NEWSWORTHY
Japan-born writer Yoko Tawada wins prestigious U.S. literature award for 'Kentoshi'
The English version of "Kentoshi," or "The Emissary," a work by Japanese writer Yoko Tawada, has won the U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature. The National Book Awards are one of the most distinguished literature prizes in the United States. The winners of this ...
In Japan, the most important rule for language translation is often broken
As Japan continues to court more foreign tourists, the nation must learn to respect foreign languages as much as its own.
U.S. President Donald Trump's use of the word "sh-thole" to describe some countries has sparked fury in some quarters and left many media scratching their heads on whether to repeat the slur. But spare a thought for the non-English language media outlets that had to ...
Best-selling Kojien dictionary expands nuclear terms in once-a-decade update
In a once-a-decade update, Japan’s most popular dictionary reviews and expands its range of nuclear terms, acknowledging the impact of the Fukushima disaster.
Justice seen hamstrung as experts warn court interpreters should be licensed
Courts are supposed to be bastions of justice. But equal justice may be thwarted for some defendants owing to language barriers. Despite all the various training seminars and guide books preparing newly registered court interpreters for the job, the current pool of interpreters are not ...
'The Book of the Dead': The first complete translation of Shinobu Orikuchi's classic
Both influential and deeply mysterious, "The Book of the Dead" ("Shisha no Sho," 1943) is the most famous work of fiction by Shinobu Orikuchi (1887-1953), a pioneer of folklore studies in Japan and renowned poet. Orikuchi was fascinated with the origins of Japanese religion ...
The confessions of a Japanese-to-Hungarian translator
Over some Hungarian wine, a translator who does not wish to be identified spills the beans on the juicier bits of her job.
Japan’s interpreters struggle to make sense of 'Trumpese'
As political leaders in Japan pay close attention to how U.S. President Donald Trump will go in office, so, too, are interpreters who have had a nightmarish experience translating his disjointed speeches. "He rarely speaks logically, and he only emphasizes one side of things as ...
Panasonic Corp. said Thursday it will start offering in December a megaphone capable of automatically translating Japanese into English, Chinese and Korean in its latest bid to help companies cope with an increase in foreign visitors to Japan. Panasonic hopes the new translation service can ...
The complexities of 'they' versus 'xe/him/xir'
The long search to find a way to refer to people in English without relying on gender won't be ending anytime soon.
Luckily for English speakers, machine translation still can't match a native's touch
The consensus is that translation will one day inevitably be taken over by computers — but we're not there yet.
Tokyo interpreting firm hopes to cash in on tourism boom with over-the-phone assistance
The operator of a Tokyo-based call center is expanding services to target municipalities and companies in need of interpreters to communicate with foreign residents, tourists and customers. For two months from February, LanguageOne Corp. offered call-center services to hotels, restaurants and other tourism businesses in ...
