Comments on: Mistranslating Murakami

By: Reflections: Shibata Motoyuki on Japan’s Reception of Media « Department of Alchemy

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:09:00 +0000

[...] fifty English-language texts into Japanese. There’s a good (and humorous) article over at NeoJaponisme that discusses a panel he spoke on in 2006 about translation. Shibata is also known as an associate [...]

By: W. David MARX

W. David MARX — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:54:23 +0000

I dunno, looking out for the underdog, breaking up monopolies, protecting consumers, offering more rights to women. That kind of stuff. The problem with market capitalism in Japan until now is that it doesn’t allow the powerful companies to retain enough control for ever and ever. The whole myth that the “Japanese” system protects against income inequality does not really make much sense.

I would say the JCP’s platform is pretty standardly liberal but they are what, 5% of the electorate. LDP and DPJ are basically the same guy, different name badge.

We are getting off track on this post. Mostly my fault.

By: Ａｃｅｆａｃｅ

Ａｃｅｆａｃｅ — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:50:11 +0000

“Maybe I am unfair to think that post-Marxists must be “liberal.””

Define “liberal”.Marxy.
The way I see the recent elected American president,he is too militaristic and leaning too much to market capitalism…But then,this is all judged by the standard of “our” liberalism..

By: W. David MARX

W. David MARX — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:10:37 +0000

I’ve never heard moggy before and I like cats.

By: W. David MARX

W. David MARX — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:09:54 +0000

Structural Marxism terms and ideas abound, can’t argue that. Maybe I am unfair to think that post-Marxists must be “liberal.”

By: Ａｃｅｆａｃｅ

Ａｃｅｆａｃｅ — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:25:45 +0000

Richie is now tackling on “Keitai problem” from what I’ve learned from reading his “Japan Journal”.He was writing about passivity of the Japanese youth as being symbolized in looking into the cellular in Yamanote line will ultimately revive fascism in Japan….

“A lot of study also went into Marxism in the ’60s that totally evaporated: nobody seemed to have really come out with any new kind of meaningful liberal morality or new way of self-deconstructing Japanese society. ”

Wait a minuite.How about likes of recently deceased newscaster Chikushi Tetsuya and likes of his kinds in mass media?I bet he will be considered too left leaning had he been working for major newsnetwork in the U.S.
This is a country where even the high ranking bureaucrat of METI openly proclaim that the owner of the corporation isn’t stock owner…

By: xee

xee — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:57:51 +0000

Marxy, you seriously don’t say ‘Moggy’ in the US?

‘cacchinate’ is one of my favourite words, it sounds proper cackle-y.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:23:39 +0000

Donald Riche and others have gone on and on about the “manga problem

I’m sure oral storytellers said the same thing about those newfangled books when they first came out. Damn kids and their ink and paper… What’s the world comin’ to?

By: W. David MARX

W. David MARX — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 02:57:18 +0000

Donald Riche and others have gone on and on about the “manga problem”.

I would argue, on the other hand, that just because a super intellectual book like Asada Akira’s Structure and Power sells well in Japan, that also doesn’t mean that Japan is “intellectual.” College students bought it to buy it, not to digest it. A lot of study also went into Marxism in the ’60s that totally evaporated: nobody seemed to have really come out with any new kind of meaningful liberal morality or new way of self-deconstructing Japanese society. It’s just very hard to weigh countries’ “intellectualism” — apart from perhaps the strength of universities and number of PhDs, but even that…

By: W. David MARX

W. David MARX — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 02:54:37 +0000

I just read that version of I am a Cat and I was surprised to find about 15 English words I had no idea about. Okay, I am not British enough to know “moggy”, but “thanatology” or “rakehell” or “cacchinate”? It’s a weird translation pretty much throughout.