These are casual virtual meet-ups to talk about translation, mainly between Japanese and English. We share experiences, questions, reading, strategies, tools, travails, and trivia, with different conversations every time. The hour-long sessions, moderated by Daniel Morales, start at 8:00 p.m. JST on the first Tuesday of the month. Participation is up and down. The December 3 session was a cozy 6, giving us a chance to discuss our daily routines and work rhythms and learn about our various niches in the industry. For brief reports of previous meetings, see here. 

Here is what is coming up:

May 6: Translation rates are often difficult to discuss, but they are critical for translators. We’re not planning to talk about specific rates, but we would like to try to talk about the considerations surrounding rates. When is it okay to ask for a higher rate from a regular client? Are your rates calculated by source character or target word? Do you have a minimum charge for small projects? Is it by rate or volume? If you are willing to take a higher volume of work for a lower rate, where do you draw the line, and are such volume discounts viable for a translator in the long term? 

June 3: This month we’ll have a “wild card” open session. Translator Tuesday was envisioned as a place for translators to get together and socialize, bringing any concerns to the table. So come with your own questions or interests and share them with your coworkers at this digital water cooler.

July 1: Translation is an iterative exercise. First drafts often go through several stages of revision, and this month we’ll be looking at that process. How do you revise your translations? What strategies have been particularly effective? Do you have a trusted editor? Does a professional translation need a second set of eyes to make it most effective?

Please note that advance registration is required for each session. Click on the link below, then select the desired date from the pull-down menu. If you are interested but not sure you can make it, feel free to sign up and attend if you can. Participants are also free to arrive or depart while the session is in progress. We encourage you to register now.

Translator Tuesdays registration form 

Moderators: Lynne Riggs and Bruce Smith
Date: Saturday, May 17, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon (JST); Zoom open at 9:30 for visiting
Advance registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/eLP-pMQqT9SvmWPoePF7zA

Patricia Massy arrived in Japan in 1965 with a visa to teach English at Kyoritsu Women’s University but with the intention of learning sumi-e and Japanese painting. Unable to find a suitable teacher, she delved into calligraphy as well as indigo and yuzen dyeing, which gave her access to traditional artisans. Her experiences led to a column on traditional crafts in the Japan Times, first the weekly “Edo Etceteras,” then the monthly “Crafts and Craftsmen” from 1972 to 1988. The first was compiled into the book Sketches of Japanese Crafts (1980). She also supervised the rebuilding of a dismantled minka in Nagano prefecture, which became her home and later country retreat after she moved to the Kamakura area. She organized craft and culture tours to different parts of Japan for organizations such as the Tokyo American Club and the Japan Society of New York. For the past 20 years she has pursued her first love of Nihonga-style painting while continuing with writing and translation. Friend and colleague of writers, editors, and translators, she will share recollections and aspirations from over six decades.

Date: Friday, May 30 (US); Saturday, May 31 (Japan), 2025
Time: 8:00–9:30 p.m. EDT; 5:00–6:30 p.m. PDT; 9:00–10:30 a.m. JST (Zoom opens at 8:45 a.m. JST)
Moderator: Mac Gill

Join us for a casual virtual meet-up, organized with North American time zones in mind but open to all wordsmiths with a connection to Japan, wherever they are. 

For our May meetup, we’ll talk about “Work and Play.” How do you separate your work from the hobby side of things (writing/translating and reading for pleasure)? Now that you work in this field, do you find it difficult to read translations without criticizing them? How do you navigate wanting to work on personal projects/fun projects while feeling like you need to be producing something for a waiting client or that you could pitch to a publisher?

Register in advance for this meeting here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/f6-6SywqTyqMH1SHK-wFuA 

Date: Friday, April 18 (US); Saturday April 19 (Japan), 2025
Time: 8:00–9:30 p.m. EDT; 5:00–6:00 p.m. PDT; 9:00–10:30 a.m. JST (Zoom opens at 8:45 a.m. JST)
Moderator: Mac Gill

Join us for a casual virtual meet-up, organized with North American time zones in mind but open to all wordsmiths with a connection to Japan, wherever they are. 

We’ll begin with self-introductions and discussion of current topics of interest, then turn to our proposed theme for this session, “progressing as a professional.” What do you do to grow your craft when you’re doing it for work? Are there any resources you used when you first started that really helped? What resources do you use regularly now that you find invaluable to your work?

Register in advance for this meeting here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/MeR0RM3URtCUoGO8xTZqMg 

Here is what is coming up:

April 1: AI's Role in Translation
SWET has had a healthy conversation on the mailing list over the past few weeks about the role of AI in translation. We thought it might be useful to move the conversation to Translator Tuesday so we can have a closer conversation about the topic as it relates to our own work situations. Join us in April to talk about the role of translation. Note: The goal will be to focus on people's experiences of how, when, and whether AI should be used.

May 6: Translation rates are often difficult to discuss, but they are critical for translators. We’re not planning to talk about specific rates, but we would like to try to talk about the considerations surrounding rates. When is it okay to ask for a higher rate from a regular client? Are your rates calculated by source character or target word? Do you have a minimum charge for small projects? Is it by rate or volume? If you are willing to take a higher volume of work for a lower rate, where do you draw the line, and are such volume discounts viable for a translator in the long term? 

Please note that advance registration is required for each session. Click on the link below, then select the desired date from the pull-down menu. If you are interested but not sure you can make it, feel free to sign up and attend if you can. Participants are also free to arrive or depart while the session is in progress. We encourage you to register now.

Translator Tuesdays registration form 

Date: Saturday, April 5, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon (JST)
Speakers: Melanie Kardas, Amy Kelley, and Emma Hanashiro

Although manga for English-speaking audiences are usually licensed, localized, and published by North American publishers, more and more Japan-based companies are also localizing manga into English. Who are the people working at these Japan-based companies, and what is involved in the localization process? At this Talk Shop, three in-house editors from Renta, Animate International, and Manga Planet/futekiya will talk about the ups and downs of working in the industry, the challenges and rewards in the workplace, and what it takes to find a job.

Speaker Profiles

Melanie Kardas: Melanie moved to Japan in 2011. After stints interpreting and translating for an advertising agency, a stationery manufacturer, a major airline, and more, she started working full-time at Animate International in 2021. Though initially responsible for a variety of projects at Animate group companies, she soon found herself in charge of editing and promoting the company’s Boys’ Love (BL) manga line. As of March 2025, she is part of manga publisher Takeshobo’s overseas division.

Amy Kelley: After returning to college for Japanese and Communications in her late 20s, Amy Kelley was lucky enough to get a job with Papyless Global. Having lived in Japan for six years, Amy is the head of the localization team and is also in charge of social media marketing, fan outreach, and brand invigoration. With an emphasis on BL and women’s manga, she hopes to help increase the availability of all manga genres on a global scale.

Emma Hanashiro: Emma Hanashiro is a managing editor/localization coordinator at FANTASISTA, INC. Currently stationed at Dai Nippon Printing (DNP), she is editing and preparing digital-first manga titles for print. Emma has worked for the past seven years at Manga Planet, a digital manga publisher and distribution platform. In 2018, she proposed and helped develop futekiya, the BL digital manga branch of Manga Planet. Outside of work, Emma helps run SWET’s Manga Special Interest Group and plans meetups in Tokyo for people working in manga localization and more.

Date: Saturday, March 22, 2025
Time: 2:00–5:00 p.m.
Host: Bruce Smith (see our online directory for profile)
Capacity: 14 (on first-come basis)

The Writers’ Salon will be gathering as usual in Kita Kamakura. As the gathering was canceled last month due to the illness of the host, the prior month’s topic remains, to hear from those attending what their “best practices” are for getting their wordsmithing accomplished. As always, this is a get-together of working writers, published authors, bloggers, journalists, editors, book reviewers, and all those for whom writing is central to their lives, to check in on how the writing is going, talk about what’s happening in the publishing world, and share talk of the travails of a writer’s routine. It is also an opportunity to catch up with old friends, connect with new people, share your recent accomplishments, and talk about what you’re working on at present. This is not a writing critique group, but a simple gathering of writers taking a break from work. Some small potluck, and BYOB if so inclined. Non-SWET members welcome.

For details and directions, please sign up by sending an email to SWET.

Date: Feb. 21 (US); Saturday Feb. 22 (Japan), 2025
Time: 7:00–8:30 p.m. EST; 9:00–10:30 a.m. JST (Zoom opens 8:45 a.m. JST)
Moderator: Mac Gill

As our first online meeting in 2025, we’ll begin with self-introductions and discussion of current topics of interest, then turn to our proposed theme for this session:
How do we, as translators/writers/editors make decisions? Both when it comes to what projects we work on (if we have that choice!) and how we work with other editors or with writers/translators? How do we choose what to keep of suggestions, editors, and our own work when self-editing?

Register in advance for this meeting here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/1qzZeO5xTxWHFGtKb3C_Qg

Date: February 22 (Sat.), 2025
Time: 2:00–4:00 p.m.
Host: Bruce Smith (see our online directory for profile)
Capacity: 15 (on first-come basis)

The Writers’ Salon will be gathering as usual in Kita Kamakura. If the conversation lags, which it rarely does, it would be interesting to hear from those attending what their “best practices” are for getting their wordsmithing accomplished. As always, this is a get-together of working writers, published authors, bloggers, journalists, editors, book reviewers, and all those for whom writing is central to their lives, to check in on how the writing is going, talk about what’s happening in the publishing world, and share talk of the travails of a writer’s routine. It is also an opportunity to catch up with old friends, connect with new people, share your recent accomplishments, and talk about what you’re working on at present. This is not a writing critique group, but a simple gathering of writers taking a break from work. Potluck and BYOB. Non-SWET members welcome.

For details and directions, please sign up by sending an email to swet@info.jp.

These are casual virtual meet-ups to talk about translation, mainly between Japanese and English. We share experiences, questions, reading, strategies, tools, travails, and trivia, with different conversations every time. The hour-long sessions, moderated by Daniel Morales, start at 8:00 p.m. JST on the first Tuesday of the month. Participation is up and down. The December 3 session was a cozy 6, giving us a chance to discuss our daily routines and work rhythms and learn about our various niches in the industry. For brief reports of previous meetings, see here. 

Here is what is coming up:

March 11 (note it will be the 2nd Tuesday this month): What are some of the visual elements of the Japanese language that are most difficult to translate into English? Japanese will often use words from English and other languages, for example, to create a specific effect. How do you recreate this in your translations? What about other elements, such as mathematical symbols, icons, and emoji (first created in Japan)? Does this make more of a difference with a literary text like poetry than with other genres of writing? 

April 1: Translation rates are often difficult to discuss, but they are critical for translators. We’re not planning to talk about specific rates, but we would like to try to talk about the considerations surrounding rates. When is it okay to ask for a higher rate from a regular client? Are your rates calculated by source character or target word? Do you have a minimum charge for small projects? Is it by rate or volume? If you are willing to take a higher volume of work for a lower rate, where do you draw the line, and are such volume discounts viable for a translator in the long term? 

Please note that advance registration is required for each session. Click on the link below, then select the desired date from the pull-down menu. If you are interested but not sure you can make it, feel free to sign up and attend if you can. Participants are also free to arrive or depart while the session is in progress. We encourage you to register now.

Translator Tuesdays registration form 

Speakers: Andrew and Rieko Kamei-Dyche
Moderator: Frank Walter
Date: Saturday, March 22, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon (JST)
 

Historians Andrew and Rieko Kamei-Dyche will talk about Japanese History for High School, their translation of a textbook, which was published in March 2024. The volume aims “to accurately and smoothly reflect the original Japanese text” while “employing the historical terminology used among scholars of Japan writing in English.” It includes kanji for terms, names, places, and events, and has two indexes, one for terms in English and another for Japanese. Ample footnotes provide background details, and translators’ notes “explain the rationale behind some significant editorial choices and help the reader understand the issues involved in translating a history textbook.”

Among many questions, we can ask the translators what major issues they encountered in undertaking t his project; what they consider to have been the major “wins” in their translation, and what compromises they made or practical policies they adopted for producing an English edition that the publisher envisioned for use by Japanese readers. How did they manage to complete their translation while teaching full time at university? How did they collaborate? What do they think the book offers that cannot be found in English-language histories of Japan?  

Andrew Kamei-Dyche (PhD, University of Southern California) teaches at Aoyama Gakuin University, School of Global Studies and Collaboration. He specializes in the history of reading and publishing and studies Japanese book history and print culture, with a special interest in networks among publishers and intellectuals.. 

Rieko Kamei-Dyche (PhD, University of Southern California) teaches at Rissho University, Faculty of Data Science. She specializes in early medieval Japanese history, with an interest in courtier society and interaction between literature and historical studies. 

Frank Walter is a manager, translator, and editor at Export Japan.

These are casual virtual meet-ups to talk about translation, mainly between Japanese and English. We share experiences, questions, reading, strategies, tools, travails, and trivia, with different conversations every time. The hour-long sessions, moderated by Daniel Morales, start at 8:00 p.m. JST on the first Tuesday of the month. Participation is up and down. The December 3 session was a cozy 6, giving us a chance to discuss our daily routines and work rhythms and learn about our various niches in the industry. For brief reports of previous meetings, see here. 

Here is what is coming up:

February 4: Let’s talk style! Translators have to be editors, too. In February, we’ll be discussing style guides—the guides we or our clients create for specific projects as well as the “authorities”—Chicago, MLA, the Japan Style Sheet, and more. How do such rules impact the way you translate? How do you keep track of the style guides you need for different clients? This is also a call for editors and veterans. 

March 4: What are some of the visual elements of the Japanese language that are most difficult to translate into English? Japanese will often use words from English and other languages, for example, to create a specific effect. How do you recreate this in your translations? What about other elements, such as mathematical symbols, icons, and emoji (first created in Japan)? Does this make more of a difference with a literary text like poetry than with other genres of writing? 

Please note that advance registration is required for each session. Click on the link below, then select the desired date from the pull-down menu. If you are interested but not sure you can make it, feel free to sign up and attend if you can. Participants are also free to arrive or depart while the session is in progress. We encourage you to register now.

Translator Tuesdays registration form 

The Writers’ Salon met five times this year past, gathering food writers, travel writers, translators, poets, journalists, novelists and others together to talk and enjoy each other’s company. With the New Year here, we are looking forward to meeting again, this time on January 18th, in Kita Kamakura as always.

