The Magical Art of Translation Lecture at Japan Society

Last month, Japan Society had an amazing lecture discussing translation, Murakami, and some of Japan's up and coming novelists. The panel also shared their thoughts on what it's like to be a writer and a translator. I had some time before the lecture because I left work a little early. I headed to Vivi bubble tea and Dainobu to grab a snack before the event.

I also saw that the Sebastian Masuda's Hello Kitty time capsule was there for his TIME AFTER TIME art project. It was so cute! I meet up with Tiffany shortly after snapping this pic of her majesty, Hello Kitty.

I was super excited to learn that Jay Rubin would be there. He has translated a lot of Murakami's work. They discussed how writing in a foreign language is a valuable tool to free yourself from tradition.

For a lot of the speakers on the panel, translation is a huge piece that plays into their own fiction and their writing process which is something I can relate to. I dabbled in translation in college when I decided to do a conference project producing my own translation of a few scenes of the manga Death Note and comparing it to the official English translation. I found a lot of disparities in language and tone. In my opinion, the official English translation did not carry enough nuance to highlight how creepy/scary of Light and Ryuk's interactions.

It was also refreshing to learn about newer writers in Japan since I'm a huge fan of Japanese literature. There was a writer on the panel named, Aoko Matsuda, and I am really excited to check out her work. I really loved hearing her speak about her thoughts on being a translator and a writer. There was another amazing speaker, Motoyuki Shibata, who is one of Japan's most well known translator and founder of Monkey Business. Also, Monkey Business is a great way to learn about new work from Japan.

Japan Society always has such amazing events and I consider myself lucky to be able to have access to such a wonderful institution. I really enjoy reading works by POC and LGBTQ+ writers and people with different gender identities, and the lecture gave me more writers to check out. I recently picked up the first book in a YA series by a WOC named Marie Lu which I will review after I finish it. Thanks for reading!

Dark Waters: Book Review

Evenin' everyone, I am back with a review for the last book I read. I decided to stick with Japanese literature and picked up a Japanese horror book by the author of The Ring, Koji Suzuki. Dark Water is a short story selection that explores the water and trash.

While these items seem like trash to others what's interesting is they really aren't. These items can either heal or wreak havoc. You'll find the review below the cut; I'll try to keep it as spoiler free as possible.

The book opens with a prologue of an elderly woman, Kayo, that is anticipating her son's family visit and being able to take walks with her granddaughter around the cape. The cape has many items that wash up on shore and she tells her granddaughter scary stories based off the items. Kayo feels, "Each item of debris has its own tale to tell. Any particularly intriguing thing you amy come across on the beach is best left untouched--because it begins to tell its tale to you, as soon as you pick it up. Fine if the story is heartwarming, but if it curdles your blood, things will never be the same."

Parade: Book Review

Hi blog fam! I recently finished Parade by Shuichi Yoshida and really enjoyed the book. I'm also pretty proud of myself for being on my reading game and consistently reading books. I have yet to select my next book, but I am bouncing around a few titles. I would like to read more YA, so I may watch a few vids from a Youtuber I follow that reads a lot of YA titles and see what she recommends.

Parade follows five people that live together by chance in a small apartment. Each character has a chapter dedicated to them from their perspective. The novel explores what happens when people that have no ties to each other live together.  The novel explores complex human dynamics within ourselves and our relationships. Spoilers will be under the cut.

Characters

• Ryosuke Sugimoto- 21 year old male college student that is working part time
• Kotomi Okochi- 23 year old unemployed woman dating an idol
• Mirai Somai-  24 year old woman that loves to party
• Satoru Kokubo- an 18 year old that sells his body
• Naoki Ihara- a 28 year old man that works at a film distributor

After Dark: Book Review

Hey everybody! I hope everyone's week has been going well. I love to read, but haven't had the time until recently. I thought why not review some of the books I've been reading. So, welcome to my book reviews! If I come up with a catchy name or something I'll let you know lol

The first book I'll be reviewing is After Dark by Haruki Murakami. I'm a huge fan of his work and this is the third book of his that I've read. I will say that if you haven't read a book by him before, I would recommend reading a shorter one first. The longer novels tend to leave my slightly annoyed in the beginning with all the mystery, but that could be just me.

After Dark tells the story of a night filled with random encounters and strange occurrences. We follow Mari, a bookish college student, for most of the story. The reader gets the sense that she's avoiding someone or something. Her night starts off simple enough and before she knows it, she's pulled into some interesting situations.

What I like about this book is that Murakami is able to bring you into his world very quickly. I also think that there's naturally something interesting about the flow of time as it gets really late into the night. Places changes, strange things happens, and some things aren't what they seem. The book captures the essence of the odd things you'll find alone when it's very late at night.