Eugene completed a number of translations, most notably translations of the Twelve Kingdoms novels. He understood that a translation was itself an art--not something that can be left to a machine. A translation needs to capture the tone and pacing of an original--as well as its allusions, even jokes!

In the past few years, he completed translations of Ranpo Edogawa's Boy Detectives Club books.

The first translation he made, The Space Alien, is now available.  

   

INTRODUCTION

The year is 1953. The Korean War is winding down. The Cold War is heating up. In 1952, the United States tested the first hydrogen bomb. In 1954, Godzilla will stomp onto the world stage. UFOs are appearing all over the world. And in Ranpo Edogawa’s latest young adult novel, five flying saucers zoom across the skies of Tokyo.

A day after that alarming incident, a woodsman stumbles out of the forest to report the landing of an alien spacecraft in the mountains southwest of Tokyo. A month later, Ichiro Hirano’s neighbor goes missing. He then reappears as abruptly as he vanished, claiming he was kidnapped by a mysterious winged lizard creature—

The same lizard creature that is now stalking the pretty and talented sister of Ichiro’s best friend. What in the world is going on? What do the aliens want? These are the kind of questions that only master sleuth Kogoro Akechi and the Boy Detectives Club can hope to answer.

*** 

Ranpo Edogawa is the pen name (a pun on Edgar Allan Poe) of Taro Hirai (1894–1965). He is best remembered for the Kogoro Akechi and Boy Detectives Club novels, published between 1925 and 1962. The two series regularly cross paths, the Boy Detectives acting as a kind of Baker Street Irregulars in the former and Kogoro Akechi featured as the go-to adult in the latter.

The Boy Detectives Club stories are reminiscent of the Hardy Boys books and the Scooby-Doo television series. First serialized in the young adult “pulps,” these early versions of the “light novel” are highly readable, with an emphasis on action, vivid passages, and clever but not overcomplicated plots.

The Space Alien is also part of the Fiend with Twenty Faces series, the Fiend being a master of disguise and Detective Akechi’s nemesis. Though comparisons to Moriarty spring to mind, the Fiend is more a high-minded Thomas Crown, committing elaborate crimes for the intellectual challenge and the thrill of the chase.

The relationship between Detective Akechi and the Fiend, one based on a grudging mutual respect, is thus probably closer to that between Inspector Zenigata and Arsène Lupin III, making these stories less whodunits than howdunits or whydunits.

Edogawa was an admirer of Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, and French mystery writer Maurice Leblanc (Arsène Lupin was his creation), and integrated themes and characters from their stories into his own novels.

Edogawa’s lifelong efforts as a writer and promoter of the western detective novel in Japan were well-rewarded. Police procedurals and “cozy” mystery fiction are staples of Japanese scripted television and populate the best-seller lists. The genre is hugely popular in manga and anime.

In Gosho Aoyama’s long-running Case Closed series (over 900 episodes to date), the boy detective sports the nom de plume of Conan Edogawa. Two homages in one!

*** 

The Space Alien takes place in the year following the end of the Occupation (1945–1952), at a time when Japan was struggling to find a firm footing in a brand-new world.

During the Korean War, the American military relied heavily on Japanese suppliers for logistical procurement. In a great historical irony, Japan was destroyed by one war and revitalized by the one that followed it. Though the heady growth of the 1960s was a decade away, the economy would begin to markedly improve in 1954.

Yet rice paddies could still be found throughout Setagaya Ward, inside the Yamanote loop line that defines Tokyo proper. They wouldn’t last for long. Japan was starting over from scratch. Everything was up for grabs—except those principles of truth and justice that will always remain the same for every sentient soul in the universe.

Because even aliens from outer space have to obey the law. Detective Kogoro Akechi and the Boy Detectives Club will see to that!

***

Following in the style of traditional Rakugo storytellers, Edogawa occasionally breaks the fourth wall to muse aloud about the unfolding events in the story. I try to reflect such rhetorical quirks in my translation.

 

Labels: edogawa, translations

Seven Seas Entertainment has licensed the Twelve Kingdoms novels by Fuyumi Ono. (Just for the record, I am not involved in any way.) Shadow of the Moon, Shadow of the Sea (part 1) will be released in July 2025 in paperback format. The ebooks will also be made available on digital platforms. (Fuyumi Ono has resisted releasing the novels in electronic format. The Japanese editions are still not available from BookWalker or the Kindle store.)

TokyoPop published the English translations back in 2007. The license was not renewed and the books have gone out of print. When it comes to localizing manga and light novels, Seven Seas has a much bigger presence in the market. It makes sense that they would be handed the baton this time around.

