The Challenges of Translating the 1866-67 Travel Journal of Nakai Hiromu

Speaker: Eleanor Robinson-Yamaguchi, Aichi Prefectural University
Date: 21 September 2014 (Sunday)
Time: 2.30-4 p.m. (Followed by a networking dinner nearby at 5 p.m. Details below.)
Venue: Yamanishi Fukushi Kaikan, Umeda Tel: 06-6315-1868 (Map)
Address: 大阪市北区神山町11-12 (10 minutes' walk from Umeda Stns, Osaka Stn, Ogimachi Stn and Tenma Stn)
Fee: 1,000 yen SWET, JAT members; 1,500 yen non-members
Networking dinner: 5–8 p.m., 3,980 yen per person, Manzana (just off Higashi-dori Shotengai) (Map)
RSVP: Thursday September 18 to SWET Kansai. Please state whether you are coming to the talk, dinner, or both.

In late 1866 Nakai Hiromu, a Satsuma samurai from the castle town of Kagoshima, set off on a long sea journey to Britain. His funding came from the domain of Tosa. He left from the port of Yokohama with a Tosa man called Yūki Yukiyasu. Upon his return to Japan in 1867, Nakai went immediately to the residence of Mitsubishi founder, Iwasaki Yatarō, in Nagasaki. There, among others, he met with Tosa samurai Sakamoto Ryōma and Gotō Shōjirō, as well as the British merchant who had assisted in organizing his journey, William J. Alt. He told them about his experiences during his travels. He also recorded his experiences in a travel diary.

This lecture will examine the challenges of translating Nakai Hiromu’s travel diary, which he originally published privately in 1868. He gave this first publication to his friends and colleagues who might be planning on taking a similar journey themselves, or to those who were generally interested in the West. The journal was published again for a broader readership in 1870. It is this second version which Robinson-Yamaguchi chose to translate into English, originally for the purpose of a doctoral thesis at Kyoto University.

The lecture will discuss the difficulties faced during what became a long process of detective-like work to discover the meanings of unfamiliar, old Japanese text. Thanks to Nakai’s educational background in the Chinese Classics, the task of translation became an exercise in studying not only old Japanese language and culture, but also Chinese literature and culture. Reading Nakai’s diary is like looking through a window into the past. It allows the modern reader to get a sense of what life was like for those first intrepid Japanese explorers on their initial journeys into the West. Translating the diary was like actually taking the journey itself.

Profile
Eleanor did a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese Studies at Sheffield University, graduating in 1999. She was then appointed Co-ordinator for International Relations (CIR) for Aomori City Hall (1999-2002) as part of the JET Program.

In October 2002, she entered Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies under the supervision of International Politics scholar, Professor Nakanishi Terumasa. She left Kyoto University in 2009 to work at Doshisha Business School in the administration of the newly established Global MBA Programme (GMBA).

During 2010-2011, she was Specially Appointed Associate Professor at the Research Institute for World Languages (RIWL) at Osaka University teaching English. During 2011-2012, she taught a TOEFL course part-time at Kobe Women’s University and a TOEIC course part-time at Ritsumeikan University. At the same time she worked to complete the manuscript for her doctoral thesis, "Nakai Hiromu: Meiji Statesman and Hero of Anglo-Japanese Relations."

She received her doctoral degree from Kyoto University in March 2012. Since April 2012, Eleanor has been a Lecturer at the Department of British and American Studies, Faculty of Foreign Studies, Aichi Prefectural University. She teaches courses on UK-Japan Relations, British Culture and English.

Eleanor’s blog can be found at http://eleanorinjapan.wordpress.com

 

(This event is jointly organized with the JAT Kansai Activities Team.)