As we come together to welcome in the year, why don’t we ask each other about our writerly plans for next twelve months. (Please note, I avoided using the word “resolutions.”) As always, this is a get-together of working writers, published authors, bloggers, journalists, editors, book reviewers, all those for whom writing is central to their lives. We gather to check in on how the writing is going, talk about what’s happening in the publishing world, and share talk of the travails of a writer’s routine. This is an opportunity to catch up with old friends, connect with new people, share your recent accomplishments, and talk about what you’re working on at present. This is not a writing critique group, but a simple gathering of writers taking a break from work. Potluck and BYOB. Non-members welcome.

For details and directions, please sign up by sending an email to SWET.

Date: Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m. 
Place: Second-floor Parlor (Osetsuma), Book House Café, Kitazawa Bldg., Jinbocho. Website: http://bookhousecafe.jp/ (in Japanese)Directions: See website for maps. Come out from the Jinbocho subway station at exit A1, turn right, and walk about 15 meters to the Kitazawa Building. Fee: Free of charge. Food and drink available at the café (see the menu at the Book House Café website). 

RSVP: If you plan to attend, please drop us a line at SWET to help us know how many to expect, as space is limited. We will send you a contact phone number in case you can’t find us.

It’s been a long time since we scheduled an in-person gathering. Join us to celebrate the end of another active and eventful SWET year, ask and answer about our respective activities, and enjoy being in the same space with folks hailing from hither and yon. We look forward to more such opportunities in 2025!

These are casual virtual meet-ups to talk about translation, mainly between Japanese and English. We share experiences, questions, reading, strategies, tools, travails, and trivia, with different conversations every time. The hour-long sessions, moderated by Daniel Morales, start at 8:00 p.m. JST on the first Tuesday of the month. Participation is up and down. The December 3 session was a cozy 6, giving us a chance to discuss our daily routines and work rhythms and learn about our various niches in the industry. For brief reports of previous meetings, see here. 

Here is what is coming up:

January 7: In January we'll be talking about a translator’s “mise en place,” to borrow a culinary expression. How do you set up for a translation? What tools and practices do you need? A written document or a spreadsheet? Or do you translate longhand on the written page? What specific software do you use? A basic word processor or something fancy like CAT tools? When you do open a fresh document, what habits do you have? How do you get set up on the page before you get going?

February 4: Let's talk style! In February we'll be discussing Chicago, MLA, and everything in between. How do these rules impact the way your translations work? How do you keep track of the differences? This is also a call for editors and veterans. Please help enlighten us 新米翻訳者!

Please note that advance registration is required for each session. Click on the link below, then select the desired date from the pull-down menu. If you are interested but not sure you can make it, feel free to sign up and attend if you can. Participants are also free to arrive or depart while the session is in progress. We encourage you to register now.

Translator Tuesdays registration form 

Date: Friday, Dec. 6 (US); Saturday Dec. 7 (Japan), 2024
Time: 7:00–9:30 p.m. EDT; 9:00 a.m.–10:30 JST
Moderator: Mac Gill
Join us for a casual virtual meet-up (organized with the EDT time zone in mind) for networking among wordsmiths in North America in particular. We’ll begin with self-introductions and ask participants to share their thoughts and experiences, and this time delve into work process and sources of inspiration. We’ll talk about what got us into translating, editing, or writing and what keeps us going. Additionally, we’ll be exploring what the work process looks like for each of us. Do you have any quirky rituals before starting a new project? Any good or bad habits you’ve developed? We’re looking forward to catching up with you and hearing all about what you do!
Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctf-2hrzItHtOZJCT9LIJztPH685paMTWy

These are casual virtual meet-ups to talk about translation, mainly between Japanese and English. We share experiences, questions, reading, strategies, tools, travails, and trivia, with different conversations every time. The hour-long sessions, moderated by Daniel Morales, start at 8:00 p.m. JST on the first Tuesday of the month. Participation continues to set new records! In November we had 13 people. We mixed into several breakout rooms throughout the hour to facilitate discussion. Join us on December 3 to discuss your daily routines and rhythms as a translator! For brief reports of previous meetings, see here. 

Here is what is coming up:

December 3: As we enter the cooler months, life rhythms begin to slow down. What are your daily work routines? Do you need coffee the minute you wake up, and/or do you want a boost (or many!) during the day? Are you a night owl or an early bird? What time of day do you find yourself most productive and how do you base your translation work around that? How do you see movement/exercise and sitting/standing options in relation to your work?

January 7: In January we'll be talking about a translator’s “mise en place,” to borrow a culinary expression. How do you set up for a translation? What tools and practices do you need? A written document or a spreadsheet? Or do you translate longhand on the written page? What specific software do you use? A basic word processor or something fancy like CAT tools? When you do open a fresh document, what habits do you have? How do you get set up on the page before you get going?

February 4: Let's talk style! In February we'll be discussing Chicago, MLA, and everything in between. How do these rules impact the way your translations work? How do you keep track of the differences? This is also a call for editors and veterans. Please help enlighten us 新米翻訳者!

Please note that advance registration is required for each session. Click on the link below, then select the desired date from the pull-down menu. If you are interested but not sure you can make it, feel free to sign up and attend if you can. Participants are also free to arrive or depart while the session is in progress. We encourage you to register now.

Translator Tuesdays registration form 

Date: Sunday December 8, 2024
Time: 5:00 p.m. until around 7:30 p.m.
Venue: The Hub, Chayamachi Applause Branch, Umeda, Osaka
https://www.pub-hub.com/index.php/shop/detail/94
Cost: At least one drink or food order per person (cash on delivery)
Reservation: SWET Kansai

It’s been 5 years since our last end-of-the-year party, and it’s time to remedy that. Let’s reconnect face-to-face and make new friends. Everyone is free to arrive and leave at a time that suits them. Partners and friends are welcome.

Inflation has hit everyone, so we decided on a casual gathering with no fixed charge. The Hub’s happy hour runs until 7:00 p.m. If you're a Hub member, you receive an extra 5% discount.
https://www.pub-hub.com/index.php/shop/topics/28404

If you are interested in attending, we do ask that you contact us so we can give the venue numbers to ensure they reserve enough space for us.

Informal book exchange
Also bring a book or two along with you to pass on to others. Please note that we ask you to take your books home if they aren’t claimed, as we will have no way of disposing of them.

Note: SWET Kansai will not be organizing a formal nijikai or venue for dinner, due to the fluidity of the function.

Speaker: Lynne Kutsukake
Moderator: M. Cody Poulton
Date: Wednesday, November 20/Tuesday, November 19, 2024

The Art of Vanishing by Lynne Kutsukake is an intimate, explosive novel about creativity and female friendship set in 1970s Tokyo. It follows a fraught relationship between two young Japanese women who want to become artists, and explores what happens when one of them falls under the spell of a charismatic couple who claim to be “real” artists. Themes of art and authenticity, ambition and obsession, loyalty and betrayal are all set against one of the most interesting periods in Japanese cultural history.
Kutsukake talked about the process of writing her novel, her fascination with Japan in the 1970s, and how trying to become a translator helped in her journey to becoming a fiction writer.

Lynne Kutsukake is a novelist and short story writer. Her first novel, The Translation of Love, published in 2016, won the Canada-Japan Literary Award and the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. She has a master’s degree in Japanese literature from the University of Toronto, and she has lived, studied and worked in Japan during many different periods over several decades. She was a member of SWET in the 1980s. She has translated a collection of short stories by Mizuko Masuda, Single Sickness and Other Stories, and she had a long career as a Japanese studies librarian at the University of Toronto. The Art of Vanishing (2024, Knopf Canada) is her second novel. 
 
M. Cody Poulton is currently resident director of the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies. Professor emeritus at the University of Victoria, Canada, he specializes in Japanese performance. He is author of numerous studies on and translations of Japanese theatre, he has also translated kabuki and contemporary Japanese drama for such multivolume series as Kabuki Plays on Stage and Half a Century of Japanese Theater. In his spare time, he writes about life in Kyoto and continues to translate modern Japanese fiction and drama.
 

Date: Saturday, October 26, 2024
Time: 2:00–4:00 p.m.
Place: Kita Kamakura, less than a minute from the station. Address to be provided.
Host: Bruce Smith (see member profile here)
Capacity: 15 (on first-come basis)
For details and directions please sign up by sending an email to SWET.

The Writers’ Salon will gather again in Kita Kamakura this month, a get-together of working writers, published authors, bloggers, journalists, editors, book reviewers, all those for whom writing is central to their lives, to check in on how the writing is going, talk about what’s happening in the publishing world, and share talk of the travails of a writer’s routine. This is an opportunity to catch up with old friends, connect with new people, share your recent accomplishments, and talk about what you’re working on at present. This is not a writing critique group, but a simple gathering of writers taking a break from work. 

If the conversation lags, which it rarely does, it would be interesting to hear from those attending what they are reading now, what they want to be reading, and importantly, what they are willing to pay to read. This is a question that emerged from September’s quite lively discussion about the problems with, and benefits of, non-traditional publishing, i.e., online/subscriber and/or self-publishing, with several of the attendees having active Substack newsletters. 

Non-members welcome
 

These are casual virtual meet-ups to talk about translation, mainly between Japanese and English. We share experiences, questions, reading, strategies, tools, travails, and trivia, with different conversations every time. The hour-long sessions, moderated by Daniel Morales, start at 8:00 p.m. JST on the first Tuesday of the month. Here is what is coming up:

November 5: There is a wealth of literature about translation that often offers practical as well as inspirational insight into our craft. What books, articles, or essays, online or in print, have you found that are especially appealing? We hope you will share favorite titles and quotes about translation, whether in English or Japanese. See, for example, the list of articles about translation published in the SWET Newsletter (1980–2012).

December 3: As we enter the cooler months, life rhythms begin to slow down. What are your daily work routines? Do you need coffee the minute you wake up, and/or do you want a boost (or many!) during the day? Are you a night owl or an early bird? What time of day do you find yourself most productive and how do you base your translation work around that? How do you see movement/exercise and sitting/standing options in relation to your work?

Please note that advance registration is required for each session. Click on the link below, then select the desired date from the pull-down menu. If you are interested but not sure you can make it, feel free to sign up and attend if you can. Participants are also free to arrive or depart while the session is in progress. We encourage you to register now.

Translator Tuesdays registration form 

Behind the Scenes of an Indie Print Publication
Date: October 19, 2024 JST
Time: 10:00–12:00 a.m. (Zoom open from 9:40 for visiting)
Advance registration required: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMlf-qprTsuH90jqymcmZctWVy1LzVry3XG

In 2020, a group of like-minded professionals started Sankaku, a print publication celebrating people and craft. Each book explores the depths of a single subject, highlighting uncommon narratives at the intersection of culture, design, and community. Their stories begin in Japan, with an eye to the world beyond its borders. Volume 1 is a deep dive into stories of making in and around Tokyo, while Volume 2 is explores ramen in its larger cultural context, while zeroing in on the specific experiences of ramen consumption.

Writer and Sankaku collaborator Mike Fu will speak with Editorial Director Florentyna Leow about how sankaku came to exist; the financial and creative realities of operating a bootstrapped print publication alongside other full-time jobs; the hurdles they navigate in producing each book. We’ll also hear about the upcoming Volume 03: GODS, which looks at the “close relationship between religion and culture . . . stories that explore the gap between how religious traditions are perceived, and how they actually are."  About Sankaku: https://www.sankaku.is/pages/about

These are casual virtual meet-ups to talk about translation, mainly between Japanese and English. We share experiences, questions, reading, strategies, tools, travails, and trivia, with different conversations every time. The hour-long sessions, moderated by Daniel Morales, start at 8:00 p.m. JST on the first Tuesday of the month. Here is what is coming up:

October 1  We’ll talk about translation “horror stories”: Our very first freelance translation projects! Come with frightful stories (or to hear them) of the misunderstandings and mistranslations that helped forge you into the veteran translators you are now.

November 5: There is a wealth of literature about translation that often offers practical as well as inspirational insight into our craft. What books, articles, or essays, online or in print, have you found that are especially appealing? We hope you will share favorite titles about translation, whether in English or Japanese.

December 3: As we enter the cooler months, life rhythms begin to slow down. What are your daily work routines? Do you need coffee the minute you wake up, and/or do you want a boost (or many!) during the day? Are you a night owl or an early bird? What time of day do you find yourself most productive and how do you base your translation work around that? How do you see movement/exercise and sitting/standing options in relation to your work?

Please note that advance registration is required for each session. Click on the link below, then select the desired date from the pull-down menu. If you are interested but not sure you can make it, feel free to sign up and attend if you can. Participants are also free to arrive or depart while the session is in progress. We encourage you to register now.

Translator Tuesdays registration form 

Date: Friday evening, Sept. 20 (North American time zones); Saturday morning, Sept. 21 (Japan)
Time: 8:00–10:00 p.m. EDT; 9:00–11:00 a.m. JST

Calling all editors! Where are you and what sorts of work are you doing?
• Is the creeping influence of AI starting to show up in your manuscripts? What do you do?
• Do you have editors to pass work on to when your hands are full, or, say, when you want to retire? Would you like to be one of those on the receiving end?
• The new 18th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style is now available online and in print, and the detailed list of the major changes therein is publicly available. How do the changes fit with those of us editing Japan-related content?
• What is the balance of in-print versus web-related work coming in over your desktop? What are their special challenges in this always-online era?

Let’s share some cyberspace and “talk editing” for a couple of hours.

Register in advance for this meeting here.

Date: Saturday, September 28, 2024
Time: 2:00–4:00 p.m.
Place: Kita Kamakura, less than a minute from the station. Address to be provided.
Host: Bruce Smith (see member profile here)
Capacity: 15 (on first-come basis)
For details and directions please sign up by sending an email to SWET.

After a two-month break, the Writers’ Salon will be gathering again in Kita Kamakura. This is a get-together of working writers, published authors, bloggers, journalists, editors, book reviewers, all those for whom writing is central to their lives, to check in on how the writing is going, talk about what’s happening in the publishing world, and share talk of the travails of a writer’s routine. This is an opportunity to catch up with old friends, connect with new people, share your recent accomplishments, and talk about what you’re working on at present. 

This is not a writing critique group, but a simple gathering of writers taking a break from work. If the conversation lags (which it rarely does) it would be interesting to hear from those attending their thoughts on the problems with and benefits of non-traditional publishing (i.e., online/subscriber and/or self-publishing.) Potluck and BYOB. Non-members welcome.

