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Each year, thousands of the best North American and European books are translated from English to Japanese. However, very few Japanese books are translated into English, despite the fact that Japan is the second largest economy in the world and the home to countless writers of immense talent. The problem is not a lack of good Japanese books—the problem is that Japanese publishing companies often have trouble finding skilled translators and people who can market their books overseas.
J-SPOT, the Japan Society of Publication Oriented Translators, is trying to remedy that. Founded in December 2004, J-SPOT is a group of professional translators interested in bringing Japanese books to Western audiences. Members select books that they think will appeal to Western readers, read through them, and produce summaries that the companies can use in marketing activities. The organization’s founder, David Thayne, is a well-known translator who has been in the business for nearly 20 years and owns his own editing and production company. His extensive connections in the publishing industry have allowed him to make arrangements with several major publishing houses, including Nikkei, Diamond, and PHP, to produce summaries of books that will be marketed overseas.
When Western publishing companies want someone to translate a book from Japanese to English, they often ask university professors, and for some types of books, particularly works of classical literature, there is no substitute for the deep subject knowledge that academics possess. The members of J-SPOT believe, however, that the overwhelming majority of books can be translated by commercial translators, who have to be quick and accurate to be successful. With skills acquired in long hours spent translating, they are often able to produce texts more quickly than academics can and are able to translate works in a wide variety of fields.
There is a real shortage of native English speakers in Japan who are capable of reading Japanese and translating it into English (the number is probably in the hundreds rather than the thousands), and J-SPOT members believe that forming an organization to promote themselves will lead to a lucrative, rewarding line of work that will encourage cultural exchange between Japan and the West.
One of the most interesting aspects of J-SPOT is that the members don’t focus only on the usual geisha and samurai stories or origami and kimono books. J-SPOT is hoping to bring the world interesting books that would not necessarily be identified as Japanese if the cover was missing. A typical meeting begins with David Thayne pouring a box of books out onto a table and members poring over them in search of something interesting to work on that month. A typical selection includes everything from biographies of world-famous business leaders to self-help books on attaining instant enlightenment and from coffee table books to manuals on pet care. The range of choices can be overwhelming, but it’s never hard to find something interesting.
Translators then take their books home, read them, and
write a summary to be submitted to the publisher. Although members are not
currently being compensated for summaries, J-SPOT is lobbying to have them paid
for their work, and if a translator’s book is chosen he or she will generally be
asked to do the translation.
The J-SPOT system
Rights
When a J-SPOT member finds a book that he or
she thinks will sell well if translated into English, the next step is to
contact the publisher and verify that the rights are available and the author is
open to this possibility. The translator also asks the publisher to provide a
copy of the book.
The translator writes an English synopsis, and then J-SPOT sends copies to the publisher, agents, overseas publishers and anyone else who might help to get the book published.
If an overseas publisher wants to buy the rights and
have the book translated into English, J-SPOT encourages the publisher to use
the translator who wrote the synopsis and to pay that translator the standard
fees.
Payment
When books are translated from English to
Japanese, there is an established system that clearly stipulates how much each
party receives. However, no such system currently exists for books
translated from Japanese to English. One of the roles of J-SPOT is to help
established payment standards for Japanese-to-English book translation. The
standards for payment that they promote are as follows:
Case 1:
0 cents per word + 3% royalties
Case 2: 10
cents per word + 2% royalties
Case 3: 15 cents per word + 1%
royalties
Case 4: 20 cents per word + 0% royalties
J-SPOT
provides advice, but the translator and the publisher work out their own
arrangements.
Synopses
Unfortunately, not all synopses get
published. In fact, it’s something of a numbers game. If you make several
synopses, then the chances go up, and of course it depends on the book you
choose. If you find a book that really moves you, then it's likely to move
the editor who looks at your synopsis.
The synopsis is basically an advertisement to overseas publishers. It needs to include a basic explanation of the book, but it also needs to let the potential publisher of the book know why the translator thinks that the book is so wonderful. Longer is not necessarily better. It usually takes publishers only a few seconds to decide if they are interested or not. If they are interested, then there's a good chance that they will ask for a one-chapter sample translation . J-SPOT has a suggested format for synopses , but there are no set standards.
The synopsis not only lets potential publishers know
what the book is about but also shows the publisher what the finished
translation will look like. The publisher may like the book but not the
style of the translator and will therefore ask someone else to do the
translation. One hopes that such cases will be rare, but translators need to be
aware that their writing skills are being tested.
Payment for synopses
Some Japanese publishers pay
to for synopses of books that they are possibly interested in having translated
into Japanese, so payment is not out of the question. The way the J-SPOT system
currently works is that translators choose which books they want to summarize,
and publishers are unlikely to pay for synopses unless they order them. J-SPOT
hopes that as it becomes better known, publishers will start approaching them to
do synopses and that their members will be compensated for their
work.
Synopsis
Promotion
J-SPOT has some connections with
publishers in America and England, and with some agents. However, a Japanese
publisher can probably do more than anyone else to get overseas publishers
interested. If you give a publishing company one synopsis for one of their
books, it is not likely that they will take the time to promote just that one
book. But if you give them several, then the chances increase that they will
take the time and make the effort to use their connections with agents and
overseas publishers to get someone interested.
Getting Involved
J-SPOT is basically a
volunteer organization, and at this point, there are no membership or any other
fees. J-SPOT does have monthly meetings, and most everything takes place during
those meetings, so you should try to attend. For information about
meetings, please contact David Thayne at: thayne@bookdesigncenter.org