Applications for this opportunity have now closed. Please see our current residency opportunities here.

Are you an early career Japanese to English translator based in Japan? The Yanai Initiative and NCW seek aspiring Japanese to English translators to apply for a three-day workshop at Waseda University in Tokyo from Tuesday 21 to Thursday 23 March 2023.

About the workshop

Over the three days, you will work with experienced literary translator Ginny Tapley Takemori to produce a shared translation of a short text by acclaimed author Sayaka Murata, discussing options and challenges as you go along. Sayaka Murata will join the workshop to talk about the text and answer your questions. This style of workshop, inspired by the British Centre for Literary Translation annual summer school, is a creative, collaborative exercise, providing a nurturing environment for literary translators to work together on their craft.

The workshop will take place in the Waseda International House of Literature (The Haruki Murakami Library) at Waseda University. You will also have the opportunity to attend a translation symposium at Waseda University on Wednesday 22 March.

The workshop is generously supported by the Tadashi Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities at UCLA and Waseda University and is run in collaboration with the National Centre for Writing.

How to apply

If you would like to take part, please send a CV including your translation experience, and a covering letter explaining why you wish to take part in the workshop, how you would benefit from participating and what you would contribute to the workshop.

Please send your application to [email protected] with the subject title ‘Tokyo workshop’.

Successful applicants from outside Tokyo will be offered a contribution towards their travel as well as three nights’ accommodation in Tokyo. Please note that this workshop is for translators based in Japan.

The deadline for applications is Sunday 12 February.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected].

The tutors

Sayaka Murata

A bestselling global phenomenon, Sayaka Murata has won many of Japan’s major literary prizes and has been named Vogue Woman of the Year and a Freeman’s ‘Future of New Writing’ author, among other accolades. Her Akutagawa Prize-winning novel Convenience Store Woman has been translated into over thirty languages and has sold over two million copies worldwide, and was followed by Earthlings and Life Ceremony. Her short stories and essays have been published in Freeman’s, Granta, The New York Times, Literary Hub, and Astra.

Ginny Tapley Takemori

Ginny Tapley Takemori has translated numerous Japanese authors into English, including Ryu Murakami, Miyabe Miyuki and Kyoko Nakajima.  She has translated all of Sayaka Murata’s work in English to date, and won the Lindsley and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize for Convenience Store Woman.