Will you post the illustrations from the novels?

I’ve made the decision to post only a small selection of the illustrations from the novels that I translate. Please enjoy the rest of the illustrations by supporting the authors and buying a copy of the books!

What is your Japanese proficiency level?

I would estimate it to be the equivalent of JLPT Level N2.

What is your translation approach?

I assume that the reader is familiar with Japanese honorifics and name order conventions.

I try to balance my translations for flow in English, accuracy of meaning, and tone of the scene or book. It is important to me to preserve as much of the cultural flavor of the book without sacrificing readability of the story. But at the same time, I try to ensure that the story can be read without requiring the reader to read any of the footnotes. This means that I shy away from highly literal translations. If it is nighttime and a character sees a colleague for the first time that day and says “Ohayou gozaimasu,” I will not translate it as “Good morning.”

There are a lot of different factors that I weigh when I choose the wording of the translation, and my priority to to make sure that a particular sentence fits within the scene and the novel as a whole when read in English.