Translators’ Roundtable Series “More than Worth Sharing”

Hitori biyori by Aoyama Nanae

Aoyama Nanae was born in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, in 1983. Her debut novel Mado no akari [The Light of Windows] (Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2005) won the Bungei Prize. Her 2007 novel Hitori biyori [A Perfect Day to Be Alone] (Kawade Shobo Shinsha) was awarded the 136th Akutagawa Prize, and her 2009 story Kakera [Fragments] (Shinchosha) received the 35th Kawabata Literary Prize. Other works include Watashi no ie [My House] (Shueisha, 2019) and Migawari [Surrogate] (Gentosha, 2020). Aoyama has been a lecturer in the Department of Creative Writing at Tokai University’s School of Cultural and Social Studies since 2019.

After graduating from Ajou University’s Department of Korean Language and Literature, Lee Young-mi received a master’s degree from Waseda University’s Graduate School of Letters, Arts and Sciences. In 2009 she was awarded the 2nd Japan Foundation Poranavi Award for Literary Work/Translation. Her major translations include Yoshida Shuichi’s Tokyo wan kei [Tokyo Bayscape] (2004), Villain (2008), and Ikari [Anger] (2015); Okuda Hideo’s Kūchū buranko [Flying Trapeze] (2005) and Chōchō senkyo [Mayoral Election] (2007), all published by EunHaeng NaMu; Imamichi Tomonobu’s Dante “ Divine Comedy” lecture (Antiquus, 2008); Abe Kobo’s The Ruined Map (Munhakdongne, 2013); Murakami Haruki’s Zatsubun shū [Collected Essays] (Biche, 2011); and Hirano Keiichiro’s Kekkai [Dam Break] (Munhakdongne, 2013) and Dawn (Munhakdongne, 2015).

Zhu Jiarong is an associate professor at an institution of higher education in China, where she lectures and advises students working on master’s degrees in Japanese language and literature. Her main areas of expertise are modern Japanese literature and literary translation. While lecturing on these subjects, she has introduced Japanese literary works to China for many years, translating more than 100 works by dozens of Japanese writers into simplified Chinese. These translations include ten works by Aoyama Nanae.

Katja Cassing (pen name Katja Busson) was born in Germany in 1970. She pursued Japanese studies and English language and literature at Trier University and Waseda University. Since receiving a PhD in Japanese studies from Trier University, she has devoted herself for many years to compiling a Japanese-German dictionary. She has translated numerous works into German, including titles by Higashino Keigo, Fujiwara Iori, Tanizaki Jun’ichiro, Kurumatani Chokitsu, Machida Ko, Miyashita Natsu, Aoyama Nanae, and Kawakami Mieko.

Mirna Potkovac-Endrighetti was born in Zagreb, Croatia, in 1953 and graduated from the Academy of Music, Zagreb, majoring in violin. She began studying Japanese on her own at the age of 17. After working for the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, she came to Japan and was accepted at the Osaka University of Foreign Studies. She received a master’s degree in Japanese Studies from the university’s graduate school in 1980. Since returning to Croatia, she has been living in Rijeka, where she was a permanent member of the Rijeka Symphony Orchestra at the National Theatre Ivan Zajc until retirement. She has many years of experience as a translator, with her most significant translations being Shimazaki Toson’s The Broken Commandment (Liber, 1987), Natsume Soseki’s Kusamakura (Mathias Flacius, 2012), Oe Kenzaburo’s A Personal Matter (Mathias Flacius, 2005), and poet Otomo Tabito’s Thirteen Verses in Praise of Sake (Književna Rijeka). She has also translated works by Sakaguchi Ango, Miyazawa Kenji, Ogawa Yoko, Enchi Fumiko, Yoshimoto Banana, and Haitani Kenjiro, among others, into Croatian.