Translator Tuesdays are casual virtual meet-ups to talk about translation mainly between Japanese and English: experiences, questions, reading, strategies, tools, travails, and trivia. The hour-long sessions, moderated by Daniel Morales, start at 8:00 p.m. JST on the first Tuesday of the month. Here is what is coming up:

September 3: How much is your time worth as a translator? It’s difficult to know without accurately tracking your work. In September we’ll be talking about how translators can track the work they do. Do you use a spreadsheet? Other software? Do you keep track of source characters? Target words? The time each project takes? How do you track work incoming and outgoing so nothing slips through the cracks?

October 1: We’ll talk about “spooky stories”: Our very first freelance translation projects! Come with horror stories of the misunderstandings and mistranslations that helped forge you into the veteran tranlators you are now.

Please note that advance registration is required for each session. Use the link below, selecting the desired date from the pull-down menu. If you are interested but not sure you can make it, feel free to sign up and attend if you can. Participants are also free to arrive or depart while the session is in progress. We encourage you to register now:

Registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZElcOGqqzIoH9CcXJf-_FD5OqJ_fO3sEJIR#/registration

Date: Friday evening, July 26 (North America time zones); Saturday morning, July 27 (Japan)
Time: 8:00–10:00 p.m. EDT; 9:00–11:00 a.m. JST
What will bring us together of a summer’s evening/day? A pile of books to give away? A new project to introduce? Ideas for the SWET archive? Tips for good “pageside manners”? What’s new in wordsmith trivia? Strategies for beating the heat? Casual encounters with wordsmiths? Come join us for a chance to stir the networking pot.

Translator Tuesdays are casual virtual meet-ups to talk about translation: experiences, questions, reading, strategies, tools, travails, and trivia. The hour-long sessions, moderated by Daniel Morales, start at 8:00 p.m. JST on the first Tuesday of the month. Here is what is coming up:

August 6: In August, we’ll share tips on how to build a client base remotely. Do you have experience connecting with new clients/maintaining ties with existing clients from the countryside of Japan or perhaps even outside of the country? What are your best practices?

September 3: How much is your time worth as a translator? It’s difficult to know without accurately tracking your work. In September we’ll be talking about how translators can track the work they do. Do you use a spreadsheet? Other software? Do you keep track of source characters? Target words? The time each project takes? How do you track work incoming and outgoing so nothing slips through the cracks?

October 1: Details pending.

Please note that advance registration is required for each session. Use the link below, selecting the desired date from the pull-down menu. If you are interested but not sure you can make it, feel free to sign up and attend if you can. Participants are also free to arrive or depart while the session is in progress. We encourage you to register now:

Registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZElcOGqqzIoH9CcXJf-_FD5OqJ_fO3sEJIR#/registration

Speaker: Burritt Sabin
Date: June 15, 2024
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Place: Yamanouchi Community Hall, 1364 Yamanouchi, Kita-Kamakura (山ノ内公会堂, 2 minutes’ walk south of Kita Kamakura Station (next to Tokei-ji) 
Fee: Free of charge (no reservations required)

From the second decade of the last century through the postwar era, prominent writers relocated to Kamakura from the capital. They were dubbed the “Kamakura Bunshi,” the “Kamakura Writers.” Who were they? Why did they migrate to Kamakura? How do their novels and poems, essays and scripts describe the city? What was their legacy? Burritt Sabin, author of Kamakura: A Contemplative Guide and A Historical Guide to Yokohama, answers those and other questions in his talk on the “Kamakura Bunshi,” a coterie whose members include Nobel, Yomiuri, Noma, and Mainichi Film prize laureates and the namesakes of the Osaragi Jiro and Takami Jun prizes.

Burritt Sabin first came to Japan as a naval officer in 1975, and has lived here ever since. He later embarked on a career in journalism, writing columns for the Asahi Shimbun and the Japan Times.

For further information, contact SWET.

Date: Saturday, June 22, 2024
Time: 2:00–4:00 p.m.
Place: Kita Kamakura, less than a minute from the station. Address to be provided.
Host: Bruce Smith (see member profile here)
Capacity: 15 (on first-come basis)
For details and directions please sign up by sending an email to SWET.

A monthly get-together of working writers, published authors, bloggers, journalists, editors, book reviewers, all those for whom writing is central to their lives, to check in on how the writing is going, talk about what’s happening in the publishing world, and share talk of the travails of a writer’s routine. This is an opportunity to catch up with old friends, connect with new people, share your recent accomplishments, and talk about what you’re working on at present. This is not a writing critique group, but a simple gathering of writers taking a break from work. BYOB. Light snacks provided. Non-members welcome.

For the June gathering, we might talk about the writing process, how we actually get things finished, how we get them started, how we keep the pages organized, what we use for writing (a fountain pen? a keyboard? a big whiteboard?)  

Material Culture and Its Value to Tourism Promotion and Visitor Education in Japan

Speaker: Morgan Pitelka
Moderator: Frank Walter
Date: Sunday, June 23, 2024 (Saturday, June 22, EDT)
Video link: https://youtu.be/tTc3MdSxYLg

Centers of heritage tourism in Japan are overrun with tourists, and many regional cities are trying to promote their cultural heritage to foreign visitors. But the value of these sites, objects, and practices is poorly articulated, leaving visitors at best confused and at worst entirely uninterested.

SWET member and historian Morgan Pitelka joins us to discuss his experiences teaching intro-level students, writing about Japanese archaeological sites, and getting people interested in Japanese culture and history. Our conversation will cover the use of Japanese versus English terminology, how to present important background information, how material culture can be a way to “get in” to Japanese studies, how to translate Japanese views on the historical past for an international audience, and many other topics.

Morgan Pitelka is professor of Asian Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His recent Reading Medieval Ruins: Urban Life and Destruction in Sixteenth-Century Japan was published by Cambridge University Press in 2022. He is also author of Spectatular Accumulation: Material Culture, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Samurai Sociability (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2015), Handmade Culture: Raku Potters, Patrons and Tea Practitioners in Japan (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2005), and editor of Japanese Tea Culture: Art, History, and Practice (Routledge, 2003).

Date: Saturday, May 18, 2024
Time: 2:00–4:00 p.m.
Place: Kita Kamakura, less than a minute from the station. Address to be provided.
Host: Bruce Smith (see member profile here)
Capacity: 15 (on first-come basis)
For details and directions please sign up by sending an email to info@swet.jp. 

A get-together of working writers, published authors, bloggers, journalists, editors, book reviewers, all those for whom writing is central to their lives, to check in on how the writing is going, talk about what’s happening in the publishing world, and share talk of the travails of a writer’s routine. This is an opportunity to catch up with old friends, connect with new people, share your recent accomplishments, and talk about what you’re working on at present. This is not a writing critique group, but a simple gathering of writers taking a break from work. BYOB. Light snacks provided. Non-members welcome.
This event follows our initial SWET Writers’ Salon on April 20. For the May gathering we might share which books inspired us as writers, the ones we read early on that might have guided us towards writing, the ones we read to become a better writer, and the ones we would recommend to a young person who wanted to write. (E. B. White? Orwell? Stephen King? J. R. R. Tolkien?)

Date: Friday, May 17 (US); Saturday May 18 (Japan), 2024
Time: 7:00–9:30 p.m. EDT; 8:00 a.m.–10:30 JST
Moderator: Mac Gill

Join us for a casual virtual meet-up (organized with the EDT time zone in mind) for networking among wordsmiths in North America in particular. We'll begin with self-introductions and ask participants to share their thoughts and experiences about work and/or other activities they have going on. Topics are likely to include finding work opportunities, working with Japan-based clients and collaborators, finding collaborators, and AI/LLM concerns, and we hope participants will suggest more.

Date: Friday, April 19 (US); April 20 (Japan), 2024
Time: 7:00–9:30 p.m. EDT; 8:00 a.m. JST
Moderator: Mac Gill

Join us for a casual virtual meet-up organized around the EDT time zone for networking among wordsmiths in North America in particular. We'll begin with self-introductions and ask participants to share their thoughts and experiences about work and/or other activities they have going on. Topics are likely to include finding work opportunities, working with Japan-based clients and collaborators, finding collaborators, AI/LLM concerns, and we hope participants will suggest more.  

Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZErdOyqpzktG9YveCtWPAAijNTuFtBCWyQ9

Date: Saturday, April 20, 2014
Time: 2:00–4:00 p.m.
Place: Kita Kamakura, less than a minute from the station. Address to be provided.
Host: Bruce Smith (see member profile here)
Capacity: 15 (on first-come basis)
For details and directions please sign up by sending an email to SWET

A get-together of working writers, published authors, bloggers, journalists, editors, book reviewers, all those for whom writing is central to their lives, to check in on how the writing is going, talk about what’s happening in the publishing world, and share talk of the travails of a writer’s routine. This is an opportunity to catch up with old friends, connect with new people, share your recent accomplishments, and talk about what you’re working on at present. This is not a writing critique group, but a simple gathering of writers taking a break from work. BYOB. Light snacks provided. Non-members welcome.

Translator Tuesdays are casual virtual meet-ups to talk about translation: experiences, questions, reading, strategies, tools, travails, and trivia. The hour-long sessions, moderated by Daniel Morales, start at 8:00 p.m. JST on the first Tuesday of the month. Here is what is coming up:

August 6: In August, we’ll share tips on how to build a client base remotely. Do you have experience connecting with new clients/maintaining ties with existing clients from the countryside of Japan or perhaps even outside of the country? What are your best practices?

September 3: How much is your time worth as a translator? It’s difficult to know without accurately tracking your work. In September we’ll be talking about how translators can track the work they do. Do you use a spreadsheet? Other software? Do you keep track of source characters? Target words? The time each project takes? How do you track work incoming and outgoing so nothing slips through the cracks?

October 1: Details pending.

Please note that advance registration is required for each session. Use the link below, selecting the desired date from the pull-down menu. If you are interested but not sure you can make it, feel free to sign up and attend if you can. Participants are also free to arrive or depart while the session is in progress. We encourage you to register now:

Registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZElcOGqqzIoH9CcXJf-_FD5OqJ_fO3sEJIR#/registration

Date: Tuesday, May 7, 2024, with subsequent sessions planned for the first Tuesday of the month: June 4, July 2, August 6, September 3…
Time: 8:00–9:30 p.m. JST
Moderator: Daniel Morales

Join us for a casual virtual meet-up to talk about translation: experiences, questions, reading, strategies, tools, travails, and trivia. In this 1.5-hour meeting, Richard Sadowsky will update the conversation on AI, how AI can be used as a translation support tool or how it might be taking over the translation industry. Richard will be joined by Tom Gally, translator and project professor, Center for Global Education, University of Tokyo. Bring your questions and comments.

Please note that advance registration is required (use link below). If you are interested but not sure you can make it, feel free to sign up and attend if you can. Participants are also free to arrive or depart while the session is in progress. We encourage you to register now at the link below. (Choose May 7 from the pop-up menu.)

Interested in the literary aspects? Check out this page on Tom Gally's website!

Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2024, with subsequent sessions planned for the first Tuesday of the month: April 2, May 7, June 4, July 2, August 6…
Time: 8:00-9:00 p.m. JST
Moderator: Daniel Morales

Join us for a casual virtual meet-up to talk about translation: experiences, questions, strategies, tools, travails, and trivia. 

Please note that advance registration is required (use link below). If you are interested but not sure you can make it, feel free to sign up and attend if you can. Participants are also free to arrive or depart while the session is in progress. We encourage you to register now:

https://bit.ly/SWET-Zoom-Mar-12-2024 

Leader: Ruth P. Stevens 
Date: March 29 (Fri)
Time: 4:00–6:00 p.m.
Place: Gulliver Room, Book House Café,  Kitazawa Bldg., Jimbocho. See the cafe website at http://bookhousecafe.jp/ (in Japanese) for maps. Come out from the Jimbocho subway at exit A1, turn right, and walk about 15 meters to the Kitazawa Building. Look for the SWET signs.
Fee: ¥500 for members; ¥1,000 for non-members. Food and drink available at the café (see the menu at the Book House Café website). 

Advance registration is required. To register, please send an email to SWET by Thursday, March 28; workshop materials will be sent to participants.

Developing a unique personal brand sets you apart from the pack, whether in your company, your field, or your private life. In this dynamic workshop, you will learn the essential steps of identifying and promoting a personal brand that is exclusively yours.

For this in-person event led by Ruth P. Stevens, a founding member of SWET and a globally recognized marketing professional and adjunct professor at NYU Stern, you will learn the three key components of developing a personal brand and the tactical options available to you to get your brand noticed among the people who count. The session will operate in table-based groups, where each participant can get feedback on a branding plan and leave the program with a tangible set of action steps.
 

Speaker: Diane Hawley Nagatomo

Moderator: Louise George Kittaka

Date: Saturday, February 24, 2024

Time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon JST (Zoom opens at 9:30 a.m. for pre-meeting visiting)

Drawing on a career that spans more than 30 years in Japan, Diane Hawley Nagatomo shared her experiences with writing in three different genres and the insights she has gleaned along the way, from penning short columns for the Mainichi Weekly in the 1980s to the publication of her first work of fiction in 2023. Diane and Louise have known each other for nearly 30 years. 

Diane Hawley Nagatomo, a resident of Japan since 1979 and former professor at Ochanomizu University, has authored more than 25 EFL textbooks and two academic monographs. In recent years, she has turned to writing fiction and her debut novel, The Butterfly Café, was published in 2023. Her next novel, Finding Naomi, will be published in November 2024.  

Louise George Kittaka is a bilingual freelance writer, content developer, and cross-cultural trainer from New Zealand. She writes for various English media platforms, including the Japan Times, and has contributed to numerous EFL textbooks and study materials. She also lectures at Shirayuri Women’s University in Tokyo.

Time was set aside in the latter half of the talk for questions from participants.

View video.

Date: Saturday, December 16, 2023
Time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon JST (Zoom opens at 9:30 a.m. for pre-meeting visiting)

Advance registration (required): https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqdeyqpzgjGtf1ciZoPg0yM0XQaVx_auZL

Has your workflow changed with the advent of new online tools? How did you carry on during the hottest summer in memory? What is changing recently in your niche of the wordsmithing professions? We’ll gather online to mark the end of another SWET year and share our thoughts on such questions, ask others, and catch up with each other’s doings. Please join us from wherever you are and invite your SWET friends.

