Message from the Translators 1: Braden Noyes
Hello, reader. Writing this afterword, I still cannot believe that these words are going to be published in an actual ebook that will be sold on Amazon! I'm sure that most of the people who end up purchasing this book will skip right over this section, but still! I can't wait to show everybody I know when my name is listed as a translator for a book!
I think I may have gotten a little ahead of myself there. Let me backtrack a bit. I suppose I should probably introduce myself, yeah? Hi, my name is Braden Noyes and I am originally from Aloha, Oregon in the U.S. I studied Japanese at the University of Oregon and, after graduating in 2008, moved to Japan to further develop my language skills. I began teaching English in elementary school and it has now been six years.
I have wanted to be a translator for some time and have been translating various Japanese comics and such as a hobby for a few years, but none of that was official work. In February of 2014, I won a contest on the Conyac website (http://conyac.cc/en) and was given the opportunity to translate a game for smartphones. That was my first official job as a translator. At the time I am writing this afterword, however, the English version of the game has not yet been released. Therefore, officially, I haven't quite made my debut as a translator yet.
In July of 2014, Conyac announced another contest, this time for the opportunity to translate one of three Japanese novellas. Translators were allowed to enter all three rounds, but after looking at the descriptions for the three different books, I decided I wanted to do the second one, which turned out to be this book. I have always loved the fantasy and science fiction genres so this one looked like the most interesting of the three. When I received the email telling me I had won, I was super excited! I was going to have my name in a book! Later, I was asked to write this afterword and was ecstatic at the chance to say a few things and give credit where credit is due!
Speaking of which, now comes the important part. I first want to thank the Conyac team for giving me this amazing opportunity. In particular, Jack McKinnon and Teki Cho for being so great and answering all the questions my partner and I had and being so flexible when it came to how we submitted the final version of the translation. Thank you also to Mami Suzuki, my translation partner, for doing the initial rough translation so fast! Without her help, I would have struggled with quite a few spots in the story.
Lastly, I'd also like to thank my good friend, Nick Pelto. We've known each other since 2004 when we lived together in the dormitories at the University of Oregon and he has become somewhat of a personal editor of mine in the last few years. Whenever I translate anything, he is there to turn my English into a work of art. He has a way with words that I can only dream of having. Without Mami and her native Japanese skills and Nick with his word sorcery, this story would not be what it is.
Reader, if you've made it this far, you are amazing. I truly hope you enjoyed this story and I look forward to being able to introduce more books from Japan to English audiences in the future. Keep an eye open for my name, because I don't plan on stopping here!
Thank you!
-Braden Noyes
email: [email protected]
website: http://www.bradennoyes.com