Setouchi Tsurezure Series #1 – Introduction

Late last year, Uraoka Tomoaki of the local newspaper “Setouchi Times” asked if I would be willing to write a monthly column, about anything at all, but for free. It sounded like a fun thing (Me, a newspaperman!) so I said yes. Now, I think I’ll post the articles here for… People? I’m not sure who’s interested in reading me write about myself in Japanese, but maybe some people will enjoy the language practice. I’m not translating them because it just seems like a pain in the ass. But if someone wants to send me their own take on an English version (NO MT!), I’d be happy to post it. It might be fun!
The first column ran November 18, 2023. It was a basic self introduction including information about my background, how I came to Japan, and my book, Discovering Yamaguchi Sake.

A scan of the article from the November 18, 2023 issue of the Setouchi Times.

初めまして、ライオンジミーです。これから時々瀬戸内タイムスさんで記事を書きます。よろしくお願い致します。

まずは自己紹介しようと思います。

僕はアメリカ・カンザス州の田舎で生まれ育ち、隣のオクラホマ州のタルサ大学でドイツ語と哲学を勉強しました。その後アイオワ州で大学院生としてドイツ語・語学修士の学位を取りました。そして、ドイツのベルリンにて勉強を続け、知人の仕事の紹介で2004年に初来日しました。

日本に来る前はこの国と何も縁が無かったこともあり、言葉しも文化も分からない状態でした。それでも山口県での生活が気に入ったのは、日常の生活リズムや景色が何となく地元カンザスにいるような感覚だったからと思います。約2年後には素敵な女性と出会い、翌年結婚しました。すっかり山口県に根付いた生活の日々。現在は光市で家族三人で暮らしています。

思い返せば来日して19年。やっと日本語が困らない程度に話せるようになりました。更に日本文化にも興味が沸き、自分に合う過ごし方ができています。

当初は英会話講師として働きましたが、2016年に独立し、今は英訳・ライター業です。日本語を英語に訳したり、自分で取材して記事を書いています。

今回は日本語で文章を書いているので、緊張で汗をかきながらキーボードを打っています。もし変な日本語でしたらお許し下さい。

翻訳の仕事は多様性が豊かです。観光や文化、文学等の原稿を慎重に読み、自分の理解を深め、そして英語に書き直すという作業です。最近は横溝正史のミステリー「悪魔が来たりて笛を吹く」を英訳し、今年2月にイギリスで出版されました。

日本各地の観光サイトからも依頼がくることで、行った事がない場所でもどんどん詳しくなり行った気持ちになれます。非常に面白い仕事です！

地元の中小企業のウエブサイトも英訳していますが、山口県内の仕事はほとんど日本酒関係です。

僕はかなりの日本酒マニアで、以前も瀬戸内タイムスさんに紹介して頂いた際も、県内の酒蔵を全て巡り、アメリカでそれらを紹介する本を出版しました。これからも地元の酒蔵の力になれたら嬉しいと思います。

もちろん美味しいものですが、日本酒の魅力はやはり職人技の塊であることです。お米から酒を造るには職人の知識・経験・勘が欠かせない事で、かなり興味深いです。日本酒の興味に釣られて最近酒器にも興味が沸き、陶磁器を集めています。萩焼はもちろんですが山口県のあちこちに才能溢れる陶芸家がたくさんいます。

これから瀬戸内タイムスさんでは自分の好きな物がテーマになります。ということは、地元の隠れた職人や文化、美しい自然や、おいしい日本酒がほとんどだと思います。そしてたまには陶磁器についてお話ししたいです。

やはり、山口県は歴史でも文化でも自然でも恵まれているのです。

Hooded Crane Pangs

The rare hooded crane once nested here in Yamaguchi Prefecture in the hundreds. Most now winter in southern Kyushu island, but a few—a bare handful—nest in the rural community of Yashiro, a part of Shunan city about 25 minutes’ drive north of here. The town has a dedicated observation center that overlooks some of the rice fields that they frequent, with a CCTV monitor aimed at another spot.

I went to the nesting grounds today to see if I could spot any. A sign on the observation center wall said there are currently four nesting in Yashiro, and the monitor showed two of them. There was a field scope set up for a more direct look, so I actually got to see two of the only four hooded cranes currently on the island of Honshu… But just barely. My 210mm lens could pick them out.

Two large birds with gray bodies, white heads, and red patches around the eyes, can be seen in a distant field.

Then I saw that the spot was close to a public road. So, I went closer.

I was eventually able to see them pretty well through my lens, but there were all these signs “No crane watching,” “Please take pictures from the observation center” and the like. The signs implied that taking pictures of the birds would frighten them or drive them away.

But… I was standing on a public road. There were cars driving by—including an employee of the observation center who glared me as he rumbled by in his truck. There was a restaurant right there with a parking lot where, presumably, people opening and closing their car doors. It seemed like a relatively lively spot. And I was just walking along, probably a good 150 meters away.

I was conflicted. I wanted to watch them, but the officials didn’t want me to.

