Govt To Promote Literature to Foreigners

[Mulboyne]

Kyodo via Japan Today: Gov't to translate 34 Japanese novels to other languages

TOKYO — The Cultural Affairs Agency has selected 34 modern Japanese novels to be translated into English, French and other languages to promote understanding of Japanese culture abroad, agency officials said Thursday. Among the 34 works are Atsushi Nakajima's "Sangetsuki," Yasushi Inoue's "Loulan," Kenji Miyazawa's poem collections and Naoya Shiga's "Anyakoro," known in English as "A Dark Night's Passing."

All of these have been translated at one time or another into English so presumably the emphasis is on non-English translation.

[torasan]

[dingosatemybaby]

Luckily, "A Japan That Can Say 'No'" by Tokyo Governer, Aum-connected politician, novelist, and all-around national treasure Shintaro Ishihara, is already available online. Read it and feel the warmth:

"I delivered a speech in Chicago entitled "Ten Minutes vs. Ten Years." I stated that we Japanese plan and develop our business strategies ten years ahead. When I asked an American money trader, "how far ahead do you plan...one week?" The reply was "no, no...ten minutes." He was moving money through a computer, targeting the fate of that transaction ten minutes later. So, as I told the Americans, we are focusing on business ten years in advance, while you seem to be concerned only with profits ten minutes from now. At that rate, you may well never be able to compete with us."

Heh.

http://home.earthlink.net/~rufusis/japanno/part02.html

[cstaylor]

Wait, I think there was miscommunication there... doesn't he mean, "we take ten years to plan anything?"