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Japanese,andimportantworkswerebeingtranslatedinthesameyearthe
originalworkappeared.Threestrandsoftranslationbegantotakeshapefrom
aboutthe1920s.Thefirstconsistedofsocialistandcommunistliteraryworks.
JapaneseMarxiststranslatedtreatisesbyMarx,EngelsandLenin,andthese
worksinfluencedtheproletarianliteraturemovement.Thesecondstrand
coveredsurrealistandstreamofconsciousnessworks,whilethethirdconsisted
ofAmericanliteraryworks(Takeda1983:247).However,theriseofmilitarism
ledtocensorshipofsocialistandCommunisttranslations–andthepublication
ofbestsellingtranslationsofabiographyofMussoliniin1928andan
expurgatedversionofHitler’sMeinKampfin1940–andtheeventsleadingup
toWorldWarIImeantthatAmericanliteraturedeclinedinpopularity.
Chinesepoetrycontinuedtobetranslated,withSatōHaruo(1892–1964)being
thepioneerinthisfield.Satō,whoin1927translatedShajinshû,ananthology
offortyeightpoemsbyfemaleChinesepoets,wasdissatisfiedwiththe
traditionalapproachofreadingChinesepoetryinJapanese.Insteadhe
translatedcreatively,capturingtheflavouroftheoriginalpoems,amethod
whichsubsequentlybecamepopularamongsttranslators.Evenso,Satō
continuedtousethefixedformofverse,whereasHinatsuKōnosuke’s(1890–
1971)colloquialversionsrenderedChinesepoetryintomodernpoetry,focusing
onthecontentwithoutbeingconstrainedbytheformandfixedrhythm(Kajima
1994).
Japan’sdefeatinWorldWarIIbroughttheAlliedOccupationforcestoits
shores,withaconcomitantneedforinterpretersandtranslators.General
DouglasMacArthur’schiefinterpreterwasColonelSidneyMashbir,and
MatsuiAkiraservedasinterpreteratsomeofthemeetingsbetweenthe
EmperorandMacArthurandattheEmperor’smeetingswithspecialU.S.
envoyJohnFosterDullesandMacArthur’ssuccessor,GeneralMatthew
Ridgway.AttheTokyoTrialofwarcriminals,over50,000pagesoftranslation
workwasinvolved,withaLanguageArbitrationBoardresponsibleforrulingon
thornytranslationproblems.IntheminortrialssomeJapaneseinterpreterswere
foundguiltyofwarcrimes(Roland1982).
Theendofthewarusheredinanewageoftranslationunprecedentedsincethe
MeijiRestoration,withJapanesereaderskeentoreadworksthatcouldnotbe
publishedduringthewar.Thequantityoftranslations,however,wasnotalways
matchedbytheirquality,andthechoiceofworkswascontrolledbythe
Occupationauthorities.BooksthatcriticizedtheUnitedStatesorpraisedthe
militaryweresuppressed,whiletranslationsofapprovedworkswereoften
givenfinancialsupport(Satō1987).Duringthewar,theJapaneseauthorities
hadbanned2,120foreignbooksandperiodicals,manyofwhichreportedon
ChineseresistancetotheJapanese.BestsellingtranslationsincludedTenYears
inJapanbyaformerUSambassadortoJapan,GeorgeOrwell’sAnimal
Farm,andTheDiaryofAnneFrank.
Inthe1950stherewerefourrecognizabletrendsintranslation.American
literaturetookoverfromEuropeanliteratureasmainstreamWesternliteraturein
translation;translationsoftheworksofexistentialistwriterssuchasSartre,
Camus,Kafka,KierkegaardandDostoevskywereundertakenandhada
majorimpact;translationsofliteraryworksbyCatholicsbegantoappear;and
literaryworkswithexplicitsexualscenesweretranslated(Takeda1983:248).
Translationsofbooksmadeintomovies,suchasGonewiththeWind,were
alsocommon.
OfparticularnoteisYûkarashū(1959–70),aninevolumetranslationby
KindaichiKyōsuke(1882–1971)ofepicsandotheroralliteratureoftheAinu
people,wholiveinthenorthernislandofHokkaidoandareraciallyand
linguisticallydistinctfromtheJapanese.TheAinuhavenowrittenlanguage,and
itwasonlyafteranAinuwomanbegantranscribingtheirepicsin1928that
translationoftheirliteraturebecamepossible.
In1960thetranslatorItôSeiandthepublisherofD.H.Lawrence’sLady
Chatterley’sLoverwerechargedfortranslating,publishinganddistributingthis
work,whichwasallegedtocontainobscenepassages.Asimilarsituation
occurredwithMarquisdeSade’sJuliette.The1960salsosawthetranslation
ofurbanAmericanJewishliteratureandBlackliterature,althoughinterestin
translatedliteraturewanedsomewhat,tobereplacedtoalargeextentinthe
1970sbytranslationsof‘howto’booksandnonfictionworksaboutUS
managementmethodsoraboutJapan