On the one hand, I get that they don’t want crowds of people filling the area, or anyone sneaking into fields and scaring the birds away and/or messing up the rice fields. It would be bad both for the birds and the local community. On the other, it’s not bird lovers or photographers who are destroying the habitat and driving the birds away on a daily basis. I get that they can’t exactly ask local farmers to scale back their livelihoods for the sake of birds, and birders are indeed just following a hobby.

Now, I’m not sure what to think about myself. I did something I was asked not to, because the reasoning behind the request seems misguided. But I’m not above the rules. Are they rules, though?

Not Quite a Resolution

The new year resolution is a tradition, as is the breaking of the new year resolution. So, I tend to shy away from them. But I do enjoy the idea of new starts, so there are some things I’m doing differently this year.

The first is that I’m trying to bring more beauty into my life. The past few months, I’ve been working with potters more closely, and I’ve realized that using their work as part of daily life is a simple way to elevate the quotidian. And so, rather than just focusing on sake wares, I’m using handmade pottery for everything I can.

A tall white porcelain cup that narrows at the bottom. The glaze shows a finger-shaped open patch at the bottom. — A porcelain cup by Jaeho Choi perfect for shochu, water, or other cold beverages. The Meiji era Arita ware plate below it is also great for serving stir-fry!

One of the last emotional holdouts for me was coffee. It’s a hard thing on cups, with its staining and oils, so the idea of drinking it from fine pottery was always somewhat uncomfortable. But when I talked to my potter friend Yagi Hiroyuki about it, he explained that he used a porcelain clay mix and a tighter glaze for coffee cups for that very reason, as well as layering food-grade silicon for cheaper wares. And then, he offered me a cup to test… So, now my daily coffee come from a handmade artisan piece.

A pinkish, rounded coffee cup reminiscent of Hagi ware. — A Hagi-ware coffee cup.

I’ve also realized that shochu cups are… Well, cups. So, why not use them for drinking other things, like water? No more plastic, no more cheap store-bought stuff… My day is now decorated with fine pottery from artists whose faces I know, whose hands I have shaken.

A short, wide ceramic cup with white glaze speckled with black. The sides are carved in random ways so that dark lines seem to rise from the glaze. — A shochu cup by Yagi Hiroyuki, now being used for water.

It’s a little thing, but one I’m glad of. And one I recommend others think about, too. There are plenty of affordable pieces by artists with skill and creativity all over Japan, and the world. Look around you. It’s good for the soul to eat and drink from functional art.

Photo Club Update – Hail the Conquering Newbie

Yesterday was my first photo club meeting as an official member (for background see this previous post) and it was a great one.

In addition to getting some great feedback on my own pictures, I’m learning critical eye skills by looking closely at lots of pictures other people have taken

One of the key points I took away this time was to be more aware of the “main character” of any picture and really commit to it. I guess I have a tendency to try to add lots of context in both writing and photography, which in the latter case leads to too much extraneous background.

Of course, this is all a matter of taste, which is always up for argument, but I can definitely see the teacher’s point.

For example, he liked the muted color, gloomy lighting, and overall subject of this starflower picture:

Muted picture of a white, six-petaled flower. There are brown leaves and pine needles barely recognizable in the blurred background.

But said I should really have just tightened in on it, like this:

He’s right, of course.

At the same time, he liked and had good things to say about most of my pictures, and I even got the “best shot of the month” with this one I have posted before:

A piece of driftwood against a blurred background of dead pine needles and pinecones. — 龍木

Everyone loved it, and the teacher had no notes.

So, I’m off to a good start!

Review – Who We’re Reading when We’re Reading Murakami

This animated gif of the cover is from the publisher’s website, linked through the title below.

Who We’re Reading when We’re Reading Murakami

by David Karashima

Soft Skull Press

I just finished this book after picking it up based on a passing comment by Matt Alt on social media. I did so not because I am particular fan of Murakami—I’m not—but because I wanted to actually know more about the issue hinted at in the title: how the personality and identity (the “who”) of the translator impacts the end translation.

To sum up, this very well researched and written book follows the whole process of how Haruki Murakami went from fresh new Japanese novelist to global literary darling. Karashima tracks down and talks to all the editors, translators, designers, agents, and the author himself to look at how Murakami’s work up through Wind-Up Bird Chronicle ended up in English.

The result is a really compelling example of how intentional and designed such a career is. Please don’t take that to mean I don’t believe the success is unwarranted or undeserved; I make no such judgment at all.

But it is clear that what people read from Murakami in English has been very tightly controlled by a large cadre of peripheral figures. They selected stories, they cut text, they created the legend. Which is not a surprise to me at all, having been a translator working on pieces for publication.

Which brings me to my only grump about this book: I’d very much like a bit more focus on the question in the title. I want more depth on the people. In parts, I want more concrete looks at how specific choices the individual translators made could influence a resulting literary work’s reception. There are tantalizing tastes of this, with a few examples of people bringing up translation choices, but I’d have loved more.

In all, though, this strikes me as a valuable tool to demonstrate the realities of the translation process to a reading public.

It’s well worth a read to anyone interested in Murakami, translation for publication, outer international fiction.