Stories of Japan-Related Wordsmiths
• Search SWET Newsletter Archive for
- How We Got Here (No. 115, 109, 108, 106, 105, 103, 97, 90, 87, 84, 83, 70, 67 [14 stories] .
- A Day in the Life
+ Writing from Japan: English-Language Newspaper Columnists in the 1980s and 1990s [series of six articles]
+ Editing in Japan (three editors talk about their careers) [open access]
+"Tributes" features memorable members of the writing, editing, and translation community in Japan
Good reading about translation
• See a deep trove of articles in the SWET Newsletter (1980–2012):
• Check the "Articles" feature for "Japanese-to-English Translation”
• Read the "Word Wise" series by Richard Medhurst
• Different strokes in translation: Search the SWET Newsletter archive for the "Over Their Shoulders" series with veteran translators.
SWET-L Mailing List
The mailing list where wordsmiths involving work relating to Japan gather to ask questions, share topics and news of interest, seek advice, and find collaborators.
Since 1980, a community of wordsmiths working with the English word relating to Japan
• Regular networking events online and in-person
• Talks with experienced professionals
• Supporting the Japan Style Sheet website, the SWET-L mailing list, SWET Manga Special-Interest Group, and SWET Facebook page
Japan Style Sheet: Further Reference Tools
Did you know that SWET maintains a growing list of reference tools on the Japan Style Sheet website? Click the image above to access links to dictionaries, thesauruses, glossaries, and other references for wordsmiths. If you know of a resource that belongs on the list, please let us know!
A Community for Japan-Related Writing Professionals
Based in Tokyo, Japan, SWET comprises people engaged not only in the three professions of writing, editing, and translating, but also in teaching, research, rewriting, design and production, copywriting, and other areas related to the written word in Japan.
Japan Style Sheet
A cross-professional guide
The SWET Guide for Writers, Editors and Translators
News View all
JTA Writing and Style Manual 2026 Published
The output of the Japan Tourism Agency FY2025 “Promoting Multilingual Support for Sightseeing Destinations around Japan” Project is now available on the JTA website (text in Japanese).
Among the links provided as JTA resources is the latest edition of the Writing and Style Manual, which is available in English and Japanese.
The 9th revised edition of the manual, now 78 pages, is basically the same as the 2024 edition, but more is added to the “Glossary of Selected... more
Swet Columns View all
EVENT REPORT: Book Editing and the Tuttle Style of Publishing
On June 17, 2026, Tuttle Publishing editor Cathy Layne joined a group of fifteen SWET members and others gathered at the Book House Café in Jinbochō to share her story of the last thirty years. Layne first came to Japan in 1996 as a teacher on an exchange from London, where she was a high school teacher. She continued to teach for several years while studying for her MA in Japanese Studies and gradually moved on to freelance translation and... more
Articles View all
The “Chances” That Start It All
In February 2019, a few months before Juliet Winters Carpenter was to leave Japan after a long teaching and translating career beginning in 1969, she agreed to an interview with SWET members Emily Balistrieri, Lynne Riggs, and Lisa Wilcut during a visit to Tokyo. The following is part of that more than two-hour conversation, as we enjoyed a multi-course nouveau washoku meal and Juliet generously shared from her decades of memories and experiences. Regrettably, the partially edited transcript lay incomplete... more
SWET Spotlight View all
Entering into the World I Created: Interview with Karen Hill Anton, author of “A Thousand Graces”
Karen Hill Anton is well known for her columns in the Japan Times, which she described in an article for SWET’s series on English-language newspaper columnists. Her memoir, The View From Breast Pocket Mountain, beloved by a wide readership, has earned three literary awards. She spoke to SWET about her memoir at length for a SWET Talk Shop in August 2021, available on YouTube, and again in October 2022 about the craft of memoir writing. Now... more
A Community for Japan-Related Writing Professionals
Based in Tokyo, Japan, SWET comprises people engaged not only in the three professions of writing, editing, and translating, but also in teaching, research, rewriting, design and production, copywriting, and other areas related to the written word in Japan.
Japan Style Sheet
A cross-professional guide
The SWET Guide for Writers, Editors and Translators
Join SWET-L, our mailing list
Check it out (non-members OK)
SWET Newsletter Archive
SWET Newsletter articles feature topics especially of interest to writers, editors, and translators and other wordsmiths connected with Japan.
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