Let's hope they make the most of the opportunity. Though it's not encouraging that only part 1 of Shadow of the Moon is being released first, rather than an omnibus edition. At that pace, publishing the entire series could take a long time.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, business, publishing, shadow, translations

I've posted the ebook files for book 4 of Hills of Silver Ruins. The Notes link on the Index page lists the relevant blog posts along with the illustrations.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, ebooks, fantasy, japanese, translations

I've posted the ebook files for book 2 of Hills of Silver Ruins. The Notes link on the Index page lists the relevant blog posts along with the illustrations.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, ebooks, fantasy, japanese, translations

A reader wondered why chapter 7 of book 4 in Hills of Silver Ruins [19-7] ends on page 59 but chapter 8 [20-1] begins on page 62. The reason is that the titles for section breaks are placed on the recto, rather than the next page, in this case leaving page 60 blank.

In publishing terms, recto is the front of a leaf (or page) and verso is the back. By tradition, page 1 starts on the recto, the right-hand page in left-to-right languages (such as English). Recto and verso are reversed in right-to-left (vertically typeset) Japanese books, so odd-numbered pages are on the left.

Because the typesetter started each section in Hills of Silver Ruins on the recto, these numbering gaps are scattered throughout the books. Here is the spread for part 20. As you can see, the recto is on the left. The page on the right (the verso of page 59) is blank (click image to magnify).


Typical print book layout also begins front and end material on the recto. But not necessarily chapter headings. A chapter usually gets a new page that is either the next page (recto or verso) or always recto (if saving paper isn't an issue).

In Hills of Silver Ruins, though, chapter headings do not get a new page, only white space. Another clever design decision was to use kanji numbers for the section headings but not the chapter headings. Japanese typography offers these options to book designers and greatly simplifies several other variables.

Characters in a given font and size occupy a box the same width and height, including punctuation. There is no spacing between characters (except in children's books). Imagine typing in a non-proportional font and having the line wrap at the right-hand margin regardless of where the cursor is in a word.

As a result, Japanese typesetters don't have to worry about justification, hyphenation, or widows and orphans (unless the result is quite ungainly, such as a single character on an otherwise blank page).

The one exception is punctuation. An end punctuation mark should not be separated from the preceeding text if it falls at the beginning of a line or the top of a column of text. To prevent this from happening, it is acceptable to kern a punctuation mark or push it into space reserved for the bottom or right margin.

In the example below, you can see the chapter number demarcated only with white space, and a comma and period pushed into the bottom margin. Even rudimentary Japanese word processing software has this capability (click image to magnify).


In vertical text, the comma, period, and close quotation mark (、。」) are located at the top (or left) of the aforementioned box while an open quotation mark (「) is at the bottom (or right). Thus the trailing space is built into the punctuation. Quotation marks rotate 90 degrees when printed vertically.

A paragraph indent is one box wide, the same width (or height) as hitting the spacebar once.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, japanese, publishing, translations

The ebook files are available at the links below. The doc files can be viewed and downloaded at Google Docs in a variety of formats. All publication rights remain with the copyright holders.

When downloading a file, Google Drive will default to preview mode. To skip this step, click the download icon at the top right on the Google Drive page.

Poseidon of the East		index   epub   mobi   doc   10/23
The Wings of Dreams		index   epub   mobi   doc
Shadow of the Moon		index   epub   mobi   doc   04/23
A Thousand Leagues of Wind		index   epub   mobi   doc
The Shore in Twilight		index   epub   mobi   doc
Hills of Silver Ruins	I–IV	index   epub   mobi   doc   06/23
	I	index   epub   mobi   doc   05/23
	II	index   epub   mobi   doc   06/23
	III	index   epub   mobi   doc   06/23
	IV	index   epub   mobi   doc   06/23
Dreaming of Paradise		index   epub   mobi   doc   07/23
Hisho's Birds		index   epub   mobi   doc   07/23

Chapters are numbered sequentially for file management purposes. The [part + chapter] style used in the books is displayed at the beginning of each chapter.

