Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Tag - translation

 
 

TRANSLATION

Tadao Tsuge, one of the leading figures of the "gekiga" manga movement, often depicts postwar harsh realities in his works.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 12, 2026
How war shaped the manga of Tadao Tsuge
The ¡°gekiga¡± pioneer drew on memories of war, hunger and poverty to chronicle Âé¶¹´«Ã½ overlooked lives.
Keigo Higashino's meticulously constructed mysteries and memorable characters earned him readers across languages and cultures.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 30, 2026
Keigo Higashino¡¯s ¡®global afterlife¡¯
As tributes pour in for the prolific author who died at age 68 last week, his English translators reflect on his legacy and impact abroad.
A baked clay fragment called the Flood Tablet dating to the 7th century B.C., inscribed in cuneiform in the Akkadian language, presents the account of a great flood in the ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, at the British Museum in London, Britain, in 2022.
WORLD / Society
Jul 28, 2026
Study documents a precipitous decline in the number of languages
During a period spanning the first millennium B.C. and ?first millennium ?A.D., humankind may have spoken tens of thousands of different languages, compared to about 7,500 now.
Argentina¡¯s Cristian Romero scores his team's first goal against Egypt in their 2026 World Cup Round of 16 match in Atlanta on July 7.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2026
These World Cup tweets show how AI will unite us all
Thanks to the automated, LLM-generated translations and algorithmic boosts of social media, I can read comments in my native language.
Using calligraphy brushes, ink pens and pencils, Chuya drafted his poems in a variety of styles. Pictured here is his draft of ¡°Chomon Gorge in Winter.¡±
CULTURE / Books
Jun 16, 2026
Prewar poet Chuya Nakahara¡¯s complete works get a new life in English
A new translation, and the first publication of Chuya¡¯s complete works in English, aims to introduce the poet to readers abroad.
A shift is occurring in the translation industry both in Japan and across the globe, where using artificial intelligence in place of humans is increasingly becoming standard practice.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Apr 16, 2026
As AI advances, translators forced to adapt to industry changes
Translators are having to grapple with lower pay and higher expectations, all while the future of the industry itself is in doubt.
AI translation and algorithm changes on X unexpectedly connected American and Japanese users through shared content, highlighting the social media platform¡¯s promise of cross-cultural exchange.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 1, 2026
Japanese X is now America¡¯s favorite corner of the internet
Japanese Twitter has been insulated from the culture wars and manipulation by foreign bots, one reason political discourse remains reasonably sane.
Asako Yuzuki¡¯s novel about female obsession offers timely and shrewd social critiques ¡ª but not catharsis.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 20, 2026
¡®Hooked¡¯ but not reeled in by Asako Yuzuki¡¯s new release
Asako Yuzuki¡¯s second novel to appear in English presents a claustrophobic dynamic between prospective gal pals but shies away from the catharsis that this type of story needs.
Literary translation is one of humanity¡¯s most crucial tasks ¡ª one that should never be left to the machines.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2026
Lost in AI translation: What¡¯s at stake? Our humanity.
Literary translation is one of humanity¡¯s most crucial tasks ¡ª one that should never be left to the machines.
In ¡°Sisters in Yellow,¡± Mieko Kawakami brings to life a group of exuberant young hustlers in the underbelly of 1990s Tokyo.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 17, 2026
¡®Sisters in Yellow¡¯ is a wild ride through Tokyo¡¯s underworld
Mieko Kawakami¡¯s noir-y novel follows a group of powerless young women working in Tokyo¡¯s 1990s nightlife.
Writer Kanako Nishi was born in Tehran and grew up partially in Cairo and Osaka.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 14, 2026
Author Kanako Nishi is ready for anything ¡ª even the world
The beloved writer is finally getting her due as ¡°Sakura,¡± her bestselling debut novel, comes out in English 20 years after its original release.
Famed Meiji-era novelist Natsume Soseki¡¯s belief that true expression transcends literal wording supports the argument that AI handling translation frees people to create rather than convert language.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 25, 2026
Sorry Soseki, I wish we had AI translation aeons ago
It should come as little surprise then that one of the jobs at risk of complete replacement by AI is that of translators.
Leonardo Doin, head of engineering and research for DeepL Voice, in Berlin on Jan. 23
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2026
DeepL to release AI-powered interpretation software in Japan this year
The software will integrate speech recognition and machine translation technologies as well as speech synthesis that mimics the tone of speakers¡¯ voices, a company official said.
In Emi Yagi¡¯s surreal novel, statues are able to talk and the book's protagonist is paid to be a conversation partner in Latin for a statue of Venus.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 26, 2026
When the museum is closed, a girl falls in love with a statue
A quirky tale of intimacy and connection in the strangest of places, the novel ¡°When the Museum is Closed¡± unfolds through a girl falling in love with a statue.
Mothra, a giant multicolored moth, is one of Toho Studios' movie monsters alongside Godzilla and King Ghidorah.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 11, 2026
¡®The Luminous Fairies and Mothra¡¯: This monster is not like the others
The Luminous Fairies and Mothra,¡± translated to English for the first time, provides deeper insight into the political context in Japan in the 1950s.
¡°Jackson Alone¡± follows four mixed-race, queer young men as they navigate the fallout after a revenge porn video surfaces at the titular character¡¯s place of work.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 7, 2026
Part seedy, part satire, all bite: ¡®Jackson Alone¡¯ tackles issues others rarely touch
The dark satire novella ¡°Jackson Alone¡± is the first book by Akutagawa Prize-winning author Jose Ando to be translated into English.
Japanese literature in translation abroad has only grown in popularity with every year, resulting in a wide variety of titles available in English, from cozy fiction to crime and horror.
CULTURE / Books / 2025 IN REVIEW
Dec 14, 2025
In 2025, Japanese literature took a turn for the weird
As expected, women writers raked in successes and cozy cat fiction kept its popularity, with two big surprises from male authors ¡ª Uketsu and Osamu Dazai.
Yurika Lacy in Aisai, Aichi Prefecture, with her grandfather's book and the English version she translated
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Nov 24, 2025
Aichi Prefecture resident tells grandfather¡¯s WWII story in English
Translating notes about being a student soldier took seven years to complete, in time for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
¡°Archipelago of the Sun¡± by Yoko Tawada is part of a trilogy billed as a dystopian future under threat of climate crisis.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 24, 2025
Yoko Tawada¡¯s wandering trilogy concludes search for the ¡®land of sushi¡¯
In ¡°Archipelago of the Sun,¡± the merry band of polyglot friends board a boat crossing the Baltic Sea, still vaguely in search of a disappeared Japan.
Osamu Dazai struggled with depression and addiction, themes that were also central to his writing.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 22, 2025
Why Âé¶¹´«Ã½ most melancholic writer speaks to today¡¯s youth
Osamu Dazai¡¯s works are enjoying a new boom of retranslations and readers 80 years after they were first published.

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Âé¶¹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness

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