A Lot’s In A Name

My name is Jimmy Dean Rion. That’s what’s on my birth certificate. It’s official. Written in stone. Of course, in daily life, I made the common American choice to use a short form. Jim. Jim Rion. Nice to meet you. (By the way, if you google “Jim Rion,” there are really only two that come up: Me and my cousin, who is a pastor at a Texas mega-church.)

Jimmy Dean Rion does not strike me as a particularly difficult-to-read name for an American, at first glance. Sure, “Jimmy” as a legal name is a bit unusual. And the spelling of my last name isn’t super common. But it’s all of five syllables. No apostrophes. No extended consonant clusters. Nothing that, in my opinion, should give the average native English speaker pronunciation trouble.

Oddly, even with such an apparently simple name, has been shockingly difficult for so, SO many people all my life that I just don’t even know what to think about it.

The most common problem is pronouncing my last name, which, OK. I could see people assuming (wrongly) it might sound like the French, /rii-ON/. But I’ve had people read it /rein/ or even /roon/.

It’s /RAI-on/. Like “lion” but with an “r.” Like the common Irish name Ryan.

Oddly, my first name has also been an odd source of confusion. My high school principal refused, point blank, to believe my real name was “Jimmy” and not only called me “James,” he wrote it on official certificates. Which is incredibly frustrating because there are points in life when official high school documents are actually important.

Luckily, I left all that behind when I went to college.

But then I came to Japan. HOO BOY has my name been a pain in the ass since then.

First, to give some background to those who don’t know: Japanese name order is Family name – Given name. Which is the reverse of English speaking countries overall. Also, Japanese people do not traditionally have middle names, so official documentation doesn’t have space for them.

When I came to Japan, I did so under the wing of a large English-language education company. My official documentation was all done under their auspices, and they didn’t ask my input. Which, fair enough, I knew nothing about how Japanese bureaucracy worked nor did I read or write the language. But they messed up when they did it.

Somehow, in the official government systems that dictate my insurance, residence cards, etc., my name became Family name: Jimmy Dean, Given name: Rion.

Also, they decided the katakana spelling of ライオン /raion/ which is, honestly, what I would have done but for Japanese people sounds like a fake name because it’s how they write the name of the animal, lion. My wife wishes it was ライアン /raian/ which is usually how Ryan is transliterated. A fair point.

Anyway, I was able to somewhat remedy this order issue by registering the correct order as an alias (something government offices make oddly easy here) so for later documents, like my driver’s license, I can use the correct order.

Because it IS the correct order in Japan. Rion Jimmy Dean is OBVIOUSLY the correct order when living and working in Japan. I know there are those who think that names are some kind of monolith that should never be adapted to fit any context, but to those I say: My wife took my name when we married. Do you think her name should be Jimmy Dean T— ? OF COURSE NOT. We are the Rion family. Family name is family name, regardless of whether it comes first or second.

And so, I use ライオン　ジミー /raion jimii/ in all my Japanese correspondence.

Which brings us to what instigated this little rant. My translation of Strange Pictures has made the shortlist for the UK Crime Writers Association Dagger awards for Crime Fiction in Translation. This has become a big deal, to the point that the Asahi Shimbun newspaper printed an article about it… And in that article, called me ジム・リオン /jimu riion/.

On the one hand, it’s how someone might well assume it is written in Japanese just by looking at my name. But on the other hand, a professional journalist for a major newspaper didn’t even TRY to check. No emails, no reading my company website (which lists my name in Japanese). They just winged it. Which is lazy journalism. (NOTE: the article has been corrected and the reporter apologized, so all is OK now.)

Oh, and by the way, yes. Strange Pictures is shortlisted for a Dagger!

The UK cover to Strange Pictures by Uketsu. It looks like a stylized bento box with a piece of octopus tentacle sushi dripping blood, along with the book and author's name in English and in Japanese. — The Strange Pictures UK cover.

The results will be announced July 2. It’s a very tight list, so who knows what the chances are, but it’s quite exciting to see my work being so well-regarded.

Strange Maps – State of the Translation

I am increasingly fielding questions about the fourth Uketsu book, tentatively titled Strange Maps in English, so I figured I should put up some kind of fixed point of reference.

So, here it is:

As of today, 6 May 2026, the current state of Strange Maps is “in editing.”

The initial translation was completed in April. The first round of edits is underway. Next steps are: correction, copyedits, then proofreading. Then comes the US version edit. Each of these take at least a month, sometimes longer.

Then there are the publishers’ business schedules, which of course influence release dates.

So, there is no announced release date yet. I do not know any more than you do on that front.

I can guess that it will probably be next spring, given past releases, although this winter is a possibility.

For release dates, keep an eye on the Pushkin Vertigo site (although Amazon has been known to beat the official announcement…). The US release date will likely be around the same time, but for confirmation check the HarperVia site.

So, I am sorry to keep you waiting, but thank you for your patience. The strange journey will continue!

Listen to me talk!

