Next Friday evening opens up Golden Week (in Japan) and more

I hope you enjoyed Episode 8-2 last week! To investigate I’m not just imagining that you did, I’ve decided to take a poll.

 

Did you notice any difference in writing too? Originally I thought Bakin’s pseudo-classical approach was the one to go for, but in the last post I aimed for plain English. Did it work though?

 

You’ll see this post at the top for a bit, except for when there’s a new episode, so feel free to give me your input any time.

Episode 8-3 coming up next weekend, when 10-day-long bank holiday starts in Japan.

 

See you soon,

Livingdaylightz

The beginning of a new chapter

The draft for the next post is now going through a process of rewriting. As you’ll see soon, it’ll offer some improvements.

First, the writing style is different. Previously I tried to stick with the pseudo-classical one chosen by Bakin, the original author. However, the next post prioritizes his spirit rather than his superficial style. That, I’ suspect, is the secret to his success. It’s the spirit of quality entertainment.

This idea prompted me to be more flexible in other areas too.

Promising Translators contest 2018: Aaaaaannnd the winner is…!

I admit. I’ve been totally defeated. I could not translate enough to upload for the month of June. On my Facebook page I said give me a week. A week passed and there was still no update. Then two weeks. Nothing. Let’s not make any excuses but only assure you that I am as passionate about this project, thinking almost around the clock, every single day, about the adventures the brave princess and eight dog warriors embark on.  I feel very lucky to be working on all the projects I’m currently working on, treasuring  each one as dearly as any other (Well I did work very hard to get them! (≧∇≦)), but the Legend of the Eight Samurai Hounds certainly occupies a special place in my heart.

And now for something completely different.

Turning Japanese Revised – Kirsten Dunst

 

I pasted a music video of ‘Turning Japanese’ done by the band the Vapors in one of my recent posts. Then a good friend of mine told me of a modern and even more fun performance of the song: Kirsten Dunst’s version:

It’s true the Vapors’ version has some widely misconceived images of the Japanese, which, unfortunately tabloids and even some serious press love to advertise (it sells more and makes the reader feel superior!)

Japanese Translation Contest – Should I?

 

I make a rule of visiting the blog that left a like or started following my blog, actually reading a whole article whenever possible (I’m a slow reader in either of my languages) before returning a like.

As for following blogs, until recently I’d only choose those which I can at least pick and read occasional articles or got me genuinely interested, but now, I’m beginning to understand ‘hollow follows’ are a standard method to boost the number of visitors so the blog looks hot, and therefore have decided to turn a blind eye to my own sincerity and follow suit, that is, follow back if anyone follows me.

So how do you pronounce Yoshizane anyway?

 

 

Did you notice something interesting about Pan Jama Lammy’s illustration this month, as shown below?

(c) Pan Jama Lammy

Greetings, World. Greetings, Farore Islands

First let me establish the fact that my geography knowledge is best described to be negligent.  Mum thinks I missed my education somewhere.

Well I might venture that it’s not really fair when she can and does win the top prize in the village quiz event by picking the correct coat of arms of some very obscure (to me) town but I won’t, as it really is a futile argument. Let me just declare that my geography knowledge stopped developing at a rather tender age.

Now a couple or so weeks ago, I noted someone from an unfamiliar place name visiting my blog. It had a very cool flag, looking a bit like Saint George’s Cross in its colour schemes and design. I became curious, and this is what I found out.

Guy Richie did a King Arthur

 

Good Arthur I didn’t know about this till just now but I’ve absolutely got to watch it.

“You wanted a prophecy? This is your prophecy.”

 

 

Buy the way whene’er I watch a Guy Richie film I star’ speakin’ like one o’ ’em. Don’t ya?

Mahabharat and the Next Update

Earlier on Facebook I announced I had to cancel the last month’s update,  and I’m currently working on the last update this year, to be schedule for the New Year’s Day.