Speaker: David Joiner
Moderator: Lisa Wilcut
Date: Saturday, November 18, 2023

David Joiner is the author of Lotusland (Guernica Editions, 2015), set in Vietnam, and Kanazawa (Stone Bridge Press, 2022) and The Heron Catchers (forthcoming from SBP, November 2023), both set in Japan. He majored in Japanese studies in college and earned his master's degree in fiction, nonfiction, and playwriting. He served as a volunteer teacher in Vietnam in 1994 and again in 1997 and has spent a total of 12 years living in various parts of Vietnam over the past 29 years. He has lived in various places in Japan as well and is currently settled in Kanazawa.

He has spoken frequently about his fiction (see his website) and writing in general and in this talk will focus on how he decides to portray “place” in his novels, his process of writing scenes where setting plays an important role, and how living in Vietnam and in Japan has influenced his worldview and writing.

Friday, September 15, 2023 (Japan); Thursday, September 14 (North America)
Hosts: Ruth Stevens and Lynne E. Riggs

Time: 9:00 a.m.–11:00 JST; 8:00 p.m. EDT; 5:00 p.m. PDT
Advance registration (required): https://bit.ly/3LbPkvH 

How did a young person in 1970s or 1980s Japan find work as an editor, writer, or translator? What did they learn on the job? Who were their bosses? Who were their friends and mentors? What do they remember from those days?
Quite a few SWET members, now veterans in their professions, got their start 50 or more years ago as fledgling editors in English-language book-publishing houses based in Tokyo. They lived in Shōwa-era tatami-mat rooms, used typewriters, faxes, and red pens, and learned how to acquire manuscripts, choose fonts, design page-layout, copyedit, and compose indexes. Who are these people, and where are they now?
We’ve put out the call and made a date to catch up with each other. Please join us on Zoom for an hour or so of conversation. Participants from all eras are welcome. Looking forward to seeing you and hearing what you’re up to after so many years.

Speaker: Dr. Peter Yanase, project researcher, Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (Nabunken)
Date: Saturday, July 22, 2023
Time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon JST (Zoom opens at 9:30 for pre-meeting visiting)
Advance registration (required): https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIoduihqj0uEtbJIPsPuiEeUGae0C8egZtm

A Japanologist with particular interest in philosophy of science, Peter Yanase has been working at Nabunken since June 2019. He develops English texts for museums and multilingual information retrieval solutions for archaeological data. 

Yanase will talk about a Nabunken-organized training session held in March 2023, which was attended by more than 70 museum curators and others in charge of producing multilingual texts on cultural heritage at organizations around Japan. He will also mention his approach to “translation,” which is often more like creative rewriting, and his efforts to cope with “translation politics.” He is keenly interested in what could be automated in translation work relating to cultural properties. Regarding the latter, he is interested in hearing what problems/challenges that have not already been addressed professionals would like to tackle using the technology available.

Date: Saturday, August 19, 2023
Time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon JST (Zoom opens at 9:30 for pre-meeting visiting)
Speakers: Any participants who care to share
Advance registration (required): https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0scO2tqzstH9Lpnvs-CwVn_8m2kSXC4-tN

As we leave the pandemic, tourism surges ahead and projects gain momentum. Clients with little experience putting out their messages in English are everywhere, and wordsmiths are busy, busy. Gaps in understanding basic editing and translation terminology can be a source of woe on both sides. (See the recently posted column, “No More Kōsei Trauma: A Japan Wordsmith’s Glossary”). Client-side lack of familiarity with English typesetting and layout/design is a perennial pitfall, whatever the genre. Over-optimism about scheduling and funding is frequent.

How do wordsmiths educate their customers for optimal results, satisfying clients and ensuring they can provide professional services? What do we do when the situation is over our heads? What are some of the blank spots in client preparations we can help to fill? Veterans and newcomers are encouraged to share their stories and best practices, and we hope to condense and record them for posterity in the SWET website archive.

Date: Saturday, June 17, 2023
Time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon JST
Speakers: Any participants who care to share
Advance registration (required): https://bit.ly/SWET-Jun-17-2023

How has COVID impacted you personally and professionally? Haven’t been on a train in three years? Moved to the countryside? Missing casual conversations with colleagues, face to face meetings with clients, and the razzle-dazzle of the city? More time to work; more communication glitches . . .
Join the session and raise your virtual hand when you’re ready to share the highs and lows of your pandemic experience, whether professional or personal. 

with Claire Maree and Tanomi
Moderator: Emily Balistrieri (he/him)
Date: Saturday, May 13, 2023
Time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon JST

Audio link: On SWET's YouTube Channel

Linguistic practices are evolving quickly as transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people around the world fight for rights and basic respect. What does good gender-inclusive English look like? What is gendered language like in Japanese? These are some of the questions we will discuss, tapping into the expertise of Professor Claire Maree, researcher and specialist in everyday language practices relating to gender and sexuality, and Japanese trans rights activist and neuroscience researcher Tanomi. We will share specific models to refer to and experiences to consider.

Speaker Profiles

Claire Maree (her) is Professor in Japanese at the Asia Institute, University of Melbourne and President of the International Gender and Language Association. Claire completed master's (1997) and doctoral (2002) degrees at the University of Tokyo, and taught Japanese linguistics, multicultural studies and gender/sexuality studies at Toyo University (2001-2004) and Tsuda University (2004–2010) before taking up her current position. With extensive experience in the study of contemporary Japanese culture and society, Claire is actively involved in queer studies and qualitative approaches to language, gender and sexuality. Her key expertise lies in linguistic analysis of identity and the mediatisation of language styles. The key themes of her current research are (a) the reproduction, negotiation and contestation of identities in language, and (b) the interconnection of gender and sexuality in everyday language practices.

Tanomi (he/him/彼男) is a community organizer and neuroscience PhD student at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, studying how testosterone HRT affects ADHD-like traits in rats with ovaries. With a handful of other queer activists, he organizes a quasi-monthly demonstration in Tokyo called Arienai Demo, where people gather to protest the transphobic laws and practices that violate gender autonomy in Japan (including the invasive legal transition requirements of the so-called Seidōissei Shōgai Tokureihō or “Gender Identity Disorder Special Cases Act”). Arienai Demo strives to be an accessible, welcoming space for people with diverse intersecting identities to express their dissent. Tanomi has advocated for the use of the masculine neo-pronoun kanodan (彼男) to challenge the male centricity inherent in the use of kare (his/him) as a masculine pronoun in modern Japanese.

Moderator: Richard Sadowsky

Date: Sunday, April 23, 2023

Recent technological advances, such as AI-driven ChatGPT, are much in the news, and as professional wordsmiths, we need to get a handle on these tools or risk getting left behind. This Talk Shop is for participants to ask questions and share experiences about the use of MT and AI tools. The discussion should help us get a better grasp—at least at this point—of what people are calling a “complete game-changer”—which might mean that we no longer get the same type of work or that we must adapt and change how we work in key ways.

Date: Saturday, March 25, 2023
 

Neither rain, nor late-March chill, nor long distances willl dampen this online SWET hanami! Tune into this Talk Shop from under a blooming tree near you, from your desk or smartphone with a Zoom background of blooms or, if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, autumn colors, or even with a sprig on your desk. Join solo, with your partner, your children, your cat or dog or parrot, your cup of “spring water.” Brought together by the flowers (or the colors of fall), let’s talk of many things, hear from many people, and revel in the camaraderie of off-work wordsmiths. 

Also, the SWET website will feature a special “Hanami” album. Please send your photos (with caption), stories, poems, or limericks to SWET. Contributions received between March 15 and April 15 will be included. 

With Daniel Morales and Jennifer O’Donnell

Date: Saturday, February 25, 2023

Jennifer O’Donnell and Daniel Morales have 7+ blogs and 3+ podcasts between themselves, in addition to years of experience writing and translating. They discussed the strategies that have helped them maintain their blogs/podcasts over the years (including putting down the unsuccessful blogs), which platforms are reliable, and what if any benefits their blogs have had on their professional careers.

Watch here:

https://youtu.be/0Fw2V33nd1A

Date: Saturday, December 10, 2022
Time: 10:00–12:00 noon (meeting open from 9:30)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqduCppjwoGNJuDJ5jLBn8RWi6UOO-GFLS

We’ll wrap up our 42nd SWET year with a casual drop-in-and-visit online meet-up. We hope you’ll join us during this two-hour Zoom to hear what other members are doing, ask questions, suggest topics for 2023 events and activities, and introduce yourself if you are new to the organization.

We'll start the event with a quick icebreaker: In 30 seconds, tell us about the very first writing/editing/translating job you did and then the most recent writing/editing/translating job you did. For aspiring writers/editors/translators, tell us about your areas of interest. We'll cycle through smaller breakout rooms to allow for discussion and bring the group back together to finish. We look forward to seeing you there!

Date: Friday, December 9, 2022
Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Place: Second-floor Parlor (Osetsu-ma), Book House Café, Kitazawa Bldg., Jimbocho. Website: http://bookhousecafe.jp/ (in Japanese)
See website for maps. Come out from the Jimbocho subway at exit A1, turn right, and walk about 15 meters to the Kitazawa Building. Look for the SWET signs.
Fee: Free of charge. Food and drink available at the café (see the menu at the Book House Café website). 

RSVP: If you plan to attend, please drop us a line at SWET Events. to reserve your place. Note that space is limited.
As a courtesy to other attendees, we ask you to be masked except when eating or drinking and to refrain from speaking while unmasked.

This will be our first non-virtual gathering since February 2020. We’ll be at our old haunt at Book House Café in Jinbocho, where we used to meet before the world turned upside down on us. We may have some special guests, but this will be above all a welcome chance to get together, talk, check in, share news good and bad, and see each other in person. And if you are not in the Tokyo area or prefer to meet online, please see our plan for casual catching up via Zoom on December 10th.

Speaker: Karen Hill Anton
Moderator: Lynne E. Riggs
Date: Sunday, October 30, 2022
Time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon JST
The meeting opens at 9:30 a.m. for networking; discussion from 10:00, followed by Q&A.
Advance registration is required: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUsf-6prT0vEtHuAw_rE6MDOOujma_u-2rR

Suppose you want to write a memoir for a wide readership, as our speaker has done. Where do you start and how do you prepare? What are the qualities of a really good memoir beyond the story of a long and full life?

In the first hour, we will ask Karen Hill Anton about the resources she collected, advice she received, and decisions she made over the years leading up to the writing of her memoir and what we can learn from her experience that we can apply to any attempt we ourselves might make.   

Karen Hill Anton is a columnist, teacher, and author. Her memoir, The View from Breast Pocket Mountain, published in September 2020, is the recipient of the Memoir Magazine Grand Prize 2022, the SPR Award Gold Prize 2021, and the B.R.A.G  Medallion 2020. She presented seminars on memoir writing at the Japan Writers Conference 2020 and 2021. Her novel A Thousand Graces comes out in January 2023. Karen has made her home in rural Shizuoka since 1975. Her talk with SWET about her memoir is available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76mbucv69F4.

With Wendy Uchimura and Alison Watts
Moderator: Marian Kinoshita

Date: September 18, 2022 (Sunday)

Books about contemporary handicrafts and hobbies—sashiko, embroidery, dressmaking, painting, etc.—as distinct from traditional crafts and artistic craftsmanship, are being translated and sold successfully in Anglophone markets. What are the special challenges of this niche of the translation industry? How does it differ from other genres of translation? How to find/work with publishers? How to deal with specialized terminology? We have two seasoned specialists to enlighten us about this fascinating field.

Alison Watts is a sashiko enthusiast based in Ibaraki prefecture who has translated Sashiko for Making and Mending by Saki Iiduka (Tuttle Publishing) and is currently working on another to be entitled Amazing Sashiko. She blogs on the subject on her website.

Wendy Uchimura, based in Yorkshire, UK, has translated a number of books on handicrafts, ranging from wazakka to needle-felting, including the following:
Modern Japanese Crochet: Classic Stitches Made Easy from Nihon Vogue (Tuttle Publishing)
Modern Japanese Painting Techniques (Tuttle Publishing)

Moderating the discussion is Marian Kinoshita, professional translator whose experience ranges from semiconductors to advertising and everything in between, with a special love for tenugui.

View video: https://youtu.be/GHhGRgkqVLs

Louise Cort with Alice and Halsey North
Moderator: Zackary Kaplan

Date: Saturday, July 30, 2022 (JST)
Time: 8:00–10:00 a.m. JST; July 29, 2022; 7:00 p.m. EDT

Speaking from the U.S. East Coast, SWET member Louise Cort introduced her friends and colleagues Alice and Halsey North, who are pioneering collectors and patrons of contemporary Japanese ceramics. The three, who have been writing about and connecting with makers of Japanese ceramics for decades, recently published Listening to Clay: Conversations with Contemporary Japanese Ceramic Artists.

SWET members asked the authors to elaborate on their experiences introducing Japanese ceramic artists to North American audiences, and share their stories and insights on how collaboration via the Internet could be achieved despite the restrictions of the pandemic.

Alice and Halsey North are leading collectors and patrons of contemporary Japanese ceramics. Since 1994, they have worked with curators from the National Museum of Asian Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston to research, document, and contextualize their collection. A primary focus of their collecting and advocacy has been to introduce new audiences to this art form. They have donated ceramics from their collection to numerous museums, notably the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met also houses the database, archives, and library for their collection.

Louise Allison Cort is Curator Emerita of Ceramics, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution. Her research interests are historical and contemporary ceramics in Japan, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. Her publications include Shigaraki, Potters’ Valley (1979, reprinted in 2000), Isamu Noguchi and Modern Japanese Ceramics: A Close Embrace of the Earth (with Bert Winther-Tamaki, 2003), and Chigasu and the Art of Tea (with Andrea Watsky, 2014). In 2012, she received the Secretary’s Distinguished Scholar Award, Smithsonian Institution, and the Koyama Fujio Memorial Price for research on historical and contemporary Japanese ceramics.

