Japanese to English translator specializing in the arts and literature

Working languages:

Japanese to English
English (monolingual)

M.J. Lewis
Japanese arts/media/literary specialist

United Kingdom

Local time: 06:12 BST (GMT+1)

Native in: English (Variants: UK, US)

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Freelance translator and/or interpreter

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Translation, Editing/proofreading, Copywriting, Subtitling

Specializes in:
Poetry & Literature	Media / Multimedia
Anthropology	Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc.	Folklore
Linguistics	Music
Advertising / Public Relations	Internet, e-Commerce

Sample translations submitted: 4

Japanese to English: 詩はまっていてくれると - 水田宗子 (Poetry is waiting; Noriko Mizuta) General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: Poetry & Literature
Source text - Japanese 詩は待っていてくれると T・ S・エリオットは言った魂は待っていてくれるだろうか藪の中に潜んであるいは草原で寝転んでわたしが追いつくのをそれとも不意打ちをしてくれるだろうかどこかで待ち伏せをして辻斬りの腕でも試そうとわたしも待っているのだろうかこうして街を歩いていればあてどない放浪に似た通過するばかりの詩の中で偶然出会うのではないか向こうからこともなげに近づいてくる見知らぬ国を通り過ぎていけば突然背後から呼び止められる観光に訪れた太古の廃墟で地べたに座り込んでいるのではないかわたしは見つめ続けてきた爆発でできた宇宙がブラックホールに吸い込まれてやがてすっかり消えてしまうようにわたしが記憶していた日々が地の一点に吸い込まれていくのではとそれを見届けようとこの庭に舞い上がる木の葉や灰塵に預けられた魂のようなものが徐々に飛び散っていくのをどこまで追ってもその先まで行き着けない行く先定まらぬ旅路の物語をどこかで語る詩人が現れるのを詩はほんとうに待っていてくれるのだろうか	Translation - English Poetry is waiting for me; is the soul that T.S Eliot spoke of waiting for me, I wonder? Lurking in a thicket or laying in a meadow: For me to catch up with. Or, Will it ambush me? Lying in wait someplace, As if it might slit my throat to test its strength. Am I waiting too, I wonder? If I walk around town like this: Aimless, a drifter just passing the time, Will I meet it by chance? Closing in on me from the beyond. If I pass through a foreign country, Calling out to stop me suddenly from behind. In the ancient ruins visited by tourists, Will it be basking on the bare earth? Like the space that I watched intently, Born of an explosion, and sucked into a black hole before disappearing altogether, Will the days in my memory, too, be sucked into a single spot upon the earth? To see for myself: The leaves and ashes whirling in this garden, Entrusted with something like a soul, Fly away, Little by little. No matter how far I chase them I can never catch up. Like the story of a journey with destination indeterminate, Waits for a poet that materializes, someplace; Truly, poetry is waiting for me.
Japanese to English: Marketing materials for Tokyo Performing Arts Festival General field: Marketing Detailed field: Advertising / Public Relations
Source text - Japanese 額田大志（ぬかた・まさし） 1992年生まれ。作曲家、演出家。演劇カンパニー・ヌトミック、8人組バンド・東京塩麹主宰。「上演とは何か」という問いをベースに、音楽のバックグラウンドを用いた脚本と演出で、パフォーミングアーツの枠組みを拡張していく作品を発表している。俳優のみならずダンサー、ラッパー、映像作家などとのコラボレーションも積極的に行う。第16回AAF戯曲賞大賞、こまばアゴラ演出家コンクール2018最優秀演出家賞受賞。作曲家として、JR東海『そうだ京都、行こう。』を始めとする広告音楽や、市原佐都子『バッコスの信女-ホルスタインの雌』（あいちトリエンナーレ2019）などの舞台音楽も数多く手掛ける。	Translation - English Masashi Nukata (b. 1992) is a composer and director who heads the performing arts group Nuthmique as well as the eight-piece music group Tokyo Shiokouji. His stage work interrogates the very notion of performance, pushing the boundaries of performing arts with scripts and directorial techniques that draw on his musical background. He actively collaborates not only with actors, but with artists from diverse genres including dance, rap, and film. He has won top prizes at the 16th Aichi Arts Foundation Drama Award and the 2018 Komaba Agora Directors’ Concours. As a composer, he has provided music for advertising campaigns such as the Central Japan Railway Company’s “Let’s go to Kyoto,” and for numerous stage productions including Satoko Ichihara’s The Bacchae – Holstein Milk Cows (Aichi Triennale 2019).
Japanese to English: Extract from 'The Winter Cicada' General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: Poetry & Literature
Source text - Japanese 真っ冬だというのに、アブラゼミが飛んできた。雪のちらつくなかを、あの迷っているような不器用な飛び方で、あっちこっち方向転換したあげく、ふいにパッと網戸にとまった。え、そんな馬鹿な、と思うより先に、わたしはとてもうれしくなった。わたしはセミが好きだ。とてもとても好きなのだ。夏の訪れをしらせる、可愛い幼な子のようなニイニイゼミも、哀しいほどにエレガントなヒグラシも、すばしこくて陽気なタレ目のツクツクボウシも好きだけれど、やっぱり、暑い夏にサレに熱いアブラを注ぐような声のアブラゼミが一番すきなのだ。でも、やっぱり今は、そんな馬鹿な、だ。こんなに寒いのに。アンゴラのとつくりセーターを着て、暖房をつけていているというのにーーー「おいおい、君は何者なの？」わたしはガラス戸を開けて、夏からそのまんまの網戸に顔を近づけた。冷気が雪女の肌みたいにせまってくる。わたしの近目の目とセミの（多分）近目の目とがしばし見つめあう。やっぱりアブラゼミだ。きゅっとしまったお腹が白く粉を吹いたようなオスのアブラゼミ。いまにも大音声で鳴き始めそうなーーー。わたしは網戸を少し開け、セミと見つめあったまま、そろそろと右手をのばす。つかまえた！手のなかであばれるセミ。小さなモーターで動く扇風機みたいな羽根。その羽が傷まないようにそっとおさえる指にビクビク伝わってくる羽根の付け根の力。わたしは狂喜する。