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Non-fiction book translation

WeDoJapan Director Tony McNicol has translated three books from Japanese to English.

Shinrin-yoku by Yoshifumi Miyazaki

Shinrin-yoku-cover

The Japanese Art of Forest Bathing by Yoshifumi Miyazaki (Aster, 2018) Reprinted as: Shinrin-yoku: Go back to nature with the Japanese way of shinrin-yoku (Aster, 2021)

Shinrinyoku is a Japanese word that literally means “bathing in the forest”. The author Yoshifumi Miyazaki has conducted medical research into the benefits of forest bathing for over 30 years, discovering beneficial health effects such as lowering blood pressure and reducing stress. Although the concept of first developed in Japan during the 1980s, it has become much better known abroad in recent years. The English translation produced by WeDoJapan has been used as a base for translation into numerous other languages. In 2018, Tony McNicol interviewed Yoshifumi Miyazaki for the Nippon.com website.

Kokoro by Kazuo Inamori

Kokoro-cover

A memoir by Kazuo Inamori, legendary Japanese CEO and founder of Kyocera and DDI. In 2010, aged 77, Inamori took on management of the Japanese national air carrier JAL, which was facing imminent bankruptcy. He led a highly successful restructuring, helping JAL relisted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2012. Inamori is also a Zen Buddhist Priest and in this book he recounts formative experiences from his childhood, episodes from his distinguished business career, and his philosophies of life and management. The Japanese title Kokoro translates as “heart” or “soul”.

Seiseidodo by Kodo Nishimura

Seiseidodo-cover

Kodo Nishimura is LGBT+ activist, priest of the Pure Land school, and a former make-up artist for Miss Universe. He also appeared in the Netflix series, “Queer Eye: We’re in Japan.” The Japanese title of this memoir translates as “proudly and truly”. Nishimura tells of his experiences growing up as a non-binary individual in Japan, working as a make-up artist in the US, and training as a priest in the Pure Land school of Buddhism. Nishimura conveys a powerful message that it’s OK to be different and that everyone should be proud of who they really are.

Translation of rights guides and book samples

Please get in touch if you require translation of rights guides, sample book sections, tables of contents, or other materials for either promoting Japanese books to UK publishers or accessing their suitability for English-speaking readers.

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Professional affiliations

Tony is a qualified member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI). Tony and Yoshie are members of the Japanese language specialist network of the ITI.

Partner organizations

WeDoJapan is an official business partner of Export to Japan, a project led by UKTI to assist UK companies doing business in Japan. See here for more details.