However, it’s a bit too thrilling for my liking but I’ve only been able to translate very little so far. I hate to complain as I love my work but there have been more duties and business trips than usual the past couple of months. Gradually and finally though, I’m at the stage to almost finish clearing out odd jobs and am getting back on track now. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I don’t mean to sound too much like a business blog, but in order to focus better I’m experimenting with ambient noise. Attention and focus has always been my problem.  The idea of ambient noise is the right kind of it at the right level of noisiness can help you focus better. You can probably find quite a few choices of web sites that play ambient noise for you, but this one’s my favourite as it’s easy use, log in to save preferences,  and for its noise selections: https://www.noisli.com/

Now for this month’s warrior in action. Mahabharat has been in my reading list of epic hero stories for years, though it’s just seemed too long for me to even start. Disney did their version, and I haven’t watched it yet, but the music is great. To quote it here I listened for the hundredth time but it gave me shivers all over.  This one may not sound all traditional Indian but it works for me. Indian music, especially traditional one, is simply magic.

 

 

Writer’s craft and penmanship – in Bakin’s case

Bakin is a marvelous writer. I must admit I didn’t realize the full  length of this fact until I got down to translating his work.

Someone said in my Facebook Page his Hakkenden story was deemed one of the top novels in the world by Lord Chamberlain, or something to that effect. I reserved my opinions at the time. Now I’m in awe.

In this coming installment, Tamazusa says something very curious.

“Indeed I’m sinned I presume.”

Felicitating Fifty Followers

Although it may seem a small step to those famous and successful blogs with thousands of followers, reaching 50 followers last week was a big feat for me! So, a big thank you to all of you and anyone else passing by. ＼(^O^)／

Recently I’ve been to a Yabusame (Japanese horseback archery) competition, which was nothing short of amazing, and I’d like to talk about it in a bit, but this is something else I hope you’ll also find amusing.

Episode 6 upload plans

Even though I’m almost obsessed with the Samurai Hounds story and think about it every single day, I’ve totally forgotten about the monthly installment date until just this morning when I realized I’d missed the 1st of October. It happens to everyone; you think September will last forever until October knocks on your door.

…OK I exaggerated. It happens to me but probably not to more decent and capable individuals out there. I don’t know.

Anyhow, it’s already the 3rd, not just a day behind but two. What do I do now?

 

The thing is this coming episode is very short and almost looks like just a roundup of the battle well-fought, only it isn’t. Just like when you pick up an unassuming looking rich tea biscuit and it blows away your taste buds. That happens to you too doesn’t it?

Without spoiling anything, let me tell you this much: This episode includes a key event which leads to a whole new development. Naturally I want to treat it nice.

So there’s two choices for me – post in a few days the first half of the episode which I’ve more or less finished and stick to the schedule, well, more or less, or skip a month and post the whole episode for you to enjoy it in one go. I’m more inclined to do the former, but if you have any request I’d be curious to hear it.

 

An interesting re-interpretation of Bakin’s story in which 8 female warriors fight in place of our male counterparts.  Fumikura.net by Takagi Gen introduces the whole story in Japanese.

I watched Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable

 

I know it’s supposed to be cool to criticize a film made out of your favourite book, manga or novel, and some fans are totally against it, but this one was actually good! I also like Transformers and remember how the first in the series was almost p*ked on when it came out but I was like why not? If you expected Wuthering Heights you simply came to the wrong cinema. It’s just kids’ entertainment where you’re allowed to be a kid again so enjoy it while you can, wherever and however.

Anyhow, the film.

What to see and do in Japan – Iwami Kagura

Thanks to Iwami Tourism Promotion Committee‘s kind permission, Episode 5-4 was accompanied by an attractive video clip of Kagura performance, dipicting the warriors’ guardian god Hachiman fighting a demon.  I’ve written a bit about Kagura on the official FB page some time ago but let me expand it here. It’s a form of performing arts worth checking out whilst in Japan.

Unlike Kabuki or Noh theatre however, its uniqueness lies in the fact that there’s no professional performers involved in it. Whether they’re dancers, actors, musicians, or comics, they all make living elsewhere during the daytime and train and perform in their spare time.

