{"id":1958,"date":"2025-08-03T12:58:46","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T12:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ayumihashimoto.com\/?p=1958"},"modified":"2025-08-03T13:32:48","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T13:32:48","slug":"undertheblanketsky_japanesetranslation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ayumihashimoto.com\/en\/undertheblanketsky_japanesetranslation\/","title":{"rendered":"On Translating Tim Fischer\u2019s Under the Blanket Sky (Kimi to Sora no Shita de)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I sometimes translate picture books, and about four months ago, a new one I worked on was published by Kagaku Dojin. It has a rather romantic title in Japanese\u2014Kimi to Sora no Shita de<\/em> (which means, Under the Sky with You<\/em>). Yay!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original English title is Under the Blanket Sky<\/em>, the debut work of Tim Fischer, a U.S.-based author.
<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n


He really does look like such a genuinely kind man. He\u2019s originally from Herkimer, New York, and this story was born from memories of the small town where he grew up.
<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n


The entire picture book is filled with a soft, gentle light.
<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n


I\u2019ve been fortunate to translate many picture books over the years, but this author\u2019s work\u2014both his writing and his illustrations\u2014shows a remarkable consistency of vision. Every line break feels deliberate; each sentence is shaped with rhythm and breath in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which is to say\u2026 this was quite<\/em> a challenging book to translate!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story begins like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the morning of a summer day,
with a brush of wind
and flutter of sunlight,
a strange creature appeared beside me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His feathers shivered like soft grass,
he smelled like the sky,
and though he did not say a word,
he smiled at me with his bright eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s\u2014how should I put it\u2014an opening that\u2019s lyrical, certainly, but it\u2018s more than that. His word choices vividly evoke the light, the scent, the textures of that moment: the flittering of light, the softness of feathers, the bright eyes. It feels as if you\u2019re drawn into the story\u2019s world without noticing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so there I was, thinking, Oh no…how do I even begin to translate this?<\/em> This is his debut work, and I could feel just how much love the author has poured into this book. I couldn\u2019t possibly ruin that with my translation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The editor asked me to \u201cretain the feeling of the original but also make it something that will resonate with Japanese readers\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is, I love the act of fiddling with words, of trying to capture nuance and breath and rhythm across languages. But I have a bad habit of forgetting there are actual readers on the other side of the page. So the editor was there to bring me back on track, offering a clear, grounded advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I first dreamed of becoming a translator, I wasn\u2019t thinking lofty thoughts about bridging Japan and the world\u2014I simply loved playing with language (Now that it\u2019s my work, I do<\/em> think about those things!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, after a lot of back-and-forth\u2014many emails and quite a few Zoom meetings with the editor\u2014 here\u2019s how the first page finally took shape in Japanese:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u3042\u308b\u3000\u306a\u3064\u306e\u3000\u3042\u3055\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u3061\u3089\u3061\u3089\u3000\u3086\u308c\u308b\u3000\u3072\u304b\u308a\u306e\u306a\u304b\u3001<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u305d\u3088\u304b\u305c\u304c\u3000\u3075\u3044\u3066<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u3075\u3057\u304e\u306a\u3000\u3044\u304d\u3082\u306e\u304c\u3000\u3042\u3089\u308f\u308c\u305f\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u3084\u308f\u3089\u304b\u3044\u3000\u3057\u3070\u3075\u307f\u305f\u3044\u306b\u3000\u306f\u306d\u304c\u3000\u306a\u3073\u3044\u3066\u3001<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u305d\u3089\u306e\u3000\u306b\u304a\u3044\u304c\u3057\u305f\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u305d\u3057\u3066\u3000\u306a\u306b\u3082\u3000\u3044\u308f\u305a\u3001<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u304d\u3089\u304d\u3089\u3057\u305f\u3000\u76ee\u3067\u3000\u307c\u304f\u306b\u3000\u307b\u307b\u3048\u3093\u3060\u3002
<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n


My first draft leaned too heavily into poetic phrasing, especially around \u201cwith a brush of wind\u201d and \u201cflutter of sunlight,\u201d and the editor aptly pointed that out. Those phrases are poetic and have a delicate rhythm in English, so I wanted to capture that feel in Japanese, but it just didn\u2019t sit right. The final version became softer and more natural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another tricky issue was how much to use onomatopoeia or mimetic words. Japanese leans into them easily; English, on the other hand, often embeds those textures in the verbs themselves. I had to find a subtle balance\u2014enough to reflect the original, but not so much that it overwhelmed the tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translating between such distant languages, as many translators say, really comes down to how skillfully you can \u201cget it wrong\u201d\u2014or rather, how artfully you can deviate while staying true to the essence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But enough about translation. Let me tell you a bit about the story itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you saw on the first page, one summer morning, a soft, fluffy bird suddenly appears beside the boy (by the way, the summary of the English edition explicitly calls it an \u201cowl,\u201d so yes, it\u2019s an owl).
<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n


