Message from the Translators 1: Dawn Croft
This is a story about one person's struggle to speak out and find his authentic voice. Though it is played out in the drama between a teenage boy and his year-older crush, lost in a parallel dimension to the already-otherworldly Akihabara in faraway Tokyo, the struggle itself is one that is both universally common and deeply resonant within all of us. In a sense, we all find ourselves inexplicably locked into the kind of quest with which Big and the narrator are charged: finding what truly has meaning for us in this often chaotic, often whimsical, often tragic and incomprehensible life.
As in the story, the reward for finding that "missing piece" is nothing less than our freedom?the freedom to escape the confused muddle of superficial, everyday drama and "come home" to who we really are and what we're really meant to do with our lives. Finding peace in this certainty then allows us to reach out and offer genuine love to the people we care about, as the narrator does when he reaches out for Big's hand at the end of the tale.
Ultimately, finding our authentic "voice" allows us to go beyond even our personal circle and contribute something meaningful to the wider world around us. This is the freedom, as our hero and heroine eventually find, to stride boldly into the uncertainty of our futures with a sense of confidence, courage, curiosity, and delightful adventure.
On the other hand, the cost of losing this game is no less than the kind of endless, wandering confinement that Katie pronounces on the poor man with his precious chocolate wrappers?a man who tries to fill his longing for authenticity with shallow, meaningless trinkets from the outside world. We may go on living and breathing without a deeper purpose in our lives, but as the capricious cat-girl?wise and unpredictable and maddening as Fate herself?proclaims, if we cannot find what we are looking for in the inner world (of commitment, of desire, of authentic selfhood and contribution) we will never find any meaning in the "real" world either. Our souls will be forever condemned to wander endlessly in search of the pieces that make us whole.
Underneath its exceptional characters and fantastical settings, this is truly a profound and universal story made even more meaningful by the combined effort taken to communicate and adapt it to an international audience. Its author, Maho, had to find his authentic voice in getting the images and inspiration for the story out onto paper in a clear, compelling way; the publishers at impress QuickBooks had to find a way to get that story out to readers all over Japan; the project managers at Conyac had to find the right translators to convert the Japanese language, expressions, and tone into authentic, engaging English prose; and the publishers at impress QuickBooks had to again push that translation out to readers worldwide. What started as a flash of an idea in Maho's head is now in the hands and hearts of people around the globe, entertaining them and inspiring them to find their own calling?to write their own authentic life stories as well.
And if that isn't an example of finding one's true voice, I don't know what is. It has been a privilege and a joy to be a part of this transformative process and I deeply hope, in our own authentic missions as translators, that we have been able to serve as conduits to spread Maho's contributions far and wide.
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Message from the Translators 2: Susumu Fukuhara
How do people outside Japan get to know about Japan? Some people associate Japan with Hayao Miyazaki's animation films*1, while others might point to Kurosawa*2 or Godzilla*3 films. Some people are even unaware that these works have anything to do with Japan. My guess, however, is that most readers who pick this book have a keen interest in Japan and Japanese language.
Japanese people get to know about Western novels and films through English-Japanese translation, and some of the translated books even become the bestsellers*4. But can you come up with any book translated from Japanese to English that has recorded huge sales in your country? It seems that with the exception of some popular works such as those by Haruki Murakami*5 or Pokemon comic books*6, the vast majority of such translated materials never even come close.
Actually, the history of Japanese-to-English translation is very short. Exceptionally great translation works of that sort have been done by some great minds who perfectly understand both Japanese language and Japanese culture. One such person is Edward G. Seidensticker, one of the students in U.S. Navy Japanese/Oriental Language School*7 in Colorado who was given a special mission to decode Japanese military messages during the Second World War. After the war, he introduced to the English-speaking world great literary works by Yasunari Kawabata, Yukio Mishima, and Junichiro Tanizaki. Ironically, those who mastered Japanese to defeat the Japanese army ended up leading the way in bridging the cultural barriers between Japan and the United States. Then why aren't there that many successful Japanese native translators? While Japanese people study English very hard, even the college students who are supposed to understand English well have a hard time translating even a few lines of Japanese into English. One of the reasons is that they get stuck with the many Japanese words which are difficult to translate into English equivalents.
A glance at one sentence from the original Japanese text of this book will demonstrate this translation challenge.
Original Japanese Text
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なんか先輩はネコミさんを苦手としている節があるんだよなぁ｡"(Chapter 14)
English Translation
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Clearly, Big doesn't want to have anything to do with the cat-eared girl.
Japanese word 苦手 (nigate) is a hard word to put into English. How it is translated largely depends on the way it is used. Unless you analyze the concept, know how it is being used in the context of the conversation, and know an English expression used in similar situations, you will not come up with a proper translation at all. Knowing the dictionary equivalent is only the tip of the iceberg.
Another example is the debate over how to put the Japanese word 先輩 (senpai) into English. As far as I know, in English there is no concept that matches this Japanese word. Dawn-san solved this problem by giving the petite girl one year senior to the narrator the nickname "Little Big". The original Japanese text has many, many such words and expressions. The Conyac and Impress team have made an excellent translation team to tackle such a difficult mission. This work has given me the courage to inch forward as the narrator of this book might have done.
Special thanks to the Conyac team who gave me the opportunity to be a part of such grand project, and Dawn-san for her excellent proofreading and editing work. Without the experienced team at Conyac, I could have never completed such long Japanese-English translation. Thanks to Jack-san and Teki-san of the Conyac team for their kind support and encouragement. And thank you especially to Maho-san, who created a great story with excellent characters?the indecisive high school boy, Big, and Katie (who is called Nekomi-san in the original text). Thank you also to Chiwawa-san for the excellent illustrations. Also special thanks to my parents, my brother, and my sister who support me both emotionally and financially.
Notes:
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1. Hayao Miyazaki is one of the most successful animation film directors of all time. His works include "Spirited Away", "My Neighbor Totoro", and "Princess Mononoke".
2. Akira Kurosawa is one of the most successful Japanese film directors. He was a great influence on Hollywood filmmakers including Steven Spielberg.
3. Godzilla is a popular monster film series started in 1954. This film also made great influence to Hollywood film makers.
4. Translated works represent one of the most popular categories in the Japanese book market. So much so that most of the top-level translators in Japan prefer English-to-Japanese translation rather than Japanese-to-English translation. In the Japanese translation community, Japanese-to-English translation is typically limited to business or technical translations.
5. Haruki Murakami's IQ84 series is one of the most well-known translated book series originally written by a Japanese author.
6. Pokemon is noted for being one of the most successful video game series of all time, featuring the adorable mascot character Pikachu. Its toy franchise items and TV animation series are also popular.
7. Another notable U.S. Navy Japanese Language/Oriental Language School graduate is Donald Keene, who has written many important books about Japan and Japanese literature.
Susumu Fukuhara
Standard translator (English to Japanese, Japanese to English) at Conyac, and National Licenced Guide (English).