Translations of Masho no Ko ("The Demon Child") and Kaze no Umi, Meikyu no Kishi ("A Sea of Wind, Shores of the Labyrinth") are available at the Worlds in Translation website.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, ebooks, fantasy, japanese, translations

Maps
Notes
Glossary
Downloads
More about the title
More about the covers

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, ebooks, fantasy, japanese, translations

Chapter 01 Chapter 02 Chapter 03 • Chapter 04 Chapter 05 Chapter 06 Chapter 07 Chapter 08 Chapter 09 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 • Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 •

Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 • Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 •

Maps
Notes
Glossary
Downloads
More about the title
More about the covers

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, ebooks, fantasy, japanese, translations

Since the founding of the Meiji era in 1868, a single era name (nengou) has been assigned to the reign of each emperor. This was not always the case. As Donald Keene explains in Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World,

Until the adoption of Meiji as the name for Mutsuhito's entire reign, the nengou was traditionally changed several times during the reign of a single emperor—at two fixed points in the cycle of sixty years, or when a series of natural disasters were attributed to an inauspicious nengou, or when some prodigy of nature required recognition in the calendar.

The kanji for the era name of Gyousou's new and improved dynasty are bright (明) and banner (幟).

I comment a bit more about the conclusion of the series as part of my latest discussion with Kate (click on the INTERVIEW WITH A TRANSLATOR label for more installments).

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations

"Fields of Gold" by Sting popped into my head while I was translating this chapter (and got stuck there).

You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we walk in fields of gold

So she took her love
For to gaze a while
Upon the fields of barley
In his arms she fell as her hair came down
Among the fields of gold

Will you stay with me?
Will you be my love?
Upon the fields of barley
We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we lie in fields of gold

See the west wind move like a lover so
Upon the fields of barley
Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth
Among the fields of gold

I never made promises lightly
And there have been some that I've broken
But I swear in the days still left
We'll walk in fields of gold
We'll walk in fields of gold

Many years have passed since those summer days
Among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down
Among the fields of gold

You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations

I've posted chapter 39 (book 4) of Hills of Silver Ruins, a Pitch Black Moon.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations

I couldn't resist the Hamlet reference. From Act 1, Scene 4: "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

Kaei was the last person to see Risai before she departed for Kei in chapter 6 of The Shore in Twilight.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations

The ebook files for the titles discussed below are available at the downloads page. All publication rights remain with the copyright holders.

The Twelve Kingdoms novels have been licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment. Bookstore links will appear when they are published.

For additional commentary about the Twelve Kingdoms and the translation process, see Kate's Interview with a Translator series.

Youko/Keiki
1. Tsuki no Kage, Kage no Umi. My translation: Shadow of the Moon, a Sea of Shadows.

2. Kaze no Banri, Reimei no Sora. My translation: A Thousand Leagues of Wind, the Sky at Dawn.

Youko, Suzu, and Shoukei join forces to defeat corrupt government leaders in Wa Province.

3. Tasogare no Kishi, Akatsuki no Sora. My translation: The Shore in Twilight, the Sky at Daybreak.

Risai escapes to Kei and asks Youko for help rescuing Taiki. Taiki and Youko are contemporaries.

Gyousou/Taiki

Fuyumi Ono wrote The Demon Child before she started the Twelve Kingdoms series. See link below. She covers some of this material in The Shore in Twilight, The Sky at Daybreak. In Kaze no Umi, Meikyu no Kishi ("A Sea of Wind, Shores of the Labyrinth"), Taiki choose Gyousou as Emperor of Tai. See links below. 

1. Tasogare no Kishi, Akatsuki no Sora. My translation: The Shore in Twilight, the Sky at Daybreak.

Risai escapes to Kei and asks Youko for help rescuing Taiki. Taiki and Youko are contemporaries.

2. Shirogane no Oka, Kuro no Tsuki. My translation: Hills of Silver Ruins, a Pitch Black Moon (book I  II  III  IV). 

Risai and Taiki return to Tai. They recruit a small band of allies to search for Gyousou and take back the kingdom.

Shouryuu/Enki
Higashi no Watatsumi, Nishi no Sokai. My translation: Poseidon of the East, Vast Blue Seas of the West.

Shushou/Kyouki

Tonan no Tsubasa. My translation: The Wings of Dreams. 

Kyouki chooses Shushou as Empress of Kyou. (Shoukei encounters Shushou in A Thousand Leagues of Wind.)

Short Story Collections
Kasho no Yume. My translation: Dreaming of Paradise.

• (冬栄) "Winter Splendor" (Touei): takes place in Tai and Ren during The Shore in Twilight, the Sky at Daybreak.
• (乗月) "Jougetsu": takes place in Hou after A Thousand Leagues of Wind, the Sky at Dawn.
• (書簡) "Pen-Pals" (Shokan): takes place in Kei and En after Shadow of the Moon, a Sea of Shadows.
• (華胥) "Dreaming of Paradise" (Kasho): takes place in Sai sometime before A Thousand Leagues of Wind, the Sky at Dawn.
• (帰山) "Kizan": takes place in Ryuu and Sou after A Thousand Leagues of Wind, the Sky at Dawn.

