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
Hepburn System Romanization, Macrons, and Flexibility
In a decision made official on December 22, 2025, the Japanese government finally abolished the romanization rules adopted in 1954 specifying the Kunrei system as the official romanization system to be used in schools and the National Diet Library, and adopted the Hepburn system, which has been in widespread use by some government ministries, most publishers, media, non-Japanese individuals, and organizations since it was created in the 1860s. For details about the Hepburn system, please see the Japan Style... more
Swet Columns View all
Translator Tuesdays Reports
These quick reports (beginning with August 2024) of the hour-long online meetups held starting in March on the first Tuesday of each month are contributed by Daniel Morales, moderator, following the close of each session. The reports appear with the most recent at the top. See Upcoming Events on the SWET website top page for the topics of upcoming meetups.
May 5
In May, at the tail end of Golden Week, we discussed how and whether translators are able to take vacations. Obviously... 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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