Jay Rubin

Last updated
Jay Rubin
Born1941 (age 8283)
Alma mater University of Chicago
Occupation(s)Translator, scholar

Jay Rubin (born 1941) is an American translator, writer, scholar and Japanologist. He is one of the main translators of the works of the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami into English. He has also written a guide to Japanese, Making Sense of Japanese (originally titled Gone Fishin'), and a biographical literary analysis of Murakami.

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Rubin was born in Washington, D.C., in 1941. [1] Rubin has a PhD in Japanese literature from the University of Chicago. He taught at the University of Washington for eighteen years, and then moved on to Harvard University, which he left in 2008. In his early research career he focused on the Meiji state censorship system. More recently Rubin has concentrated his efforts on Murakami and Noh drama. His publications include Modern Japanese Writers (Scribners, 2001) and Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words (Harvill, 2002; Vintage, 2005). His translation of 18 stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa appeared as a Penguin Classics in 2006. His debut novel, The Sun Gods, was released in May 2015 (Chin Music Press) and explores the relationship between a Japanese mother, Mitsuko, and her adopted, American son, Billy, as they face American internment during World War II.

Rubin also translated the "Thousand Years of Dreams" passages by Kiyoshi Shigematsu for use in the Japanese-produced Xbox 360 game Lost Odyssey . [2] In 2018, he edited The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories. [3]

Rubin's translation of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami won the 2003 Noma Award for the Translation of Japanese Literature [4] and was also awarded the Japan–U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature in 1999.

Translations

Published works

See also

Notes

  1. The title, "gone fishin'", is a subjectless sentence, which is a common construction in Japanese. The title was changed because purchasers were disappointed at the lack of coverage of fishing, finding this a misleading title for a book on Japanese grammar – see preface to retitled Making Sense of Japanese for discussion.

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References

  1. Kokusai Kōryū Kikin; Association for Asian Studies (1989). Directory of Japan Specialists and Japanese Studies Institutions in the United States and Canada. Japan Foundation. p. 371. ISBN   978-0-924304-02-6.
  2. "Harvard's Rubin on translating 360 epic Lost Odyssey into English". MCV/DEVELOP . 17 March 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  3. Rollmann, Rhea (November 15, 2018). "'The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories' Is a Perfect Balance of Classic and Modern". PopMatters . Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  4. Japan Info. Japan Informational Center, Consolate General of Japan. 2005. p. 6.