10 January 2006
Bungei's Hoshino Tomoyuki Special Issue + a Book Jacket Gallery
From Hoshino's online diary entry of 1/7/06:
"For some reason I've published a new book in January for three years in a row. This year, it's The Story of Rainbow and Chloe (Kawade Publishing), which goes on sale today."
The Bungei Hoshino Tomoyuki Special Issue features a new short story by Hoshino ("The Fatherless Kids' Club"), some pieces on his background and works, and all sorts of interviews essays, and props, including some with/by Tsushima Yûko, Matsuura Rieko, Shimada Masahiko (who has been a guest of UI's International Writing Program), and Yamada Eimi (just to name a few). Hoshino also provides his own commentaries on his works and some pictures.
January 14 update:
I'm reading through the new Tomoyuki Hoshino Special Issue of the literary journal Bungei, and one light-hearted (yet telling) passage made me laugh. It veers from our theme, but I decided to post this for Japanese film and pop culture enthusiasts. Masahiko Shimada poses the following question to Hoshino: "If they were going to make one of your works into a movie, which one would you want it to be? And how would you cast it?"
Hoshino replies: "Naburiai, directed by Seijun Suzuki. With Kaela Kimura as Petite, Ringo Sheena as Grande, and Masanobu Andô as Medio. I'd also like it if they made it a musical."
I was a little surprised, but I would like to see that movie too. Here's a very quickly penned (well, typed) translation from Naburiai since I know many will not have read it. (There are no gender markers in this passage in the original – other than those that might be associated with the characters' names.)
I gave my eyelids, which felt as dry as cornflakes, a good rub and then looked around the room again. Two people were curled up asleep on the wooden floor. Grande, the bigger of the two, slept in a Vassallo kick pose, as if launching into a backstroke with both arms outstretched from behind the ears and up above the head. The liquid light from the aquarium fell on those ears and spread to the scruff of the neck. The smaller one, Petite, had both arms tucked in tightly between the thighs, just like a folded-up collapsible umbrella. My leather jacket lay between the two of them like a cast-off hide. I had been sleeping face down in that hide. The three of us must have been forming the Chinese character for river, 川, on the floor in our sleep.
And here's a little more from later on in the story:
As soon as we finished work, I asked the two if they’d like to go enjoy some sunshine and beer in the grassy park. We asked an employee for directions to a liquor store, bought a pack of Tecates, and headed to the park. The sunning bench was very warm, as if a cat had just finished resting there. The three of us sat down in unison, stretched out our legs, sighed, and looked one another in the face. All of our expressions were relaxed, dripping with irrepressible smiles. The dazzlingly bright sun drew a sunny scent from our faces. We opened the bottles, toasted a perfunctory “kanpai” as if reciting a magic spell, clinked our bottles together, downed the contents – purging the bottles of their spirits, sighed yet again, sat back deep into the bench, and on my left, Petite let out a “oh, that’s good” mixed in with a long breath.
“The sun here is fabulous! Isn’t this park the perfect spot for drinking beer?” Grande squinted and looked up at the sun. I nodded my head in sincere agreement. The sweet fragrance of daphne flowers drifted in from somewhere. “Everyone is so uptight. I’ve invited them out many times, but all they ever want to do is sip tea.”
“When you say ‘everyone’, do you mean Satô and the rest?” Petite’s breath emanated dorsally and pushed across me over to Grande.
“No, no, the company people are hopeless. I meant the other translators' cliques.”
“Oh, the cliques. Why do people swarm together in cliques like that anyway?” I picked up a plum blossom that had fallen at my feet. The stamen was hairy like eyelashes and looked a little obscene.
"For some reason I've published a new book in January for three years in a row. This year, it's The Story of Rainbow and Chloe (Kawade Publishing), which goes on sale today."
The Bungei Hoshino Tomoyuki Special Issue features a new short story by Hoshino ("The Fatherless Kids' Club"), some pieces on his background and works, and all sorts of interviews essays, and props, including some with/by Tsushima Yûko, Matsuura Rieko, Shimada Masahiko (who has been a guest of UI's International Writing Program), and Yamada Eimi (just to name a few). Hoshino also provides his own commentaries on his works and some pictures.
January 14 update:
I'm reading through the new Tomoyuki Hoshino Special Issue of the literary journal Bungei, and one light-hearted (yet telling) passage made me laugh. It veers from our theme, but I decided to post this for Japanese film and pop culture enthusiasts. Masahiko Shimada poses the following question to Hoshino: "If they were going to make one of your works into a movie, which one would you want it to be? And how would you cast it?"
Hoshino replies: "Naburiai, directed by Seijun Suzuki. With Kaela Kimura as Petite, Ringo Sheena as Grande, and Masanobu Andô as Medio. I'd also like it if they made it a musical."
I was a little surprised, but I would like to see that movie too. Here's a very quickly penned (well, typed) translation from Naburiai since I know many will not have read it. (There are no gender markers in this passage in the original – other than those that might be associated with the characters' names.)
I gave my eyelids, which felt as dry as cornflakes, a good rub and then looked around the room again. Two people were curled up asleep on the wooden floor. Grande, the bigger of the two, slept in a Vassallo kick pose, as if launching into a backstroke with both arms outstretched from behind the ears and up above the head. The liquid light from the aquarium fell on those ears and spread to the scruff of the neck. The smaller one, Petite, had both arms tucked in tightly between the thighs, just like a folded-up collapsible umbrella. My leather jacket lay between the two of them like a cast-off hide. I had been sleeping face down in that hide. The three of us must have been forming the Chinese character for river, 川, on the floor in our sleep.
And here's a little more from later on in the story:
As soon as we finished work, I asked the two if they’d like to go enjoy some sunshine and beer in the grassy park. We asked an employee for directions to a liquor store, bought a pack of Tecates, and headed to the park. The sunning bench was very warm, as if a cat had just finished resting there. The three of us sat down in unison, stretched out our legs, sighed, and looked one another in the face. All of our expressions were relaxed, dripping with irrepressible smiles. The dazzlingly bright sun drew a sunny scent from our faces. We opened the bottles, toasted a perfunctory “kanpai” as if reciting a magic spell, clinked our bottles together, downed the contents – purging the bottles of their spirits, sighed yet again, sat back deep into the bench, and on my left, Petite let out a “oh, that’s good” mixed in with a long breath.
“The sun here is fabulous! Isn’t this park the perfect spot for drinking beer?” Grande squinted and looked up at the sun. I nodded my head in sincere agreement. The sweet fragrance of daphne flowers drifted in from somewhere. “Everyone is so uptight. I’ve invited them out many times, but all they ever want to do is sip tea.”
“When you say ‘everyone’, do you mean Satô and the rest?” Petite’s breath emanated dorsally and pushed across me over to Grande.
“No, no, the company people are hopeless. I meant the other translators' cliques.”
“Oh, the cliques. Why do people swarm together in cliques like that anyway?” I picked up a plum blossom that had fallen at my feet. The stamen was hairy like eyelashes and looked a little obscene.
