In the beginning was the #translation , and the translation was divine. The career of the legendary Japanologist, #Donald #Keen e began in his youth when he found a cheap copy of “The Tale of Genji” (源氏物語) by Murasaki Shikibu, translated into English. The translation was “magical” as he later described in his memoir.
 
After many decades of dedicated study and a long period living in Japan, where he enjoyed close friendships with renowned novelists and writers of the time (Junichiro Tanizaki, Yukio Mishima, Yasunari Kawabata and Kenji Oe, just to name a few), he masterfully translated a great variety of #Japanese #literature into English. He was and still is the most prominent #interpreter of Japan’s literary wealth to the world.
 
When the country faced the unprecedented disaster of the great Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011, he took on Japanese nationality, saying:
 
“I was greatly impressed by the calm maintained by the Japanese people after the earthquake and following disasters. I love the Japanese people. I want to die a Japanese citizen.”
 
When he were still alive today, he would be 100. One this day four years ago, he passed away at the age of 96 – as a Japanese citizen adored by the nation he loved so much.
 
#tributes #TransaltionServiceArai #translator #Japanese #English #German