Frederik L. Schodt (born January 22, 1950) is an American translator,

interpreter Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...

, and writer.

Biography

Schodt's father was in the US foreign service, and he grew up in Norway, Australia, and Japan. The family first went to Japan in 1965 when Schodt was fifteen. They left in 1967, but Schodt remained to graduate from American School in Japan in Tokyo in 1968. After entering the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

(UCSB), in 1970, Schodt returned to Japan and studied Japanese intensively at

International Christian University is a non-denominational private university located in Mitaka, Tokyo. With the efforts of Prince Takamatsu, General Douglas MacArthur, and Bank of Japan, BOJ Governor Hisato Ichimada, ICU was established in 1949 as the first liberal arts coll ...

(ICU) for a year and half. He graduated from UCSB in 1972, and after a brief

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

stint at a variety of jobs and traveling, he became a tour guide in Los Angeles for Japanese tourists, also escorting them to Canada and Mexico. After trying to interpret for a group once at Sunkist, he realized that he could become an interpreter, but needed further training. In 1975, he was awarded a scholarship from Japan's Ministry of Education, to return to ICU and study translation and interpreting. After finishing his studies at ICU in 1977, he began working in the translation department of Simul International, in Tokyo. In mid-1978, he returned to the United States, and since then has worked in San Francisco as a freelance writer, translator, and interpreter. While working in Tokyo in 1977, he joined with several university friends in contacting

Tezuka Productions is a Japanese animation studio founded by Osamu Tezuka in 1968. It is known for animating notable works such as ''Marvelous Melmo'', the Astro Boy (1980 TV series), 1980 and Astro Boy (2003 TV series), 2003 ''Astro Boy'' series, and ''Black Jack ...

. They sought permission to translate the '' Phoenix'' comic into English. Schodt is notable in

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

and

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

fandom for his translations of works such as

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...

's '' Phoenix'', Tezuka's ''

Astro Boy ''Astro Boy'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's ''Shōnen'' from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 volumes by Akita Shoten. Da ...

'', Riyoko Ikeda's ''

The Rose of Versailles also known as ''Lady Oscar'' and ''La Rose de Versailles'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Riyoko Ikeda. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Margaret'' from 1972 to 1973, while a revival ...

'', Keiji Nakazawa's '' Barefoot Gen'', Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama's '' The Four Immigrants Manga'', and others. His best known book is ''

Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics ''Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics'' is a 1983 book by Frederik L. Schodt. Published by the Japanese publisher Kodansha, it was the first substantial English-language work on Japanese comics, or manga, as an artistic, Literature, lite ...

'', published in 1983 and reprinted several times, with an

introduction Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...

by Tezuka. ''Manga! Manga!'' won a prize at the ''Manga Oscar Awards'' in 1983. Furthermore, in 2000 Schodt was awarded the

Asahi Shimbun is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...

Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Named after Osamu Tezuka, the is a yearly manga prize awarded to manga artists or their works that follow the Osamu Tezuka manga approach founded and sponsored by Asahi Shimbun. The prize has been awarded since 1997, in Tokyo, Japan. Current ...

"Special Prize" for his outstanding contribution to the appreciation of manga worldwide.

Honors

* 1983 – Japan Cartoonists Association's Manga Oscar, Special Award, for ''

''. * 2000 –

"Special Prize" for outstanding contribution to the appreciation of manga worldwide. * 2009 – 旭日小綬章. Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette. * 2009 – Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs International Manga Award, Special Category, for helping to promote manga overseas. * 2013 – Circus Historical Society's Stuart Thayer Prize for superior work, for Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe. * 2016 – Ranald MacDonald Award for Lifetime Achievement, especially for work, Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan. * 2017 – Japan Foundation Award. * 2022 - Tom Spurgeon Award at CXC ( Cartoon Crossroads Columbus). * 2024 - Inducted into the American Manga Awards Publishing Hall of Fame - Anime NYC.https://animenyc.com/americanmangaawards/

Selected works

Schodt has written eight books, translated several novels and manga, and published articles and columns in such newspapers and periodicals as'' ''

Mainichi Daily News The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English-language news website called , and publishes a biling ...

, ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'', '' Anzen'', '' Mangajin'', '' Japan Related'', '' Animag'', ''

Animerica ''Animerica'' was a monthly magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), ...

'' and others. * ''

''.

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

International, 1983. * '' Inside the Robot Kingdom: Japan, Mechatronics, and the Coming Robotopia''. Kodansha International, 1988. () * ''America and the Four Japans: Friend, Foe, Model, Mirror''.

Stone Bridge Press Stone Bridge Press, Inc. is a publishing company distributed by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution and founded in 1989. Authors published include Donald Richie and Frederik L. Schodt. Stone Bridge publishes books related to Japan, having ...

, 1994. * '' Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga''.

, 1996. * '' Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan''.

, 2003. * ''The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution''.

, 2007 () * '' Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe''.

, 2012 () * ''

'' (translator) * '' Phoenix'' (translator) * ''

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

'' (translator) * '' The Ghost in the Shell/Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface/Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor'' (translator) * '' The Osamu Tezuka Story'' (translator) * ''

'' (translator) * '' Gaku Stories'' (translator) * ''My

Heart Sutra The ''Heart Sūtra'', ) is a popular sutra in Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhism. In Sanskrit, the title ' translates as "The Heart of the Prajnaparamita, Perfection of Wisdom". The Sutra famously states, "Form is emptiness (''śūnyatā''), em ...

: A World in 260 Characters''

, 2020.

References

External links

Jai2
��his official website * * —''Electric Ant #1'' * —''Animation Insider'', Sept. 2007 * —''The Sci-Fi Block'', Oct. 2009 *
Interview: Fred Schodt
at

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

, Oct. 2009
Frederik Schodt: Japan's pop culture ambassador...
, ''

'', January 2013 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schodt, Frederik L. American non-fiction writers American School in Japan alumni American translators Anime and manga critics International Christian University alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Japanese–English translators Living people Osamu Tezuka Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class Winners of the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (Special Award) 1950 births