This is the beginning of you and me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be friends\u201d, says the boy. And, reading that, I realized\u2014I haven\u2019t said those words in a very long time. As adults, we rarely do. We just somehow become friends, without noticing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boy and the owl spend the entire summer together, playing and sharing their days. The look in the owl\u2019s eyes on that page\u2014how gentle.
<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n


But summer can\u2019t last forever. And eventually, the owl must go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did the boy know that they couldn\u2019t stay together forever? I especially love what the boy says on this page:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe we can stay here together, always,\u201d I said.
\u201cWe can have even more tomorrows just like today.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n


There\u2019s something so achingly innocent in those words\u2014of not knowing that separation is coming\u2014that it makes me want to cry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we\u2019re little, we don\u2019t really think about people separating. But life teaches us otherwise, we realize\u2014oh, we can\u2019t stay together forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people just accept it with a kind of lightness. Others, me included, struggle every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now, as an adult, I know this too: even when someone is gone, even when I know I\u2019ll never see them again, I\u2019ve learned to accept it\u2014and that, in time, I\u2019ll be okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And maybe that\u2019s what gives us the courage to meet new people and to say goodbye when the time comes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there someone you wish you could see one more time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the quiet afternoon,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

as the sunlight is blinking<\/p>\n\n\n\n

through the trees,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

we felt the warm air<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and heard the summer bugs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

buzzing in the grass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d like to say\u2014so I will\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that I love you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMe too,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading this book brings back memories of people you love. But it isn\u2019t just sadness. It\u2019s because of these warm memories that we can keep moving forward in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A friend of mine once told me: if you know goodbye is coming, then while you\u2019re still together, fill the time with as many precious memories as you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than getting caught up in words like \u201cforever\u201d or \u201cnever again,\u201d maybe we can simply be present\u2014in this moment, here and now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It isn\u2019t always easy. But looking someone in the eye and saying, \u201cI love you\u201d\u2014right now, in this moment\u2014is, I think, a kind of gentle courage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It tells them they matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it reminds you that you\u2019ll be okay, even after they\u2019re gone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I sometimes translate picture books, and about four months ago, a new one I worked on was published by Kagaku Dojin. It has a rather romantic title in Japanese\u2014Kimi to Sora no Shita de (which means, Under the Sky with You). Yay! The original English title is Under the Blanket Sky, the debut work of Tim Fischer, a U.S.-based author. He really does look like such a genuinely kind man. He\u2019s originally from Herkimer, New York, and this story was born from memories of the small town where he grew up. The entire picture book is filled with a soft, gentle light. I\u2019ve been fortunate to translate many picture books over the years, but this author\u2019s work\u2014both his writing and his illustrations\u2014shows a remarkable consistency of vision. Every line break feels deliberate; each sentence is shaped with rhythm and breath in mind. Which is to say\u2026 this was quite a challenging book to translate! This story begins like this: In the morning of a summer day,with a brush of windand flutter of sunlight,a strange creature appeared beside me. His feathers shivered like soft grass,he smelled like the sky,and though he did not say a word,he smiled at me with his bright eyes. It\u2019s\u2014how should I put it\u2014an opening that\u2019s lyrical, certainly, but it\u2018s more than that. His word choices vividly evoke the light, the scent, the textures of that moment: the flittering of light, the softness of feathers, the bright eyes. It feels as if you\u2019re drawn into the story\u2019s world without noticing. And so there I was, thinking, Oh no…how do I even begin to translate this? This is his debut work, and I could feel just how much love the author has poured into this book. I couldn\u2019t possibly ruin that with my translation. The editor asked me to \u201cretain the feeling of the original but also make it something that will resonate with Japanese readers\u201d. The truth is, I love the act of fiddling with words, of trying to capture nuance and breath and rhythm across languages. But I have a bad habit of forgetting there are …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1916,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_locale":"en_GB","_original_post":"https:\/\/ayumihashimoto.com\/?p=1887","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-en-blog","category-translation-en-blog","en-GB"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayumihashimoto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayumihashimoto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayumihashimoto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayumihashimoto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayumihashimoto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1958"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ayumihashimoto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1962,"href":"https:\/\/ayumihashimoto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958\/revisions\/1962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayumihashimoto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ayumihashimoto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayumihashimoto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ayumihashimoto.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}