Jay Rubin (born 1941) is an American academic and translator. He is one of the main translators of the works of the Japanese novelist

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been bestsellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his ...

into English. He has also written a guide to Japanese, ''Making Sense of Japanese'' (originally titled ''Gone Fishin'''), and a biographical literary analysis of Murakami. Rubin was born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in 1941. Rubin has a PhD in Japanese literature from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

. He taught at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

for eighteen years, and then moved on to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, which he left in 2008. In his early research career he focused on the Meiji state censorship system. More recently Rubin has concentrated his efforts on Murakami, and

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...

drama. His most recent publications are ''Modern Japanese Writers'' (Scribners, 2001), and ''Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words'' (Harvill, 2002; Vintage, 2005). His translation of 18 stories by

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa , art name , was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period in Japan. He is regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story", and Japan's premier literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him. He committed suicide at the age of ...

appeared as a

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the West ...

in 2006. His

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, ''The Sun Gods'', was released in May 2015 (Chin Music Press) and explores the relationship between a Japanese mother, Mitsuko, and her adopted, American son, Billy, as they face American internment during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Rubin also translated the "Thousand Years of Dreams" passages by

Kiyoshi Shigematsu is a contemporary Japanese writer. He is one of the best-selling authors in Japan, and the major theme of his novels is about family.

for use in the Japanese-produced

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

game ''

Lost Odyssey is a Japanese role-playing video game developed by Feelplus and planned by Mistwalker for the Xbox 360. It was published by Microsoft Game Studios in 2007 in Japan and 2008 in western territories. The story follows Kaim, one of a select group of ...

''. Rubin's translation of ''

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a novel published in 1994–1995 by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The American translation and its British adaptation, dubbed the "only official translations" ( English), are by Jay Rubin and were first published in 1997. For this novel, M ...

'' by Haruki Murakami won the 2003

Noma Award for the Translation of Japanese Literature Noma Award for the Translation of Japanese Literature is a Japanese literary award that is part of the Noma Prize series. It is awarded annually for new translations of modern Japanese literature. It was founded in 1990. Amongst those participatin ...

Translations

* * * * * * * * * *

Published works

* Tansman, Alan and Dennis Washburn. (1997). ''Studies in Modern Japanese Literature: Essays and Translations in Honor of

Edwin McClellan Edwin McClellan (24 October 1925 – 27 April 2009) was a British Japanologist, teacher, writer, translator, and interpreter of Japanese literature and culture. Biography McClellan was born in Kobe, Japan in 1925 to a Japanese mother, Teruko ...

''. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan. (cloth) * ''Making Sense of Japanese: What the Textbooks Don't Tell You'' (Power Japanese Series, Kodansha's Children's Classics), Kodansha International (March 1, 2002), paperback, 144 pp., – first published as ''Gone Fishin''' (1992) *

Notes

References

External links

Jay Rubin
– Harvard faculty homepage (archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubin, Jay 1941 births Living people 20th-century American translators 21st-century American translators Japanese–English translators American Japanologists Japanese literature academics University of Chicago alumni University of Washington faculty Harvard University faculty

Translations

Published works

See also

Notes

References

External links