“Donald Keene: 100th Anniversary Exhibition—A Lifelong Pursuit of Japanese Culture,”  Kanagawa Museum of Japanese Literature special exhibition, May 28–July 24, 2022 (in Japanese)

Date: July 21, 2022 (Thursday)
Meet-up Time:  4:30 p.m. meet-up outside (weather permitting; contact organizers for questions)
Place: In park outside Museum or location to be decided. Contact organizer at info@swet.jp

The Kanagawa Museum of Japanese Literature in Yokohama is currently featuring “Donald Keene: 100th Anniversary Exhibition—A Lifelong Pursuit of Japanese Culture” (May 28–July 24, in Japanese). The Museum is located up on the Bluff above the Motomachi-Chukagai stop on the Minato Mirai line (elevator for part of the climb) in Yokohama.

After viewing the exhibit to learn more about Japanologist and pioneer wordsmith Donald Keene, take advantage of the chance to meet up with other SWET members in the evening cool. Those who want to join the meet-up should contact SWET in advance or on the day for the contact phone number and meeting place at SWET.

Sunday, June 19, 2022
Time: 10:00–12:00 a.m. JST (virtual doors open at 9:30)
Join us for a good, old-fashioned (but online) kōryūkai for editors. We’ll mimic a live event with a virtual meishi exchange board and several rounds of small-group conversations. Goals: connect with editors in your geographical area(s) and area of specialty, with whom you might share work/and or clients, and with whom you might partner as a second set of eyes, so to speak.
Register here:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMlf-yhqjMsH9XllA9TeXEwyO46Bhe3RwRz
 

Sunday, May 22, 2022
Time: 10:00–11:00 a.m. JST

Calling all professional editors and would-be editors and who want to share, learn, commiserate, or otherwise come together and help each other work through a wide range of editing issues. Let’s get together to talk about what those issues will be and how we can address them by organizing Zoom sessions or other activities. This initial meeting is to gauge the breadth and depth of interest, which seemed considerable when the topic came up during a Talk Shop event a few months back.

To attend, please join at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86822480116?pwd=dEFpS3FPY2YwWUpCYXg3K0J6cDdLUT09

Journalism in Writing, Audio, and Drawings with Hannah Kirshner
Moderator: Zackary Kaplan

Date: Saturday, March 26, 2022
Discussion, followed by Q&A

A wonderful conversation with Hannah Kirshner, the author of Water, Wood, and Wild Things, was held to discuss her book—a captivating written and illustrated account of craft, cultivation, and tradition seen through the lives of the people of Yamanaka, Ishikawa prefecture. The book will be celebrating its first anniversary of publication from Viking Press, and came out in paperback March 29. Kirshner talked about the behind-the-scenes process of pitching the book and tying together interviews, research, recipes, and illustrations for the final publication, among many other topics. She spoke about her freelance work, including writing for the New York Times and her recent entry into the world of audio journalism as both a writer and producer.

Hannah Kirshner is a writer, artist, and food stylist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Vogue, Saveur, Taste, Food52, Roads & Kingdoms, and Atlas Obscura, among others. She is the author of Water, Wood, and Wild Things. Kirshner grew up on a small farm outside Seattle, and studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design. She divides her time between Brooklyn and rural Ishikawa prefecture, Japan.

Zackary Kaplan is a freelance translator based in Niigata prefecture. He specializes in art, traditional crafts, and cuisine. He also engages in creative consulting for local businesses in Niigata.

Watch video:
https://youtu.be/HTWVrAhHmqE

A Conversation with Rebekah Harmon and Lynne E. Riggs

Date: Saturday, February 26, 2022

Translator and editor, formerly for institutions under MEXT and METI and now freelance, Rebekah Harmon joins veteran translator and editor Lynne E. Riggs to talk about ways the professional know-how of editors and J-to-E translators can be accessed and better shared (e.g., via style guides, such as the upcoming National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH) style manual and the JTA FY2021 Writing and Style Manual); creating “analogous” rather than “accurate” translations; helping clients with design and layout challenges, and more. The second hour features Q&A and discussion with participants.

Open SWET! Launching 2022
Date: January 22, 2022 (Sat.)
Time: 10:00 a.m. JST (meeting opens at 9:30 a.m.)
Self-introductions from 10:00; series of break-out sessions from 10:30 to 11:30 [?].
Advance registration is required; see the link below.

Let’s get together in the New Year for an online Shinnenkai! We’ll introduce ourselves, catch up with old friends, ask questions, and brainstorm for SWET activities in the new year. Breakout rooms will be set up from 10:30 for small-group talk.

Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAocu6gqDsuHdIsikwdgAzcXhNvrVBoxKK5

Speakers: Emily Balistrieri, Winnie Bird, Susan Jones, Avery Udagawa, and Lisa Wilcut

Saturday, November 27, 2021, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon JST
Friday, November 26, 8:00–10:00 p.m. EST

In the first hour, five members of the SWET Steering Committee—whose work straddles writing, editing, translating, and teaching—talked about their work and current projects. They shared experiences with new tools and technologies they've encountered. And discussed some plans for future SWET activities and initiatives.

Some of the matters on on the agenda were: 1) how we can better cope with the pressures we are under; 2) what useful tools and technologies are really helpful to us; 3) how SWET can help to support our professional endeavors; and 4) how SWET can better reach out to the next generation of wordsmiths.

Watch the video:

https://youtu.be/RiDrBbjH39M

Links from the event:

Emily Balistrieri: Three Translators of Pop Culture    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf35MhA5WrQ; SNS - twitter.com/tiger

Winifred Bird, Eating Wild Japan https://www.stonebridge.com/catalog-2020/Eating-Wild-Japan

  Reference: Society of Environmental Journalists program http://www.sej.org/initiatives/mentor-program/overview

Susan Jones: lecture on machine translation:

   Reference: https://onlineteachingjapan.com/zoom-meetings/machine-translation-here-to-stay/

Avery Fischer Udagawa, active in Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators:      https://translation.scbwi.org/   

Recent translation published: Temple Alley Summer by Sachiko Kashiwaba, illustrated by Miho Satake: https://restlessbooks.org/bookstore/temple-alley-summer

Lisa Wilcut

Edits for Asahi Press (monthly CNN English Express), copyedits for Japan Library

Translations include The Arts and Ethics of Zen Temples (10-volume series), The Kidai Shōran website

Scroll https://nihonbashi-info.tokyo/kidaishoran/, and – Akira ga akete-ageu kara, a children’s book to be released in 2023

Creative writing: https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2021/09/tw-creatives-the-boy-i-met-on-a-plane-short-story-lisa-wilcut/

Teaches courses in philosophy and Japanese society and culture for University of Maryland Global Campus

Moderator: Lisa Wilcut

Date: Saturday, October 23, 2021 (JST); Friday, October 22, in North America
Time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon JST; 6:00–8:00 p.m. PDT
The meeting opens at 9:30 a.m. JST for networking; discussion from 10:00, followed by Q&A.
Advance registration required: see link below

Diane Durston is a writer, lecturer, cultural consultant, and educator, who lived for 18 years in Japan. She is the author of three books and numerous essays and articles on the culture and traditional way of life in Kyoto. Her book Old Kyoto is now in a second edition and 18th printing. The New York Times has referred to it as a “Japan travel classic.” Her other books include Kyoto: Seven Paths to the Heart of the City, an introduction to historic preservation districts in Kyoto. She has also contributed essays to the Encyclopedia of Japan, Japan, The Cycle of Life, and the Japan Crafts Sourcebook. Her most recent book, Wabi Sabi: The Art of Everyday Life was published in 2006.

Durston has worked extensively as a cultural consultant, and has developed on-site cultural programs in Japan introducing Japanese art, culture, religion, history, and gardens for such organizations as the National Gallery of Art, the Whitney Museum, the Yale Galleries, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has served as Director of Special Projects and later Curator of Education at the Portland Art Museum. She served as Director of Special Projects and later Curator of Education at the Portland Art Museum for five years.

As the Arlene Schnitzer Curator of Culture, Art & Education at the Portland Japanese Garden from 2007 to 2019, Durston curated over 20 exhibitions of Japanese art and craft, and was instrumental in expanding the Garden’s reputation as a center of cultural learning, laying the groundwork for the Garden’s new International Institute for Garden Arts and Culture. As Curator Emerita, she occasionally edits manuscripts for Japanese authors and continues to pursue her own personal writing projects from her home in Portland, Oregon.

Lisa Wilcut is a freelance writer, editor, and translator based in Yokohama. She edits for Japan Library, writes and edits for the Japan Tourism Agency, and works on projects in the Japanese cultural sphere from art and poetry to history and religion. She is also an educator, teaching classes in philosophy, Asian studies, and Japanese culture at the University Of Maryland Global Campus in Yokosuka.

Moderator: Suzanne Kamata

Since arriving in Japan in 1975, Karen Hill Anton has raised four children, taught modern dance, written popular long-running columns for the Japan Times and Chunichi Shimbun, achieved second-degree mastery in Japanese calligraphy, and served on various private and government councils. As a consultant since 2000, she designed and managed employee development programs for global corporations in Japan. Her award-winning memoir The View from Breast Pocket Mountain, published in September 2020, tells the story of her early life in New York City, the world-straddling adventures that brought her to Japan, and recounts her experience living in rural Shizuoka Prefecture where she continues to make her home. She is currently finishing a novel.

Suzanne Kamata has been living and writing in Tokushima Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku, since 1988. She has written and/or edited fourteen published books including the anthology The Broken Bridge: Fiction from Expatriates in Literary Japan (Stone Bridge Press, 1997), the multiple-award-winning memoir Squeaky Wheels: Travels with My Daughter by Train, Plane, Metro, Tuk-tuk and Wheelchair (Wyatt-Mackenzie Publishing, 2019), and the novel The Baseball Widow (Wyatt-Mackenzie Publishing, 2021). She is an associate professor in Global Studies at Naruto University of Education.

Watch video of Zoom talk: https://youtu.be/76mbucv69F4

SWET Talk Shop in conversation with Emily Balistrieri, Susan Jones, and SWET members
Held on July 30, 2021

Bristol-based writer and translator Polly Barton discusses her debut book Fifty Sounds, a personal dictionary of the Japanese language, which was published in the UK by Fitzcarraldo Editions this past April, after she won the Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize in 2019. Expect some Wittgenstein!

Barton’s translations have featured in Granta, Catapult, The White Review, and Words Without Borders and her full-length translations include Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki (Pushkin Press), Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda (Tilted Axis Press/Soft Skull) [shortlisted for the Ray Bradbury Prize], and There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura (Bloomsbury). Fifty Sounds is already available as an ebook and will be published by Liveright in the US early next year.

専門用語をどう英訳したか: 紅ミュージアムの例

SWET/CoJ Talk Shop via Zoom
With Shimada Miki and Yagihara Mika (Beni Museum) and Lynne Riggs and Julie Kuma (Center for Intercultural Communication)

Moderator: Iwaseki Tomoko and Sakai Motoki (The Creation of Japan/CoJ)

Language: This event was held in Japanese
Date: June 24 (Thurs.), 2021
Time: 10:00–12:00 JST
Round table first hour; Q&A second hour

Specially planned to respond to the needs of local stakeholders and craft organization promoters, this event was held in Japanese.

How do Japanese-to-English translators and editors present information about Japanese culture—especially when it is very specialized—in an easily understandable, accessible fashion? The experience of translating the catalog for the collection of the Beni Museum in Minami Aoyama, Tokyo in 2020 will give a glimpse of the kinds of problems faced and how they were resolved. The museum introduces the traditional manufacture of rouge from beni (safflower) petals and the history of Japanese makeup/cosmetics from antiquity to the postwar era, along with the culture of the times, the containers used, and the way they were advertised. The catalog includes a detailed list of the 400-some works in the collection.

Shimada and Yanagihara will answer questions about how they worked to enhance the translation and then to edit and proofread their text. Kuma and Riggs will share their perspective as translation-revision and editorial advisors. We hope this look at a specific experience will encourage participants to introduce examples from their own work and specialties and share their questions about dealing with difficult-to-transmit language.

Copies of the Beni Museum catalog are available at the museum.

Janine Beichman, in conversation with Spencer Thurlow

Date: Sunday, July 11, 2021; Saturday, July 10 in North America

Poet and translator Spencer Thurlow reached around the globe from the U.S. East Coast to discuss translating Japanese poetry with Janine Beichman, based in Tsukuba, Ibaraki. Beichman’s most recent publication is Well-Versed: Exploring Modern Japanese Haiku (Meiku no yuen) by prominent haiku poet and critic Ozawa Minoru.

Well-Versed is a 350-page-plus publication that came out this spring as part of the Japan Library series and is a rare English-language look at haiku from the end of the nineteenth century to the beginning of our own twenty-first century. Beichman's excellent translations of both the poems and Ozawa’s commentary on each one give insight into the workings of haiku and the history and development of modern haiku in Japan.

After hearing some poems from Well-Versed, Thurlow discusses aspects of the work with Beichman as well as the translation process, publication, and the world of haiku.

Beichman is author of “Through a Glass Darkly: Is Translating Poetry Possible?,” an article published in the SWET Newsletter, No. 118 (December 2007), available to members in the SWET Archive (must be signed into the site) and in Readings on Japanese-to-English Translation.

Watch video at:
https://youtu.be/eUlTSid7xSE

SWET Talk Shop via Zoom
With Winifred Bird
Moderator: Jeanette Fukao

Date: May 23 (Sun.), 2021

Writer, editor, and translator Winnie Bird, currently based in Illinois, talks about her book, Eating Wild Japan, published by Stone Bridge Press. Including a slide show of the plants, dishes she has made, and other images, she talks about the technical aspects of creating the book, from the research phase to the writing, publishing and promotion, and also gives us some insights for our better appreciation of these plants.

Interviewer Jeanette Fukao, artist, poet, writer, teacher based in Shiga prefecture brings her fascination with the plants of Japan and the inspiration they provide to her questions for Winnie.

View video of the event:
https://youtu.be/Vff0Dh42RkI

SWET Talk Shop via Zoom on a weekday

With Andrew Maerkle
Moderator: Alan Gleason

Date: April 26 (Mon.), 2021
Time: 10:00–12:00 JST (meeting opens at 9:30 a.m.)

Andrew Maerkle is an editor, writer, and translator based in Tokyo who served as the founding editorial director of translations for Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan, an initiative of the Agency for Cultural Affairs. The first translations, which seek to introduce important texts from Japanese modern and contemporary art history, are now available for reading on the "Resources” section of the initiative’s newly launched website. Maerkle introduces the Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan initiative, shares his breakdown of the demands of art criticism translation, and discusses some of the challenges of editing translations, shepherding collaboration, and working with a government-funded project.

