Translators take multiple roles. They do not just produce translations. They are also reliable advocates for the books (Kroft 2021), official representatives of source authors, and active commercial forces that promote the work on social media platforms, in literary journals and at book events.

Haruki Murakami’s translators are no exception. Lai Mingzhu is considered the closest access point to Murakami by his fans in Taiwan, and regularly receives queries about the author and his work (Lai 2017 personal correspondence). Mette Holm reveals the process of translating Murakami’s work into Danish in the short documentary film, Dreaming Murakami (Anjaan 2017), adding another dimension to his novels for readers who do not know Japanese. Thus, Murakami’s translators have the power to shape and influence the way his works are received and read by the readers world-wide.

This conference sheds light on Murakami’s translators and the significance of their roles in the publication and circulation of his novels. It takes place in two different countries and two different languages. The first day takes place at the Murakami Library at Waseda University in Tokyo, and mostly in Japanese. The second day takes place at the Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation in Dublin, and in English.

This conference has been kindly supported by the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Trinity College Dublin, by the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Dublino, and by the Embassy of Ireland, Japan.

This is the information for the part of the conference which will take place in Trinity College Dublin. If you are looking for the part which will take place in Tokyo, please click here.