Display Interview

Conducted by Dan Wickett on 5/4/2005
The following is an interview with David Karashima, who translated Hitomi Kanehari’s Hebi ni Piasu into the English version, titled Snakes and Earrings.


Dan:

Hello David, thank you for both answering some questions, and also for translating the questions and responses for my interview with Hitomi.

David:

Thank you for your interest in Snakes and Earrings and also for your interest in the translation process.

Dan:

How did you become a translator?

David:

I first started translating Japanese short stories and excerpts from novels for fun when I was in university. But even before that, when I was in boarding school in the UK, my roommates would ask me to verbally translate my Japanese manga comic books to them, so I guess you can say I've been a "translator" for quite a long time.

Dan:

Is Japanese to English and vice versa the only combination of languages that you do translation between?

David:

Yes.

Dan:

Do you do any writing of your own material?

David:

I had (and suppose I still have) ambitions of becoming a novelist, but my first attempt at a novel just fizzled out, and I haven't written anything for about two years now.

Dan:

How well do you believe you need to know the author, and how he/she thinks, before you can translate their material to another language, and still be able to capture what they were trying to express in their native tongue?

David:

I think it definitely helps to know the author, his/her works, and his/her way of thinking, but I also think its possible to produce a good translation even if the only information you have is the original work, as long as you are a good reader.

Dan:

What was it about Hitomi Kanehara, or her work, that interested you in translating her material to English?

David:

I enjoyed the book and thought that it was something that foreign readers would appreciate. I don't think that the selection of Japanese works available in English translation reflects the wide range of titles that actually exists, although the situation has been changing gradually in recent years, and I thought that Hebi ni Piasu would be a refreshing addition.

Dan:

Are there other authors whose work you have translated, or are scheduled to do so in the future?

David:

I am working on Hitomi Kanehara's second novel, Ash Baby, and various other titles. There are a couple of authors in particular that I want to introduce to the English speaking world. I am in the middle of translating a collection of short stories and a novella, and am also in the process of looking for publishers. Probably shouldn't reveal the names of the authors just yet though.

Dan:

It seems to be a fact in the United States that many authors need to do more than write to earn a middle class living.  Is it the same in Japan?  And, do translators need to work on more than books to earn a living?

David:

I think it depends on what kind of books you write. There seem to be many writers that are rolling in money, while others are just getting by even though they are fairly well known. As for translators, I don't know anybody that makes a living purely off of translating books from Japanese to English. While there is pretty good money in J to E technical translation, I don't think there is much money in J to E book translation at the 
moment , and I think it's basically a labor of love for most people. Translating books into Japanese (from a foreign language) though, can be good money, as those translators usually get paid royalties for their work.

Dan:

I’ve read somewhere online that the original title Hebi ni Piasu, actually translates to Snakes and Piercings.  Is that really the case?

David:

The working title for my translation actually was "Snakes and Piercings", but somewhere along the way, we settled on "Snakes and Earrings". To be honest, I don't really know who made the final decision. I don't think its possible to incorporate all the different levels of meaning in the Japanese "Hebi ni Piasu" into an English Title, and I think given the limitations, Snakes and Earrings is a nice title - not to mention that it's the English 
title on the cover of the Japanese book.

Dan:

The narrator’s character is named Rui  in Hebi ni Piasu and Lui in Snakes and Earrings, while the other two main characters, Shiba and Ama do not see their names change.  Why is this?

David:

The explanation for this is more complicated than you might expect, and might be interesting to some people, but would probably bore most others. But here goes. I wouldn't say I changed Lui's name. As she puts it so elegantly herself, it's Lui for Louis Vuitton. As you probably know, Japanese doesn't use the English alphabet, so it all depends on how you decide to render her name using the alphabet. I suppose that if you 
strictly followed the Japanese romaji system you would use an "r" for the "l" sound 
in Lui (as in my name Karashima, which is actually pronounced "Kalashima"), but romaji definitely isn't English, and in this case I thought Lui was the better choice. If most English speakers saw "Rui" I think they would mispronounce the name.

Dan:

Snakes and Earrings is about 120 pages long.  How long did it take you to translate it?

David:

I didn't keep track, as I worked on it on and off, but I would say about a couple months of actual translating, revising, and editing. For me, the revising/editing takes just as long, if not longer, than preparing the first draft.

Dan:

Can you outline your translation process?  Do you read the entire book first?  Discuss it with the author?  Just start from word one?

David:

I always read the entire book before translating it. At the moment, I don't usually have the opportunity to talk with the author first, but I hope that will change as I build a stronger working relationship with the writers I work with. For the most part, I work in order from the first word to the last. Once I have a first draft of an English translation, I work with 
that for awhile; finding a voice, rewriting, revising, editing, getting suggestions from others, editing again etc. Once I have a fairly polished English draft, I go back and compare it with the Japanese original again. The draft then goes to the editors at the publisher(s) and we go back and forth several times. The editors I have had the chance to work with have been very helpful, for example, in pointing out things that might not 
be clear to a reader unfamiliar with Japan etc. I suppose if time wasn't an issue, I would keep going back and fixing things endlessly, but for better or for worse, I don't usually have the luxury to do that.

Dan:

Two questions specific to Snakes and Earrings:

A)	There are frequently words that are still Japanese (iyashikei, izakaya, and a few others).  Is this because they are not translatable?
B)	Lui gets a job offer and the pay is 30,000 yen.  Why in the English version of this book was the amount not translated to dollars?  Was it because it is still set in Japan?

David:

A)	Equivalents of some words don't exist in English and if I feel that a direct translation sounds clumsy I might opt to keep the original word. For example, an izakaya is a Japanese style bar/restaurant, but calling it a bar or pub would give the reader the wrong image. Most foreigners who have lived in a Japanese city for more than a couple of months would use the term "izakaya" just as they would "sushi" or "kimono" and other Japanese words that have already become part of the English language, which I think is 
a pretty good measure to go by. When I use a Japanese term I make sure that the readers can figure out what it means from the context. I think it would be great if in the next edition of the Merriam Webster Dictionary the entry after Ivy leaguer was izakaya!

B)      As you guessed, the amount of money is kept in yen because the story is set in Japan. I think it would be quite odd if she was offered dollars to do work in Japan. As a translator I try to make it a smooth ride for the reader, but I don't think most readers would appreciate it if I smoothed out all the bumps. I think most readers are curious and will take the time to find out how much 30,000 yen is in dollars if they don't already know.

Dan:

You are working on translating Ash Baby, Kanehara’s second novel, to English.  Is Ash Baby the English name?  Do you have any idea on a publishing timetable for this book?

David:

I began translating Ash Baby recently. I'm pretty certain the title for the English translation will also be "Ash Baby," but I'm afraid I have no idea when it will come out.

Dan:

If you were a character in “Fahrenheit 451,” what work(s) would you memorize for posterity?  Would you memorize them in Japanese or English?

David:

Number Nine Dream by David Mitchell in English.

Dan:

Thanks again David, for this fascinating insight into the world of translation.

David:

And thank you so much for your interest in Snakes and Earrings as well as the translation process.