John Bester (1927-2010), born and educated in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, was one of the foremost

translators Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

of modern Japanese

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

. He was a graduate of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

Works

* ''Classic Bonsai of Japan'' (New York:

Kodansha International is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

, 1989, ).

Translations

Among his translations are: * ''Masterworks of

Ukiyo-E Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surfac ...

Utamaro Kitagawa Utamaro ( ja, 喜多川歌麿; – 31 October 1806) was a Japanese artist. He is one of the most highly regarded designers of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings, and is best known for his '' bijin ōkubi-e'' "large-heade ...

'' by Muneshige Narazaki and Sadao Kikuchi (translation published in 1968). * '' Black Rain'' by

Masuji Ibuse was a Japanese author. His most notable work is the novel '' Black Rain''. Early life and education Ibuse was born in 1898 to a landowning family in the village of , which is now part of Fukuyama, Hiroshima. Ibuse failed his entrance exam to ...

(translation published in 1969). * '' Sun and Steel'' by

Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...

(autobiography, translation published in 1970). * '' The Waiting Years'' by

Fumiko Enchi was the pen-name of Fumiko Ueda, one of the most prominent Japanese women writers in the Shōwa period of Japan. As a writer, Enchi is best known for her explorations into the ideas of sexuality, gender, human identity, and spirituality. Early ...

(translation published in 1971). * ''

The Anatomy of Dependence is a 1971 book by Japanese psychoanalyst Takeo Doi, discussing at length Doi's concept of ''amae'', which he describes as a uniquely Japanese need to be in good favor with, and be able to depend on, the people around oneself. He likens this to ...

'' by

Takeo Doi was a Japanese academic, psychoanalyst and author. Early life Doi was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1920. He was a graduate of the University of Tokyo. Career Doi was Professor Emeritus in the Department of Neuropsychiatry at the University of Toky ...

(translation published in 1973). * '' The Silent Cry'' by

Kenzaburō Ōe is a Japanese writer and a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. His novels, short stories and essays, strongly influenced by French and American literature and literary theory, deal with political, social and philosophical issues, i ...

(translation published in 1974). * '' The Dark Room'' by

Junnosuke Yoshiyuki was a Japanese novelist and short-story writer, and a member of the so-called " Third Generation of Postwar Writers" (第3の新人). Life Yoshiyuki was born in Okayama, the oldest child of author Yoshiyuki Eisuke, but his family moved to T ...

(translation published in 1975). * '' The Reluctant Admiral'' by

Hiroyuki Agawa (December 24, 1920 – August 3, 2015) was a Japanese author. He was known for his fiction centered on World War II, as well as his biographies and essays. Literary career Agawa was born in Hiroshima, Japan. As a high school student Agawa wa ...

(biography of

Isoroku Yamamoto was a Marshal Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II until he was killed. Yamamoto held several important posts in the IJN, and undertook many of its changes and reor ...

, commander in chief of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

, translation published in 1979) * '' Salamander and Other Stories'' by

(translation published in 1981). * '' Acts of Worship: Seven Stories'' by Yukio Mishima (translation published in 1989). * '' Once and Forever, the tales of Kenji Miyazawa'' by

Kenji Miyazawa was a Japanese novelist and poet of children's literature from Hanamaki, Iwate, in the late Taishō and early Shōwa periods. He was also known as an agricultural science teacher, a vegetarian, cellist, devout Buddhist, and utopian social acti ...

(includes

Gauche the Cellist is a short story by the Japanese author Kenji Miyazawa. It is about Gauche, a struggling small-town cellist who is inspired by his interactions with anthropomorphized animals to gain insight into music. The story has been translated into English, ...

, translation published in 1993). * ''

Confessions of a Yakuza is a book by Japanese doctor and author Junichi Saga (1991). It recounts a series of stories from the life of his patient Eiji Ijichi, a former Yakuza boss, as told in the last months of his life. The book starts with the teenage Ijichi running ...

'' by

Junichi Saga is a Japanese countryside physician and writer whose work records countryside experiences of numerous individuals (typically, his patients). Biography Saga has written various books. Two, consisting of the recollections of the ordinary lives of pe ...

(reminiscenes of a

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

boss, translation published in 1995. *'' A Boy Called H'' by Kappa Senoh, translation published in 1999. John Bester received the 1990

Noma Award The Noma Prizes were established by Shoichi Noma, or in his honor. More than one award is conventionally identified as the ''Noma Prize''. Noma was the former head of Kodansha, the Japanese publishing and bookselling company. Kodansha is Japan' ...

for the Translation of Japanese Literature for ''

Acts of Worship is a 1965 short story collection by the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. The title story is the tale of a Professor's visit to three Kumano shrines, accompanied by his shy and submissive middle-aged housekeeper, and his reasons for doing so. The ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bester, John 1927 births Alumni of SOAS University of London English translators Japanese–English translators 2010 deaths English male non-fiction writers 20th-century British translators