The Japan Association of Translators Book special interest group has invited me to speak online about my budding career as a literary translator and my work translating Uketsu.

I plan to lay out how I got started on this path, the luck behind the Uketsu translations, and perhaps find some advice for those looking to get into the game themselves.

The schedule is April 18th from 3:00-4:30, Japan time. It’ll be on Zoom.

You can get the details and tickets here:

A Strange Turn of Events

I look forward to seeing lots of folks there!

Translating Strange Buildings

My English translation of Uketsu’s third, and longest, novel is out now worldwide.

Strange Buildings expands and improves on the core concept of Strange Houses, creating a multilayered narrative around the designs of 11 different buildings, which all end up woven into a much greater, and darker, story.

It reads to me as a much more mature, more assured work and I think it’s Uketsu’s best.

There was a lot to deal with in this one, as the many different chapters, or “Files,” take on different approaches and tones, giving me room to play with a variety of voices.

For example, in the excerpt from the old book in File 3, “The Watermill in the Woods,” I aimed for an old fashioned, somewhat stilted style, while File 7, “Uncle’s House,” called for the voice of a clever, if unschooled, boy.

It was a satisfying challenge to work on.

There is one big issue that arose in the translation that I would like to discuss, but it’s a bit of a spoiler. If you haven’t read the book yet, go do that now and come back when you’re done.

So, be warned:

MINOR PLOT SPOILER AHEAD

In the File 9, “Footsteps to Murder,” Hiroki Matsue reveals that he believes his father, who happens to be a Christian, murdered his mother and set fire to their house.

Later, our “great detective” Kurihara reasons this accusation away. Now, in the original Japanese version, his entire argument is basically: Mr. Matsue was not only Christian, his crucifix pendant indicates that he is Catholic, and the Catholic religion strictly forbids murder.

In Japan, where readers are by and large only vaguely aware of what being a Christian actually entails, that might fly. But not in any Western country, that’s for sure. I mean, come on, watch The Godfather. The climax of the movie is proof enough that it’s a flimsy idea.

Anyway.

My editor at Pushkin and I brought this up to Uketsu and proposed a couple of changes. We recommended adjusting the Christian angle to include pacifism and activism, but most importantly, we wanted to add an actual logical argument that helped take Mr. Matsue off the suspect list.

Uketsu agreed, and the story was changed.

I am generally uncomfortable with the idea of changing actual story points, and would never do so without active input from the author, but seriously, that particular idea struck me as nearly fatal to the story. I could see quite a few readers in the West refusing to take the book seriously after an argument like that. But, again, most Japanese readers wouldn’t even bat an eye at it. Only about 1% of the population is Christian here, so most people here don’t even know a believer.

So, we had a very successful book in Japan that we were pretty sure needed more than just words changed to really succeed in English. It needed structural changes, too. I think it worked out pretty well, and the core of the story remainss exactly as Uketsu intended it.

Translation: it ain’t just switching out words!

Upcoming Translations

2026 is well under way. January has blurred by, and as February approaches I am stunned to realize that I have two translations coming out next month.

First up is a title that has probably flown under the radar for many. The Ark by Haruo Yuki is a dark mystery about a group of university friends and one hapless family trapped in a bizarre underground building after an earthquake. Not only are they in danger of drowning as water floods the building with no way out, one of their group begins murdering the others for unfathomable reasons.

This one was, if I’m honest, very difficult to translate. Not on a technical level, but on an emotional one. Translation is an act of reading. The deepest kind of reading. As a translator, I try to wring every bit of nuance out of a book, plumb the depths of every reference, and to do that I have to read the book repeatedly. And this one is bleak. Almost nihilistic. But at the same time, it is a deeply clever book, and compelling in its exploration of how people behave in the most extreme of situations.

The UK cover to The Ark by Haruo Yuki. It shows an underground passage with a ladder to the right side, rising water, and the title reading top to bottom.

I think this one will appeal particularly to hard-core mystery fans. It comes out February 12, 2026 from Pushkin Vintage Press.

And later that month comes the long awaited Strange Buildings by Uketsu. This is his third novel, and the follow-up to Strange Houses. It is an entirely new story, but once again features “The Author” and Kurihara looking into secrets hidden within floor plans. This time, the chilling mystery spreads across Japan and goes into some of the darkest places imaginable.

It really feels like a bit step up for Uketsu as an author. More ambitious, more confident, and more skillful. If you liked either of his other books, you will LOVE Strange Buildings. But do be warned: it includes frank discussion of the exploitation of women and children, and heartbreaking descriptions of child abuse.

The UK cover for Strange Buildings bu Uketsu.
A yellow background holds a crude house cutaway including many pictures of scary things, like a figure in a barred window, and a bloody knife.

Strange Buildings comes out February 26, 2026 from Pushkin Press in the UK and March 3, 2026 from HarperVia in the US.

And, of course, I have not been sitting idle in the meantime. I have two more translations underway, with another two in contract negotiations. Keep your eye on this blog for updates!