Our moderator: Alan Gleason, SWET stalwart, veteran editor and translator, and managing editor of Artscape Japan, a monthly e-zine on artists and the art scene in Japan.

With Lynne Riggs, Meg Taylor, and Lisa Wilcut
Moderator: Susan Jones

Date: March 21, 2021
Time: 10:00–12:00 JST

What did we learn from our experience editing and copyediting for the “Promoting Multilingual Support for Sightseeing Destinations around Japan” (JTA-Toppan Signage) Project? Year Three of this epochal effort to improve tourism texts for sites all over Japan is coming to a close. Numerous editors, writers, and media company project directors toiled over the writing, editing, and polishing of texts for signs, websites, pamphlets, audio guides, and other media over three years from 2018 to 2020. At this SWET Talk Shop, three editors who served on the supervisory copyediting team for the project led a discussion of topics such as the following:

• Writing strategies for Japan-related material (order-of-the-content issues; use of Japanese terms, handling the history, etc.)
• The sensibilities and priorities of clients/stakeholders
• Translation strengths and interferences
• Making the unfamiliar accessible
• Orienting the reader in time and space

View video of the event:
https://youtu.be/QAnoA88O_cI

Open SWET! Launching 2021

(meeting opens at 9:30 a.m.)

Join us when you have time on Sunday morning JST (Feb. 21) for a chance to introduce yourself, catch up with old friends, ask questions, and brainstorm for SWET activities in 2021. Breakout rooms will be set up for small-group talk. 

Note: If your device takes you to the meeting directly asking for a meeting passcode, please click on the link on a computer to get the registration page.

Moderated by Richard Medhurst

Date: October 14, 2020 (Wed.)
Time: 8:30 p.m. JST (40 minutes)

Eight people have already registered for this event. 

As an experiment with a shorter video chat format, SWET will hold a 40-minute Zoom session to discuss Japanese-to-English translation of a text. While staying close to the Japanese content, participants should imagine they are writing for readers who will only see their version and will judge it as an English text. This will set things up for a lively discussion on approaches to translation.

Those accepted for the workshop will be sent a short extract (under 500 characters) from a news item looking back at the 1918 flu pandemic in Japan to prepare in advance. 

Only those accepted will be contacted. To ensure the limited places are taken by active participants, please sign up only if you intend to do the translation. If you sign up, but are unexpectedly unable to attend, please contact us (SWET), so we can offer your place to someone else.

Sign up for the workshop by registering for the Zoom meeting at the URL above. 

Publishing Books on Japan: 45 Years and Still Trying to Get It Right
Peter Goodman, Stone Bridge Press

Interviewer: Beth Cary
Date: December 5, 2020 (Saturday)/US time December 4, 2020 (Friday)
Time: 11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. JST (main talk starts at JST 12:00 noon; US EST 10:00 p.m.; US PST 7:00 p.m.)

Peter Goodman discusses what he learned in his early editing experience, which has stood the test of time and changing technology; how he has maneuvered through the shifting grounds of the publishing industry during the past three decades, as it lurched into the twenty-first century; and what he sees as the future of publishing, especially as it relates to independent publishers and opportunities for self-publishing. These are of particular import for books and translations on Japan as they seek to find their audience.

Our speaker, Stone Bridge Press president and publisher Peter Goodman, is a graduate of Cornell University. He lived in Tokyo for nine years, where he worked as an editor for English-language publishers Charles E. Tuttle and Kodansha International before returning to the United States in 1985. Peter established Stone Bridge Press in Berkeley in 1989. He has served as in-house editor, ghostwriter, translator, and project manager on nearly 400 Japan- and Asia-related titles. Distributed by Consortium Book Sales, Stone Bridge exemplifies the small and independent press with access to a national market. Peter concluded his term as Board Chair of IBPA, the Independent Book Publishers Association in 2017, and until recently hosted the IBPA-sponsored podcast “Inside Independent Publishing,” which can be found at:  https://insideindependentpublishingwithibpa.simplecast.fm/.

Interviewer Beth Cary is a translator and interpreter in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has edited several of Stone Bridge Press’s books, mostly related to films and animation. Along with Peter, she is part of the SWET outpost in Northern California.

Watch video here: https://youtu.be/9c7Dx3tQjaU

Three Teachers of Translation
Guests: Judy Wakabayashi, Susan Jones, and Lynne Riggs

Time: 9:30 a.m.–12:00 noon JST (main talk starts at 10:00; October 24 9:00 p.m. EDT)

Note: The meeting will not be available in video recording, but a detailed write-up with visuals will be prepared as soon as possible.

Three experienced teachers of translation will share their experiences and perspectives on teaching Japanese-to-English translation. The discussion will range widely over questions such as intake-level requirements; what competencies are taught; useful approaches to training; how to help students start thinking like a translator (including the role of translation theory); product vs process; the importance of and methods for feedback (from instructor and peers); the role of technology (as a translation tool and teaching tool); the end goal(s); and some useful resources and reading suggestions.

Judy Wakabayashi is professor of Japanese Translation at Kent State University in Ohio. After translating in-house and freelance, she received her Ph.D. from the University of Queensland and taught translation at the graduate level there until taking up her current position. She teaches the introductory MA-level courses in Japanese–English translation and translation theory as well as more specialized courses in scientific-technical-medical translation, legal and commercial translation, and literary and cultural translation, as well as a doctoral course in translation histories. Her textbook, Japanese-English Translation: An Advanced Guide (Routledge), has just been published.

Susan Jones is a professional translator and full-time instructor of translation at Kobe College. She completed the East Asian Studies MA program at Washington University in St. Louis in 1995, and she gradually moved from in-house and freelance translation to teaching over the past two decades. See the report of her talk to SWET in 2016.

Lynne E. Riggs is a professional translator and editor and former instructor of Japanese-to-English translation practice at International Christian University (2000–2015). Her anthology of articles on J-to-E translation, Readings on Japanese-to-English Translation, can be obtained by writing to info@swet.jp.

Founding Members Recall and Reflect
Guests: Peter Goodman, John and Ruth McCreery, Susan Murata, Pamela Pasti, Nina Raj, Lynne Riggs, Susie Schmidt, Mark Schreiber, Ruth Stevens, Meg Taylor, Fred Uleman, and Jillian Yorke
Time: Nov. 15 (Sun.) 9:30 a.m.–12:00 noon JST (main talk starts at 10:00; Nov. 14 (Sat.), 8:00 pm US EST; 5:00 pm PST)
Register in advance for this meeting:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqdOugrDwpGtPwAxIct5tswU5QrGaMPmxH

Founding members of SWET will be on hand to celebrate our 40 years, tell us what they are doing now, why they are still members (or not), how their professions have changed over the years, and how SWET figured in their lives. After brief remarks by the members of the panel, the meeting will open for questions and answers. The event is still being planned; please watch this space for updates.

Peter Goodman, editor at Tuttle (1976–1979), editor at Kodansha International (1979–1985); owner and publisher of Stone Bridge Press, Berkeley, CA (1989–present)

John and Ruth McCreery, translators, editors, and founders of The Word Works (since 1984)

Susan Murata, in 1980, copywriting and translation assistant, Obun Intereurope, Inc.; Riken translation team (2003–2018); freelance translator, Nagano prefecture

Pamela Pasti, first career in publishing including 8 years in Tokyo (1977–1985; Weatherhill, 1981-1984); second career as attorney (1995–present), currently Morrison & Foerster

Nina Raj, editor at John Weatherhill (1972–1975), editor at University of Tokyo Press (1975–1995); translation rights licensing at Japan Uni Agency, Tokyo

Lynne E. Riggs, translator and editor, Center for Social Science Communication (1976–1990); Center for Intercultural Communications (1990-present); managing editor, Monumenta Nipponica (1997–2009), Tokyo

Susie Schmidt, editor at Tuttle (1972-1974), editor at University of Tokyo Press (1976–1996); executive director, American Association of Teachers of Japanese, Boulder, CO

Mark Schreiber, since 1976, writer, translator, and newspaper columnist, Tokyo

Ruth Stevens, editor at Weatherhill (1980–1983); New York City-based consultant on B2B marketing, adjunct professor of marketing at NYU Stern, and author of three business books

Meg Taylor, editor at Weatherhill (1979–1981); currently managing editor, Monkey New Writing from Japan; academic coordinator, Ryerson University Publishing Certificate program; editor specializing in art books and exhibition catalogues.

Fred Uleman, an independent J-E translator for over 50 years, he is currently working as "retired."

Jillian Yorke, editor and researcher for the International Golf Research Institute (1980–1997), English checker, Public Relations Office, METI (1999–2010); currently translator, editor, writer, and editorial committee member, Japan Spotlight.

Time: 9:30 a.m.–12:00 noon JST (main talk starts at 10:00)

Read the write-up of this event:
https://swet.jp/members/article/manga_lettering_and_translation

Manga do not go far in English without the profession and passions of the letterers who add the translated text to the art, but how many people in this profession can you name? Manga lettering aficionado Aidan Clarke is our guest moderator speaking with three of these unsung heroes of manga translation to hear about the unique challenges they face and how they fit into the localization process. The questions will focus especially on asking what translators can do to make letterers’ lives easier and what the ideal translator-letterer relationship would look like.

Brandon Bovia is a freelance manga letterer and illustrator. Lettered works include Akira Toriyama and Toyotaro’s Dragon Ball Super, Masumi Kaneda and Ban Magami’s Transformers: The Manga, and Sorata Akizuki’s Snow White with the Red Hair.

Phil Christie is a freelance letterer based in Japan. He started lettering in 2014 and has worked on various titles such as Yuji Iwahara’s Dimension W, Atsuo Ueda and Hiro Mashima’s Fairy Tail 100 Years Quest, Akira Hiramoto’s RaW Hero and Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs by Tadahiro Miura.

Sara Linsley is a freelance manga letterer and software developer living in Brooklyn. She has been lettering manga since 2013, and she worked on series such as Yū Watase’s Fushigi Yūgi: Byakko Senki, Anashin’s Waiting for Spring, Ayu Watanabe’s LDK, and Kintetsu Yamada’s Sweat and Soap.

Three Translators of Kansai
Guests: Stuart Ayre, Catherine Nakamichi, and Eleanor Yamaguchi
Moderator: Larry Walker
Time: 9:30 a.m.–12:00 noon JST
 

Our September SWET Talk Shop Online was organized by SWET members based in Kyoto. Twenty-minute interviews with each guest speaker, moderated by Larry Walker, were followed by Q&A and discussion among all present.

View video of the event:
[url=https://youtu.be/Zy7DTYlQR44]https://youtu.be/Zy7DTYlQR44[/url]
 

Stuart Ayre is a Japanese-to-English legal translator based in Kyoto. Originally a technical translator at Toyota, he switched to legal translation back in 2013 and worked in-house for a law firm in Tokyo for several years. He now works freelance, translating mainly court documents and contracts. He is also known for his wide-ranging illustration work.

In response to questions during the meeting, Stuart recommended the following reference works for legal translation:

1. A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting by Ken Adams
(Kindle version available):
https://www.adamsdrafting.com/writing/mscd/

2. Dictionary of Legal Usage by Bryan Garner
(I use this almost every day. Most (all?) books authored by him are superb.)
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/garners-dictionary-of-legal-usage-9780195384208?cc=jp&lang=en&

3. Basics of English Contracts by Junji Miyano and Emiko Iizumi
(To gain insights into English contract drafting from a native-Japanese-speaker perspective):
https://www.kinokuniya.co.jp/f/dsg-01-9784789009041

Catherine Nakamichi specializes in Japanese-to-English translation in the fields of technology, health and medical issues, education and academia, retail and marketing, art and handicrafts, sport and cultural festivals, hospitality, and tourism through her company, Catlingual, founded in 2006. She is an active member of the Japan Association of Translators and Foreign Executive Women, Kansai.

The books that Catherine showed us and discussed in the talk are as follows:

日本伝統文化の英語表現事典 (A Quick Guide to Traditional Japanese Arts and Handicrafts), ¥4,180
日本伝統文化の英語表現事典【人物編】(The Quick Guide to Cultural Figures of Japan), ¥4,180

Eleanor Yamaguchi is associate professor in international cultural exchange at Kyoto Prefectural University, where she specializes in Japanese history and culture and UK-Japan relations. She worked in Aomori and in Aichi prefectures before settling in Kyoto in 2019.

Moderator Larry Walker is professor at Kyoto Prefectural University, specializing in translation and publishing history.

Time: 9:30 a.m.–12:00 noon JST

What's it like working in the otaku zone? Managing translator at J-Novel Club and founder of Japanese Translators of NYC Kristi Fernandez is our guest moderator speaking with three translators who work on manga, light novels, anime subtitles, and more. 

Emily Balistrieri is an American translator based in Tokyo. Projects include Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono, The Night is Short, Walk on Girl by Tomihiko Morimi, JK Haru is a Sex Worker in Another World by Ko Hiratori, and The Refugees' Daughter by Takuji Ichikawa. He also translates two ongoing light novels series, Kugane Maruyama's Overlord and Carlo Zen's The Saga of Tanya the Evil.

Stephen Paul has been a translator of comics and novels since 2004. His credits include Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece, Reki Kawahara’s Sword Art Online, Yukito Kishiro’s Battle Angel Alita, and Makoto Yukimura’s Vinland Saga.

Molly Rabbitt is a jack of all trades translator who has worked on manga, subtitling, games, and more in addition to working as a localization assistant at Futekiya. Translations include Yuji Onda’s Beware the Kamiki Brothers!, Soraho Ina’s Fairy Tale Battle Royale, Yugo Ishikawa’s Wonderland, and Shuzo Oshimi's Miss Kusakabe. They have also lectured on the North American creative media localization industry at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Wordsmiths of Yokohama
Guests: Ruth and John McCreery, Richard Medhurst, and Louise Heal Kawai
Moderator: Frank Walter
Time: 9:30 a.m.–12:00 noon JST

We are pleased to welcome four wordsmiths residing in Yokohama for our July SWET Talk Shop Online. We will meet again on a Sunday morning Japan time to accommodate participants from other parts of the world as much as possible. After a 15–20-minute interview with each guest speaker, we will open up the meeting for Q&A and discussion.

Ruth and John McCreery provide high-quality writing, translation, and other word services through their company, The Word Works, founded in 1984. They work with publishers, museums, ad agencies, market researchers, financial institutions, government agencies, and non-profits.