Longer and fuller version of the clip I shared on my FB page

Language note on ‘shichiku’ – a shiatsu term

It’s probably the same with any translation but the majority of the time I spend translating I’m trying to make sense of the original text. Sometimes it’s easy and I translate as I read. Often times I spend hours trying to decipher a single word. ‘Shichiku‘ was one such example

Not divulging too much, in the next episode a certain someone receives a sword wound in the area between ‘katasaki‘ – the part where the neck meets the shoulder – and somewhere around ‘shichiku‘. It’s written as ‘七九’, numbers seven and nine.

Now what the heck is shichiku?!

Taking a bit longer… but with another surprise

It’ll take just a bit longer to complete Episode 5 than I originally thought, but I can’t work on it till the end of this month. This means I can’t update till then.

With the next update however,  I got another Japanese institution’s help, so hopefully it’ll be a small surprise.

See you later!

Iwakuma Donpei = Aussie theory

I’m a bit behind the schedule but will be updating soon. I wanted for the time being to post a link to a cool samurai story that I like instead but couldn’t find it. It’s one written by Lafcadio Hearn, an Irish-born writer who married into a samurai family (lucky fella). His works have run out of copyright if my memory serves me right, so I hoped to find it on the Internet. It’s a great story so if I ever find it I’ll introduce it to you.

For now let me just jot down something weird I noticed while translating today. Every time Iwakuma Donpei speaks, it’s always in an Australian accent with that hint of guttural estuary though sounding somewhat milder. Don’t ask me why. I love accents – all kinds of accents, and I love it when Aussies say ‘joeys (baby kangaroos)’.  Try this in Donpei’s Australian accent:

“On that cloudy morning in Ochiba-ga-oka where it was chilly despite the summer, it was not the skylark being hunted by a hawk that fell, but the skylark-coloured horse Mitsuhiro was riding.”

See you in a bit!

The Semantix

When I’m translating I constantly get trapped by the surface features of the text instead of digging out the semantic context and trying to materialize it.

Here I’m using the phrase ‘surface features’ not in a technical Chomsky way but  things you (or maybe just me) tend to notice or that can be derived from texts readily, such as styles, pronunciations, word choices, and even grammatical roles of words and phrases.

Onomatopoeia is a good example. In English words like ‘ding dong’, ‘thud’, ‘beep’, or ‘click’ would come to mind. To pick a couple of examples from Hakkenden there’s ‘kitt to miru (look in a ‘kitt’ way, i.e., sharply)’ or ‘konata yori hishihishi to (in a ‘hishihishi’ way from over here, i.e., bustling in numbers from over here)’.

As you can see from the English examples these words (called onomatopes) usually originate in sound a certain subject makes, but in Japanese there are even cases when they derive from general feel you get from movements or states of a subject, as you can see in the above Hakkenden examples. English has no vocabulary to accurately describe this kind of ‘onomatopoeia’, and its frequent use is one of the things people notice about Japanese. As expected, you’d find plenty more in Hakkenden too. So how do you translate them?

 

The Semantrix, to be released in cinemas near you this summer, not.

Will a writers’ conference be a good idea?

Dear Agony Aunt or Ancle, no, Uncle,

Have you ever participated a writers’ conference?

I’ve been entertaining the idea of doing so for some time and I’m hopeful that finally I probably can some time this year or next. However, I have no idea which one would be the best fit in helping me publish the work (OK, it has already been published here but I mean to make it into a book form).

Would anyone be able to help me with ideas or suggestions as to which conference I should go to, or how I should be choosing?

 

The well in Bakin’s home as photographed in modern days. The source: a Wikipeadia page

 

From what I’ve gathered so far,

The Greatest Opening of an Exciting Adventure Story

Every time someone starts reading from Episode 1 it always gives me a lot of pleasure and pain at the same time. It’s because I tell myself to rewrite the beginning part of it.

This is my humble opinion but I’m yet to be convinced that Bakin did justice to his own masterpiece by how he opened up Episode 1  – quite frankly, it’s not the most enticing opening I’ve ever read, nothing less than which the story deserves. Actually it’s probably not his fault. At least not entirely.