Hisho no Tori. My translation: Hisho's Birds.

• (丕緒の鳥) "Hisho's Birds" (Hisho no Tori): takes place before and shortly after the coronation of Youko as Empress of Kei.
• (落照の獄) "Prison of Dusk" Rakushou no Goku: references to Ryuu and Emperor Chuutatsu suggest the beginning of Youko's reign.
• (青条の蘭) "Blue Orchid" (Seijou no Ran): takes place in En before Rokuta chooses Shouryuu as the next Emperor.
• (風信) "Weather Vane" (Fuushin): takes place during the last days of Empress Yo of Kei, and then following her death. 

 Non-Woodbury Translations
  Translations of Masho no Ko ("The Demon Child") and Kaze no Umi, Meikyu no Kishi ("A Sea of Wind, Shores of the Labyrinth") are available at the Worlds in Translation website.  The TokyoPop translation of Tsuki no Kage, Kage no Umi is available here: The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow. 
The TokyoPop translation of Kaze no Banri, Reimei no Sora is available here: The Twelve Kingdoms: The Skies of Dawn. The TokyoPop translation of Kaze no Umi, Meikyu no Kishi ("A Sea of Wind, Shores of the Labyrinth") is available here: The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Wind.   The TokyoPop translation of Higashi no Watatsumi, Nishi no Sokai is available here: The Vast Spread of the Seas.  Resources & Other Notes
I've created my own abridged glossary. An overview of the Twelve Kingdoms universe can be found at Wikipedia (English Japanese). The Twelve Kingdoms Wiki has scans of the illustrations and additional artwork.

My go-to resource while translating the novels has been Yoshie Omura's Twelve Kingdoms Room (Japanese). Also see the Twelve Kingdoms Database (Japanese).

Fuyumi Ono borrows much of the political terminology from medieval China. Harvard University's "Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China" (PDF) provides useful clues about the English equivalents.

However, we are talking about a fantasy series, so historical translations are not always exact. The organizational charts at Twelve Kingdoms Memo (Japanese) have proved quite helpful.

The NHK anime can be streamed at Tubi and Crunchyroll (regional restrictions may apply). The Blu-ray edition is available from Discotek Media.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, books, crunchyroll, fantasy, japanese, kate, publishing, translations, tubi

The description of Sokou at the beginning of the chapter conjures up the image of an other-worldly Venice of the North.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations

In this chapter we learn that the army encircling Kouka at the end of chapter 27 in Book 4 was commanded by Eishou.

The technical name for the color referred to here is orpiment (雌黄), a "deep-colored, orange-yellow arsenic sulfide mineral."

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations

I borrowed a line from "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred Lord Tennyson, his 1854 poem about the disastrous British cavalry charge against a heavily defended Russian artillery battery during the Battle of Balaklava.

Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Kirin are susceptible to two potentially lethal diseases. The shitsudou (失道) is caused by imperial wrongdoing, especially involving violations of the Divine Decrees. The esui (穢瘁) results from the kirin's own actions, often from being exposed to blood in the environment or his diet.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations

The Hall of Supreme Harmony was once called Fengtian Hall (奉天殿). To avoid confusion, I'm only using the former name.

During the Han Dynasty, the Huben (虎賁) was an elite imperial guard unit. The name means "Rapid as Tigers."

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations

In Greek architecture, the multilevel platform that forms a building's foundation is called a crepidoma. The uppermost level is the stylobate (基壇).

The Sumeru Throne (須弥座) is an architectural feature of Chinese pagodas. The elevated base or first story is designed so that the pagoda appears to be rising out of a lotus flower, with petals circling its circumference. The Sumeru Throne itself is a symbolic representation of Mount Meru, the center of all of the physical, metaphysical, and spiritual universes.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations

The Enchou (燕朝) encompasses the personal residences of the Inner Palace and the Imperial Court of the Outer Palace. It is above the Sea of Clouds and has direct access to the Forbidden Gate.

Although the furigana in this instance read simply as "clock," the kanji (漏刻) refer specifically to a water clock or clepsydra. Sophisticated water clocks were invented in China as early as 600 BC.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations

I've posted chapter 31 (book 4) of Hills of Silver Ruins, a Pitch Black Moon.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations