Of special interest to translators

If you study/read/translate Chinese literature or Japanese literature, then you already know this name: Burton Watson. Dr. Watson, with a PhD in Chinese studies from Columbia University and numerous awards over a long career including several P.E.N. translation prizes, has finally published his one and only personal memoir. China At Last is available in English and Japanese from Seven Grasses Publishing House (Nana Kusa Shobo) in Japan.

China At Last gets its title from the fact that, although Dr. Watson studied and translated Chinese poetry for over 30 years, it wasn't until old age that cold war politics allowed him (a US citizen) to actually set foot in China. In his memoir, he writes about what he saw and how he felt about modern Chinese realities compared to what he knew from traditional literature. Of special interest to translators is the copy of his lecture on the art of translation included near the end of this memoir.

For more information, please follow the link to seven-grasses.com

Good news, making the world a little bit safer

Japan for first time backs U.N. nuke disarmament statement

KYODO



Oct 22, 2013


NEW YORK – Japan on Monday endorsed a U.N. statement on nuclear disarmament for the first time, joining more than 120 other countries in issuing a statement expressing deep concern about the “catastrophic consequences” of atomic weapons and opposing their use.

After declining to back similar statements three times in the past, the government decided to endorse a New Zealand-led initiative that drew a record 125 supporting countries, roughly two-thirds of the 193 member states of the United Nations.

Previously, Japan deemed similar statements as incompatible with its security policy due to its reliance on the nuclear deterrence provided by the United States.

New Zealand Ambassador Dell Higgie said “some changes” had been made to the text “at Japan’s request, which has facilitated their involvement.” Unlike last year’s, this year’s text did not mention the “outlawing” of nuclear arsenals. Higgie downplayed Tokyo’s previous opposition to the statements.

An Enviable Statistic

The average age of members of Japan's version of a veterans of foreign wars society is 92. They have decided to disband because, as one 92 year old put it, "There is no one to continue after us, thank goodness."

War is cruel. It kills, maims, and destroys. It swallows national treasuries whole. And worst of all, it leaves the human heart wallowing in the kind of filth that even animals do not know.

May every nation that has ever engaged in war do what Japan has done: make veterans associations obsolete because no new veterans are being made.