手のなかに、何かの目的をとらえたかのように充実する	Translation - English It was the middle of winter when, against all odds, I was visited by a large brown cicada. It fluttered through the falling snow clumsily, as though it had lost its way, and flitted hither and thither before finally coming to rest on my screen door. How dumb do you have to be? That’s what most people would think. But not me: I was elated. You see, I like cicadas. I really, really like them. The cute, childlike platypleura kaempferi whose distinctive song marks the arrival of summer; the sorrowful, elegant tanna japonensis; the bright, drooping eyes of the meimuma opalifera. I like them all, but these large brown ones, called ‘oil cicadas’ in Japanese, are probably my favourite. They get their name from their distinctive song, akin to the sound of boiling oil spattering into a pan on a hot summer day. Admittedly it was pretty dumb of the little guy. To be outside despite the freezing weather. Even I was cold, and I was wearing an angora wool sweater and had the heater on full blast. “Forgive my impertinence, but who might you be?” I opened the glass door, and drew my face up close to the screen that saw most of its use in the summertime. The icy air pressed against my skin like the embrace of a snow witch. My vision isn’t great, and his probably isn’t either, so I get right up close to meet his gaze for a moment. Definitely an oil cicada. A male, given that the underside of his thorax is speckled white as though dusted by a fine powder. It seems like he might burst into song at any moment. I crack open the screen door, and keeping my gaze locked on the cicada, gently reach out with my right head. Gotcha! A cicada fluttering wildly in my hand. Wings beating like a tiny battery-powered fan. Power emanating from the base of them as they tremble against my gently clenched fingers. I was giddy. It gave me a sense of accomplishment, like I’d managed to catch a hope or dream right in the palm of my hand.
Japanese to English: Marketing materials for Kyoto Experiment General field: Marketing Detailed field: Advertising / Public Relations
Source text - Japanese 3月に大型リニューアルオープンを迎えた京都市京セラ美術館、今秋にフェスティバルを実施したKYOTO GRAPHIE、京都市文化芸術活動緊急奨励金など、コロナ渦でありながらも京都市のアートの動向は止まることがない。今回、開幕をむかえるKYOTO EXPERIMENTのオープニングにあわせ、京都のアートに関わるキーパーソンを迎えて、都市における実験的アート表現の効能とはなにか？京都市のアートの取り組みが目指す未来像をたっぷりと語ってもらう。このたび待望の初来日を果たすことになった、カナダの振付家ダナ・ミッチェル。Showsでは無意識下の「性」という概念をうちやぶるソロダンスを上演する。ミッチェルは彫刻、映像表現、心理学などへも造詣が深く、独自のダンス言語をつくりだしたいま最もホットな振付家のひとりであることは間違いない。日本初のトーク（orワークショップ）という、貴重なこの機会をお見逃しなく。（申込詳細はウェブサイトをご覧ください。）	Translation - English In Kyoto, art never sleeps, even during the coronavirus crisis. March saw the re-opening of Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art following a major renovation, and this autumn marked the 8th edition of the Kyotographie International Photography Festival, as well the establishment of the Kyoto City Cultural Arts Activity Emergency Incentive Grant. Next on the cards is the opening of the highly anticipated Kyoto Experiment, and to mark this, figureheads in the Kyoto arts scene return to ask an important question:what are the benefits of experimental art events in Kyoto? This discussion will delve into the vision for the future of art in the city. Canadian choreographer Dana Michel makes her long-awaited first visit to Japan, performing a solo dance that deconstructs our unconscious assumptions about sexuality. Well-versed in fields such as sculpture, cinematography, and psychology, there’s no question that Michel’s characteristic choreographic voice make her one of the most promising artists in the field right now. Don’t miss out on this valuable opportunity to attend her first talk (or workshop) in Japan. (For booking information please see our website.)

Master's degree - University of Cambridge

Years of experience: 8. Registered at ProZ.com: Oct 2020.

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Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office Pro, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint

Bio

I'm Mj, a Japanese > English translator specializing in literature, media, and the arts. I hold a BA in Japanese from the University of Oxford, and am an MPhil candidate in Japanese Studies at the University of Cambridge.

I have experience translating a variety of Japanese texts, both classical and contemporary. My portfolio includes translations of classical Japanese like 'The Tale of Genji', as well as modern literature and poetry. In addition, I am comfortable working with promotional writing, as well as academic writing in a range of specialised subjects. This includes, but is not limited to, linguistics, anthropology, and politics.

I'm an avid reader of Japanese in all kinds of formats, so my levels of comprehension are high; this, combined with my expressive ability in English, means I'm able to produce natural and impactful translations.

Jobs of all sizes and scales welcome: please get in touch!

Keywords: japanese, localization, videogames, literature, poetry, scholarship

Profile last updated
Oct 30, 2020

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