Juliet Winters Carpenter (born 1948) is an American translator of modern Japanese literature. Born in the American Midwest, she studied Japanese literature at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and the

Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies The , or IUC, is a Japanese language school located in the Minato Mirai area of Yokohama, Japan. Operated by a consortium of universities, the IUC provides advanced-level instruction to both undergraduate and graduate students and is considered ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. After completing her graduate studies in 1973, she returned to Japan in 1975, where she became involved in translation efforts and teaching. Carpenter is a devotee of traditional Japanese music and is a licensed instructor of the

koto Koto may refer to: * Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group * Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument * Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana * Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women * K ...

and shamisen. She is professor emeritus at

Doshisha , mottoeng = Truth shall make you free , tagline = , established = Founded 1875,Chartered 1920 , vision = , type = Private , affiliation = , calendar = , endowment = €1 ...

Women's College of Liberal Arts in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

and has been involved in the Japanese Literature Publishing Project(JLPP), a government-supported project translating and publishing Japanese books overseas. Carpenter retired to Whidbey Island in Washington State with her husband Bruce, professor emeritus of Tezukayama University. They have three children
Matthew Edwin Carpenter
Graham, and Mark. Carpenter's translation of Abe Kobo's novel '' Secret Rendezvous'' (''Mikkai'' in Japanese) won the 1980

Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature {{primary sources, date=June 2010 The Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature was established in 1979 and is administered by the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture at Columbia University. It is the old ...

. Her translation of Minae Mizumura's novel Honkaku Shosetsu, "A True Novel," won that same award for 2014-2015 and earned numerous other awards including the 2014 Lewis Galantière Award of the

American Translators Association The American Translators Association (ATA) is the largest professional association of translators and interpreters in the United States with nearly 8,500 members in more than 100 countries. Founded in 1959, membership is open to anyone with an ...

. Once Upon a Time in Japan, a book of folk tales which she co-translated with Roger Pulvers, received the 2015

Gelett Burgess Children's Book Award The Gelett Burgess Children's Book Award is an annual award presented by the Gelett Burgess Center for Creative Expression. Named for Gelett Burgess, an artist and writer famous for his humorous Goops series (1900-1950), this award recognizes out ...

for Best Multicultural Book. Carpenter won the 2021-2022 Lindsey and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize for a lifetime achievement as a translator of modern Japanese literature, with particular reference to her recent translation of Mizumura Minae’s ''An I-Novel'' (Columbia University Press, 2021) ''An I-Novel,'' translated by Carpenter, won the 2019-20 William F. Sibley Memorial Subvention Award for Japanese Translation. Her translation of The Great Passage by Miura Shion, an audio Book read by Brian Nishii, won the 2017 Golden Earphones Award. Selected works

Translations

Other works

Carpenter is also the author of the book ''Seeing Kyoto''.

References

Televised nostalgia in Japan: Those were the days

* ttps://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2009/01/11/books/blood-sweat-and-tears-of-zen/#.W-r8XKeZMWo The Asian Bookshelf by Donald Richie: Blood, sweat and tears of Zen
Strange Moors: 'A True Novel,' by Minae Mizumura
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Juliet Winters 1948 births Living people American speculative fiction translators Japanese–English translators American expatriates in Japan Koto players University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni Japanese literature academics American women writers 20th-century American translators 21st-century American translators 20th-century American women 21st-century American women