Richard Medhurst translates, edits, and sometimes writes for the news and culture website Nippon.com. He is also the author of Word Wise, a series of articles on translating tricky terms at the SWET website (https://swet.jp/columns/C40).

Louise Heal Kawai has lived in Yokohama for five years. Born and educated in the UK, she teaches at Waseda University and translates literature. Her translations include Ms Ice Sandwich, by Mieko Kawakami (2017) and The Honjin Murders, by Seishi Yokomizo (2019).

Frank Walter is a translator and editor at Export Japan.

Our June SWET Talk Shop Online will be held on a Sunday morning Japan time to accommodate participants from other parts of the world as much as possible. We are pleased to welcome three wordsmiths who reside in northern Nagano prefecture. After a 15–20-minute interview with each guest speaker, we will open up the meeting for Q&A and discussion.

Brenda Kaneta moved to Osaka on the JET program in 1997 and, including a stint at Universal Studios Japan, worked there for 11 years. She moved to the city of Nagano in 2008 and began freelancing as a translator and interpreter while raising a family. In 2019 she moved to Suzaka. Her website, Wordbridge, tells her story and advertises her services.

Hart Larrabee is a Japanese-to-English translator and has been based in Nagano in the town of Obuse since 2002. Originally from New York state, he first came to Japan in 1987 as a college student and has also lived in both Kyoto and Tokyo. After obtaining graduate degrees in communication and business administration, he worked primarily in Olympic and international games administration between 1995 and 2009. Translation has been his full-time occupation since 2009.

Susan Murata has been a freelance Japanese-to-English translator and editor for more than 40 years. She has put her bilingual skills to work at a large printing company, a small translation office, an intercultural communications workshop, an international educational exchange program, and for 15 years, at the large science institute, RIKEN. In 2018, she moved her residence to Suzaka.

Three Wordsmiths of Northern Kanto:
Janine Beichman, Victoria Oyama, and Alison Watts

Our May SWET Talk Shop Online will be held on a Sunday morning to accommodate participants in the U.S. We are pleased to welcome three SWET stalwarts who reside in Tochigi and Ibaraki prefectures in the northeastern part of the Kanto region. After 15–20-minute interviews with our guest speakers, we will open up the meeting for Q&A and discussion.

Janine Beichman is professor emerita of Daito Bunka University and specialist in the poetry of Masaoka Shiki, Yosano Akiko, and Ooka Makoto. Beichman lives in Tsukuba, Ibaraki prefecture. She received the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature in 2020 for her translations of Ooka Makoto's poetry, Beneath the Sleepless Tossing of the Planets.

Victoria Oyama is a professional translator who lives in Mashiko, Tochigi prefecture. She has lived in Japan for 40 years and has expert knowledge of ceramics, Japanese folk craft, and Japanese art in general.

Alison Watts is a freelance translator who lives in Tokaimura, Ibaraki prefecture. After a long career as a commercial translator, she now exclusively translates literature, including Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa (Oneworld, 2017) and the recent long article by Sukegawa about retracing Basho’s path in post-2011 Tohoku.

Time: 6:30–9:00 p.m. (main talk starts at 7:00)
Place: Participation via Zoom (see below for sign-up info).

RSVP: E-mail us at SWET Events to sign up for information on how to access the Zoom meeting. 

These days, major brands increasingly enlist the help of content production firms to spread awareness through consumable media such as video, film, articles, and radio, like the short film that Marriot debuted on Youtube, or the podcast that Lexus is making with Malcolm Gladwell. The companies that produce this content are called “media companies.” These companies have staked out a claim in the territory straddling translation firms, advertising agencies, and publication houses.

Wordsmiths in Japan have always been jacks-of-all-trades, but the new era has broadened the spectrum of demand to include advertising copy, CSR, travel blogs, short films, audio guides—the list goes on. As companies seek to spread their brand awareness on as many platforms and through as many media as possible, English-producers working in Japan must expand their own horizons.

Frank Walter and Brendan Craine work at Export Japan Inc, a media company that represents japanguide.com and that has been operating since 2000. They will talk about what a "media company" does, how they got into the business, and how the skills of wordsmiths are being used for various types of current market demand.

***Meeting as planned***

Time: 6:00–9:00 p.m. 

Place: Book House Café, Jinbocho, 2nd Floor, Osetsushitsu

http://bookhousecafe.jp/

See website for map; come out from Jinbocho subway exit A1, turn right and walk about 15 meters to the Kitazawa Building. Look for the SWET signs.

Fee: Free of charge. Food and drink available at the café (see the menu at the Book House Café website)

RSVP: Please let us know if you are coming. E-mail us at SWET.

Putting aside fiscal year-end schedules and coronavirus woes, SWET’s Talk Shop will meet on schedule. We'll take this opportunity to welcome those who wish to bring a topic to discuss or have special questions to ask. Talk is also likely to stray to plans for the 40th anniversary, including a proposed symposium, book exhibit, and essay anthology. Please come and join us.

Special Guest: Rochelle Kopp

Date: February 12, 2020 (Wed.)
Time: 6:00–9:00 p.m. (Talk begins at 7:00)
Place: Book House Café, Jinbocho, First Floor, Gulliver Room
http://bookhousecafe.jp/
See website for map; come out Jinbocho subway exit A1, turn right and walk about 15 meters to the Kitazawa Building. Please take the elevator or stairs to the second floor on the left side of the building. We will be in a small parlor-like room on the left side at the end of the corridor. Look for the SWET signs.
Fee: Free of charge. Food and drink available at the café (see the "Menu" at the Book House Café website)

Reservations: Please let us know if you are coming. E-mail us at SWET

Writer, corporate consultant, translator, and educator Rochelle Kopp will join us to talk about the varied professional hats she has worn working over three decades in and outside Japan. From her perspective as both a creator and consumer of translations and other materials about Japan in English, as well as a consultant to Japanese organizations seeking to be successful globally, she’ll comment on what she sees as some of the most frequent issues relating to the cross-cultural transmission of information. Kopp will also share the origins of her recent interest in problematic English signage in Japan and lead a brainstorming session on how SWET members can help to improve the situation.

Where did 2019 go? The Tokyo (and Sapporo <g>) Olympics will be upon us sooner than we think. In the meantime, it’s time for the annual gathering of local wordsmiths in Kansai. Catch up with friends and colleagues, and make new acquaintances. Of course, partners and friends are very welcome.

If you’re interested in getting into the translation, interpreting and editing industry, don't miss this is a good opportunity to network and get advice from your senpai in the field.

Venue: Shinya, Umeda, Osaka (B1F of Dai-2 Ekimae Building)
Access: 5–10 mins’ walk from all major stations in Umeda (大阪市北区梅田1丁目2-2大阪駅前第2ビル地下1階52号)
Map: http://bit.ly/kushiyaki　(It's not above ground, so don't rely on Google Maps)
Date: Sunday December 15, 2019; 6−8 p.m. (2jikai same place, but we must buy drinks)
Cost: 4,500 yen (meal and nomihodai)
Reservations: SWET Kansai; (Please tell us if you are vegetarian, so we can accommodate you.)
Deadline: Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Cancellations: Cancel after this date, and you may need to pay if the restaurant requests us to pay.

**NOTE** Indicating that you are attending on Facebook does not necessarily ensure you a place, so please email us.

Date: November 4 (Mon.) 

Time: 10:00 a.m.

Place: Kamakura Brunch Kitchen

http://www.brunch-kitchen-kamakura.com/

Cost: Around ¥2,000. See the prices on the menu at the website above.

It seems that quite a number of SWET members live in or near the Shonan area, and many others would like to find an excuse to get down there once in a while. The idea for “SWET Shonan” was born at this year’s summer party, envisioned as a series of casual events designed for socializing with wordsmithing peers at locations around the Sagami Bay area. The inaugural event is planned for the holiday Monday on November 4 with a brunch in Kamakura. Afterwards, those who have the time and interest might continue on to Engakuji and Kenchoji in Kita-Kamakura for the annual airing of the treasures.

Do let us know if you’re coming by emailing us at SWET Events by Friday, Nov. 1.

Special Guest: Ruth Stevens

Date: November 20, 2019
Time: 6:00–9:00 p.m. (Talk begins at 7:00)
Place: Book House Café, Jinbocho, Second Floor Osetsushitsu
http://bookhousecafe.jp/
See website for map; come out Jinbocho subway exit A1, turn right and walk about 15 meters to the Kitazawa Building. Please take the elevator or stairs to the second floor on the left side of the building. We will be in a small parlor-like room on the left side at the end of the corridor. Look for the SWET signs.
Fee: Free of charge. Food and drink available at the café (see the "Menu" at the Book House Café website)

Reservations: Please let us know if you are coming. E-mail us at SWET
Nijikai: Ruth Stevens will join participants for snacks and drinks at a post-session gathering (9:00–10:30 p.m. at the same location). Please also let us know at events@swet.jp if you would like to attend this nijikai. 

You will learn

• How to craft a business model that leverages your strengths
• Three key principles of self-employed success
• Five techniques for building your personal brand
• The two things you should do before leaving your day job

Ruth Stevens hung out her shingle as a marketing consultant in 2000, after 15 years in corporate life, and 8 years before that in editorial and English teaching work in Kanazawa and Tokyo. She lives in New York City and looks forward to reconnecting with SWET friends at this program.

(Please note changed weekday and hours)
Date: October 26 (Sat.), 2019
Time: Writing Clinic 3:00–5:00; Discussion 5:00–6:00 p.m.
Place: Book House Café, Jinbocho, First Floor Gulliver Room
http://bookhousecafe.jp/
See website for map; come out Jinbocho subway exit A1, turn right and walk about 15 meters to the Kitazawa Building. Look for the SWET signs.
Fee: Free of charge. Food and drink available at the café (see the "Menu" at the Book House Café website)

RSVP: Please let us know if you are coming. E-mail us at SWET

Whatever the field—travel/tourism, marketing, PR/advertising, CSR,…—wordsmiths working on Japan-related content for the general reader must bridge gaps in historical, cultural, and linguistic knowledge of all sorts. Their work faces problems no less demanding than for texts targeting a specialized readership. Some of the topics this workshop will address are the handling of cultural and historical references, pitfalls of translating between the conventions standard in Japanese and those more appropriate in English, and considerations for readers who are not native speakers of English.

How the workshop will work:

If you wish to participate in the workshop, please email SWET Events in advance. Those who sign up will receive a copy of the texts to be critiqued in the workshop by October 19.
We’ll work on the selected texts collaboratively during the first two hours. In the last hour, we’ll turn our attention to open discussion of the other gnarly issues of writing, translating, and editing for the general reader that participants wish to share with the group.

芸術と舞台芸術のための「翻訳」： 伝統翻訳のダイナミズム
特別ゲスト：マリサ・リンネ（京都国立博物館 学芸部連携協力室　専門職)

Special Guest: Melissa Rinne, Specialist, Kyoto National Museum

(Please note changed weekday and hours)
Date: September 28 (Sat.), 2019 
Time: 3:00–6:00 p.m. (Discussion begins at 4:00)
Place: Book House Café, Jinbocho, First Floor Gulliver Room
http://bookhousecafe.jp/
See website for map; come out Jinbocho subway exit A1, turn right and walk about 15 meters to the Kitazawa Building. Look for the SWET signs.
Fee: Free of charge. Food and drink available at the café (see the "Menu" at the Book House Café website)

RSVP: Please let us know if you are coming. E-mail us at SWET

Creating English texts about culture and the arts is a dynamic process involving translation, editing, writing, and research. It requires not only good English writing skills and knowledge of Japan and the Japanese language, but an understanding of international conventions and a sense for graphic design in order to present information in an easily communicable format. The rationale behindf this dynamic process must be understood by the initiators of a project at the host institution and the go-between staff and experts involved, not to mention the professional wordsmiths hired by them.

Melissa Rinne, art historian and expert on art-related projects (see full profile below), will share from her long experience working with museums and other art-related projects in Japan.

With many ambitious projects being planned and launched in the run-up to the 2020 Olympic/Paralympic year, professional networking, information and editorial style-sheet sharing, and collaboration are urgently needed.

芸術と舞台芸術のための「翻訳」： 伝統翻訳のダイナミズム
特別ゲスト：マリサ・リンネ、（京都国立博物館 学芸部連携協力室　専門職)

時間：午後3時～6時

場所： 〒101-0051 東京都千代田区神田神保町2-5　北沢ビル1F

子供の本専門店＆カフェBook House Caféブックハウスカフェ1階応ガリバー・ルーム

都営三田線・新宿線・東京メトロ半蔵門線「神保町」駅より徒歩1分
神保町駅A1出口を出て右側にございます。ウェブサイトの地図をご覧ください。http://bookhousecafe.jp/

地下鉄神保町駅A1出口を出て右へお進みいただくと、15メートルほどのところに北沢ビルがございます。「SWET」のサインが目印です。 料金は無料です。

１階のカフェでお食事やお飲み物を購入できます。
Book House Caféウェブサイトの「メニュー」をご覧ください。
出席ご希望の方は、メールで SWET 席をご予約ください。

ある土地に固有の伝統的文化を翻訳は、 それに初めて接する人にも、その内容に親しみを感じてもらい、理解出来るように伝えるのが仕事です。

日本語の内容を英語にする際、縦のものを横にするだけでは翻訳にはなりません。文脈に埋もれている情報を加えたり、国際的な情報様式に変換しなければなりません。そのためには編集やコピーライティング（ライティング）のスキルも必要になります。

日本語から英語への翻訳者にとっては、こうした翻訳上の微妙な消息を十分に理解し、日本の翻訳依頼者にそれを説明できるスキルも大切です。

2020年のオリンピック・パラリンピックに先駆け多くの野心的なプロジェクトが計画され、すでに開始されています。翻訳に関わる様々なプロフェショナルのネットワーキング、情報および編集スタイルシートの共有、そして相互の協力が急務です。 

____________

SWETトーク＆ワークショップは通常毎月第３水曜日に、ネットワーキング、様々なトピックについてのディスカッション、SWETプロジェクトのブレインストーミングのために都内で集まっているインフォーマルな会合です。

Melissa M. Rinne is a specialist in the Department of Curatorial Engagement in the Curatorial Division of the Kyoto National Museum. A Japanese art historian with a specialization in textiles and decorative arts, she was previously assistant curator then associate curator of Japanese art at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, adjunct research associate at the Nara National Museum, visiting scholar at the Tokyo National Museum, and a member of the National Task Force for the Japanese Cultural Heritage Disaster Risk Mitigation (CH-DRM) Network. Since 2010 she has been an American representative of the binational Arts Dialogue Committee of CULCON (The U.S.-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange). She is currently a board member of ICDAD—the International Committee for Decorative Arts and Design of ICOM (International Council of Museums)—and an advisory board or selection board member for several Japanese government panels related to museums and cultural heritage. She received her A.B. (Honors) from Brown University, her M.A. from Kyoto City University of Arts (Monbushō scholarship recipient), and completed doctoral coursework at Kyoto University. Past Asian Art Museum publications include Masters of Bamboo: Artistic Lineages in the Lloyd Cotsen Japanese Basket Collection (2007), The Printer's Eye: Ukiyo-e from the Grabhorn Collection (co-author, 2013), In the Moment: Japanese Art from the Larry Ellison Collection (co-author, 2013), and other articles and exhibition catalogues. Recent English-language publications include “Chigusa’s Mouth Cover and the Maeda Clan” in Around Chigusa: Tea and the Arts of Sixteenth-Century Japan (Tang Center for East Asian Art/Princeton University Press, 2017) and “Echigo Jōfu: Summer Kimono Born in the Snow” (2016) for the online Google Arts and Culture Made in Japan series. She has translated numerous publications on Japanese art, including the book Raku: A Legacy of Japanese Tea Ceramics by Raku Kichizaemon and Raku Atsundo (Seigensha, 2015; editor and co-translator) and the catalogue Masterworks of the Kyoto National Museum: Temple and Shrine Treasures (Kyoto National Museum, 2019; translator).

マリサ・リンネ（京都国立博物館 学芸部連携協力室　専門職）
美術史家（テキスタイル・装飾芸術専攻）

サンフランシスコ・アジア美術館学芸部日本美術工芸課アシスタントキュレーターのち主任研究員
奈良国立博物館非常勤研究員
東京国立博物館で客員研究員
文化財防災ネットワーク対策本部メンバー
日米文化教育交流会議（カルコン）アメリカ代表（2010年より）
ICOM （美術館・博物館国際評議会）に属するICDAD（装飾芸術・デザイン国際委員会）理事会メンバー
美術館と文化遺産に関係する日本の複数の政府機関の諮問委員会の一員
ブラウン大学文学士（優等）
京都市立芸術大学文学修士（文部科学省奨学生）
京都大学大学院博士課程単位取得退学

<著作物>
『竹の名匠』（2007年）
『刷り師の目：グラブホーン浮世絵コレクション』（2013年、共著）
『ラリー・エリソン所蔵日本美術展』(2013年、共著)
「千種の口覆いと前田一族」『千種を巡って——16世紀日本の茶と芸術』（東アジア芸術唐センター・プリンストン大学出版部、2017年）
「越後上布——雪国に生まれた最高級の夏きもの」(グーグル・アーツ&カルチャー・Made in Japanシリーズ、2016年）

<翻訳>

『Raku: A Legacy of Japanese Tea Ceramics』樂吉左衛門・樂篤人著 青幻舎、2015年、共訳・編集
『京博寄託の名宝——寺院と神社の宝物』京都国立博物館、2019年

Date: July 28, 2019 (Sun.)
Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Place: GARB Pintino (French, Italian, dining bar)
3 Chome-22 Kanda Nishiki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Website: http://www.garb-pintino.com/ See website for access
Fee: ¥5,500
RSVP: The restaurant needs a headcount, so please be sure to let SWET know by Thursday evening, July 25 if you are coming. SWET will have to pay for the number of servings requested by the 26th, so please agree to pay in full if you have to cancel on the 27th or 28th.

Our annual summer soirée is on the horizon! Join us for an evening gathering of warm hearts in a cool and stylish venue as we celebrate the season, nurture friendships and make new connections. The evening includes a dinner buffet and 90 minutes of free-flowing beverages.

Food Menu:
Seasonal steam-fried vegetables・Caesar salad with aged balsamic vinegar・cherry tomato and Hokkaido mozzarella salad caprese・Jamón Serrano (dry-cured Spanish ham)・fried Kumamoto Shiba-ebi・Hokkaido shoestring potatoes・grilled herb-marinated chicken・penne arrabbiata・baguette and sourdough breads・chocolate angel food cake (Vegetarians: please let us know your preferences)

Drink Menu:
Kirin Heartland beer・red wine・white wine・whiskey (on-the-rocks, mizu-wari, highball, highball cocktail, ginger ale cocktail) Shochu (potato, barley: on-the-rocks, mizu-wari, oolong-wari), cocktails (orange-cassis, oolong-cassis, orange-peach, Moscow mule, gin and tonic, gin buck, Malibu, grapefruit-Campari)・soft drinks  (orange juice, grapefruit juice, oolong tea, cola, ginger ale)

Date: June 2, 2019 (Sunday) 4 pm–5:30 pm (tribute) 5:30 pm–8 pm (farewell dinner) 
Place: Ganko Takasegawa Nijoen, Kyoto (a 5-min walk from Subway Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae and Keihan Sanjo Stations)
URL: https://www.gankofood.co.jp/en/shop/detail/ya-nijyoen
Cost: Tribute – 1,000 yen SWET members (1,500 yen non-members); Dinner — 4,134 yen kaiseki course (drinks not included, vegetarian option available)
Reservations: Email SWET Kansai by Sunday, May 26th. Please indicate attendance to the talk and/or dinner, and vegetarian preference.
Cancellations: Must be received by May 31st. Cancellations on June 1st and 2nd will be charged 100%

Seats are limited so be sure to book early!

Juliet Winters Carpenter, one of the preeminent translators of modern Japanese literature and winner of multiple translation awards, will be returning to live in the U. S. this summer after decades of working and living in Kyoto and environs. 

Juliet has been very generous with her time and expertise over the years, and as a token of appreciation for her contributions to the translation community, SWET Kansai will hold a tribute and farewell celebration in an intimate setting.

The tribute portion will be informal and participatory; attendees who wish to do so are encouraged to contribute specific passages from her large body of work, reminiscences of her many past presentations, or ask questions related to her work.

Profile
Juliet Winters Carpenter grew up in Evanston, Illinois, earned degrees in Japanese literature at the University of Michigan, and has lived in or near Kyoto since 1975. Her translation of Kobo Abe’s “Secret Rendezvous” received the 1980 Japan-US Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature, and in 2014 her translation of Minae Mizumura’s “A True Novel” received the same award. She most recently translated Yuzo Murayama’s “Heritage Culture and Business, Kyoto Style” for the Japan Library. Her current projects include Ryotaro Shiba’s “Ryoma!,” Mizumura’s “An I-novel from left to right,” and Keiichiro Hirano’s “At the End of the Matinee.” To date, Carpenter has written three books; translated 38 books of fiction, 29 of non-fiction and 13 of poetry into English; subtitled three movies; and translated four books into Japanese.

Date: June 19 (Wed.)Time: 6:00–9:00 p.m.
Place: Book House Cafe, Kitazawa Building, Jinbocho, 2nd-floor "Osetsushitsu"
http://bookhousecafe.jp/
See website for map; come out Jinbocho subway exit A1, turn right and walk about 15 meters to the Kitazawa Building. Please take the elevator or stairs to the second floor on the left side of the building. We will be in a small parlor-like room on the left side at the end of the corridor. Look for the SWET signs.

Fee: Free of charge. Food and drink available at the Cafe (see the "Menu" at the Book House Cafe website)

Planning ways to celebrate the founding of SWET in November 1980, bringing us to 40 years in November 2020 will kick off at this meeting. What is our anniversary good for? What to celebrate? Who’s interested? Where? What for? Why? Come join core members of the SWET Steering Committee in putting ideas into the pot for consideration of feasibility, cost, etc.

RSVP: Please let us know if you are coming. E-mail us at info[at]swet.j

Time: 6:00–9:00 p.m.
Place: Book House Cafe, Kitazawa Building, Jinbocho, 2nd Floor Osetsushitsu
http://bookhousecafe.jp/
See website for map; come out Jinbocho subway exit A1, turn right and walk about 15 meters to the Kitazawa Building. Please take the elevator or stairs to the second floor on the left side of the building. We will be in a small parlor-like room on the left side at the end of the corridor. Look for the SWET signs.
Fee: Free of charge. Food and drink available at the Cafe (see the "Menu" at the Book House Cafe website)

RSVP: Please let us know if you are coming. E-mail us at SWET.

Martie Jelinek, art historian, tutor, and veteran translator for numerous art museums and other clients, joining us during a visit from her home in the U.K., will share her experiences and insights into art translation and teaching. 

(Photo: Some catalogues where Martie's work is published.)

SWET Talk Shop, March 20 (Wed.)

Time: 6:00–9:00 p.m.
Place: Book House Cafe, Jinbocho, 2nd Floor Parlor (*note room change)
http://bookhousecafe.jp/
See website for map; come out Jinbocho subway exit A1, turn right and walk about 15 meters to the Kitazawa Building. We will be on the ground floor at the back (left side), beyond the children's books. Look for the SWET sign.
Fee: Free of charge. Food and drink available at the Cafe (see the "Menu" at the Book House Cafe website)

RSVP: Please let us know if you are coming. E-mail us at info[at]swet.jp

Travel writer Rob Goss will share his experiences on tourist promotion press trips in Japan and travel writer/photographer Phil Ono will talk about style and translation for travel-related text. Both are members of SWET’s Travel Writing SIG. Others will share tour guide translation and related experiences.

Date: April 17 (Wed.)

Editing Experiences: New Tools, Professional Development and Networking, with Sara Kitaoji 

Time: 6:00–9:00 p.m.
Place: Book House Cafe, Kitazawa Building, Jinbocho, 2nd Floor Osetsushitsu
http://bookhousecafe.jp/
See website for map; come out Jinbocho subway exit A1, turn right and walk about 15 meters to the Kitazawa Building. Please take the elevator or stairs to the second floor on the left side of the building. We will be in a small parlor-like room on the left side at the end of the corridor. Look for the SWET signs.
Fee: Free of charge. Food and drink available at the Cafe (see the "Menu" at the Book House Cafe website)

RSVP: Please let us know if you are coming. E-mail us at SWET

We welcome Sara Kitaoji, SWET member visiting Tokyo from Sydney, Australia, who will share her experiences in editing research papers and theses with back-up using editing tools like PerfectIt. She will also discuss the benefits of ongoing professional development through national associations such as the Institute of Professional Editors and networking with other editors in various fields/genres around the world via social media. This will be a good opportunity to discuss what's going on in the profession and ways to increase your "editor power" as a Japan-based professional.

SWET Talk Shop, February 20 (Wed.)

Meeting of Minds on Scholarly Translation: The Proceedings Published

Time: 6:00–9:00 p.m.
Place: Book House Cafe, Jinbocho
http://bookhousecafe.jp/
See website for map; come out Jinbocho subway exit A1, turn right and walk about 15 meters to the Kitazawa Building. We will be on the ground floor at the back (left side), beyond the children's books. Look for the SWET sign.
Fee: Free of charge. Food and drink available at the Cafe (see the "Menu" at the Book House Cafe website)

RSVP:  Please do let us know if you are coming so we can plan accordingly. E-mail us at SWET Events. 

Scholars, publishing initiators, and professional translators and editors gathered in 2016 for a symposium to discuss the aspirations and difficulties, the arts, crafts, and the nitty-gritty of translation practice, particularly for scholarly works in the humanities. Now Reevaluating Translation as a Driving Force of Scholarship: Proceedings of the Symposium (国際シンポジウム「翻訳の再評価: 学問を深める原動力」報告書; 280 pp.), has been published by the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken) in Kyoto. The book records the discussion among 21 scholars, managing editors of translation publishing programs, and professional wordsmiths (many of them SWET members), as well as audience members gathered together at Nichibunken three years ago. 
   The content includes accounts of specific experiences in translation and publication of scholarly works, translation of primary sources, discussion of the problems with distribution, checking, and editing. Not only scholarly translation projects but many other non-fiction publishing projects can benefit from the candid sharing of professional practice and scholarly perspective recorded in this volume. To be available online as well as in printed form by mid February.
This event is planned to introduce this publication and call attention to its content. Some of the symposium participants will be present, and we hope interested persons will gather to brainstorm about a possible future symposium on the broader theme "Reevaluating Translation as a Driving Force of Culture."

This publication, which is Nichibunken’s International Symposium No. 52, can now be downloaded from the Nichibunken repository website.  Click on <全文>国際シンポジウム : 52 . Parts of the book are in English and parts in Japanese, but except for the foreword and symmary, they are not provided in both languages.

Time: 6:00–9:00 p.m.
Place: Book House Cafe, Jinbocho, Gulliver Room
http://bookhousecafe.jp/
See website for map; come out Jinbocho subway exit A1, turn right and walk about 15 meters to the Kitazawa Building. We will be on the ground floor at the back (left side), beyond the children's books. Look for the SWET sign.
Fee: ￥4,000 for full (vegetarian-friendly) meal (drinks on your own from the Book House Cafe menu)
RSVP: Please be sure to let us know if you are coming as we need a head count for the catering. E-mail us at SWET Events, by January 20.

Join us as SWET comes together to kick off the new year! 
We have a special evening planned in Jinbocho, Tokyo's book town, with catering by 
young Italy-trained chef Murata Rei.

networking ・catching up・sharing what we've been up to・conjuring the future

SCBWI Japan Translation Day on October 20, 2018, in Yokohama will feature a workshop by Louise Heal Kawai, translator of Ms. Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami. Ms. Kawakami is described in the Japan Times this month as "one of Japan’s brightest stars . . . set to explode across the global skies of literature." 

SWETers can attend Translation Day at member price. October 8 is the deadline for advance registrations and translations of short, selected text by Mieko Kawakami for Louise Heal Kawai's workshop. Email SCBWI to register and request the text.

Translation Day will also feature Takami Nieda, translator of the novel Go by Kazuki Kaneshiro, and Adam Freudenheim, publisher and managing director at Pushkin Press (both appearing via prerecorded Skype) as well as translator Yumiko Sakuma and author Holly Thompson discussing US/UK middle grade, young adult, and adult book categories. 

The full schedule for Translation Day is available.  

https://japan.scbwi.org/events/scbwi-japan-translation-day/

Please join SWET and SCBWI colleagues for this day of presentations, workshops, and conversation.