-eyed with benevolence, but lately she has been seeing some ominous extensions. We should be willing to try something new—who knows, this may be our next good career move—but how far are skills transferable... more