Fuyumi Nakamura - Translator of the Month
Our translator of the Month for February is Fuyumi Nakamura, who translates from Norwegian, Swedish, and some Danish into Japanese. She lives in Fujisawa, Japan, near the sea. She initially worked with corporate translation from Norwegian to Japanese. In 2017, she made her debut as a literary translator of Norwegian literature with Making Things Right: The Simple Philosophy of a Working Life (Diary of a Carpenter – original title: En snekkers dagbok) by Ole Thorstensen, in collaboration with her colleague Lise Schou.
Since then, Fuyumi has translated, among other works, The Immune Mystery. Mum is a Puzzle (Mamma er en gåte) by Anita Kåss and Jørgen Jelstad, Adventures in Memory. The Science and Secrets of Remebering and Forgetting (Å dykke etter sjøhester) by neuropsychologist Ylva Østby and author/journalist Hilde Østby, and Theatre of the World: The History of Maps and the Men and Women Who Made Them (Verdensteater) by Thomas Reinertsen Berg.
How did you end up becoming a translator of Norwegian literature?
I originally studied Swedish. Over time, I began translating corporate texts from Norwegian into Japanese, and from there it was a short step to start reading Norwegian literature. I quickly realized that there are many books of very high quality from Norway.
I love being outdoors, exploring nature. The fine Norwegian works that deal with the beautiful yet harsh natural landscape, as well as with natural sciences, have always fascinated me. It is a great joy for me to be translating texts that portray Norwegian nature.
Do you have a favourite sentence you’ve translated from Norwegian?
“Forgetfulness is a friend, sifting through everything to reveal the high points, the pearls in our necklace of memories. […]
Forgetting even touches memory’s shiniest pearls.”
From Adventures in Memory, p. 202. English translation by Marianne Lindvall, published by Greystone Books, 2018.
Also published as Diving for Seahorses : The Science and Secrets of Memory by NSW Press, 2018.
(P. 190 in the Norwegian original).
I find it an incredibly beautiful idea that we retain pearls of memory, even though we forget so many things.
What is your best advice for those who would like to become translators?
I recommend reading as many books as possible in your target language that has originally been written in that language. In other words, if you are a translator, read extensively in the language you translate into. I believe that you need to store a rich volume of words and expressions in your mind if you want to work with languages.
Read more
More about Fuyumi on Books from Norway.
Those of you who understand Norwegian can read her interview here.
More interviews in NORLA’s series
Translators are our most important stakeholders when it comes to the spread of Norwegian literature in the world. Their work is of crucial significance, and in order to shed light on this, we embarked on this series of interviews, known as ‘Translator of the Month’.
You can find all of the interviews here.
