Jay Rubin

Jay Rubin (born 1941) is an American academic and translator. He is one of the main translators of the works of the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami into English. He has also written a guide to Japanese, Making Sense of Japanese (originally titled Gone Fishin'), and a biographical literary analysis of Murakami.

Jay Rubin
Born1941 (age 81–82)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Chicago
Occupation(s)Academic, translator

Rubin was born in Washington, D.C., in 1941.[1] Rubin has a PhD in Japanese literature from the University of Chicago. He taught at the University of Washington for eighteen years, and then moved on to Harvard University, which he left in 2008. In his early research career he focused on the Meiji state censorship system. More recently Rubin has concentrated his efforts on Murakami and Noh drama. His publications include Modern Japanese Writers (Scribners, 2001) and Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words (Harvill, 2002; Vintage, 2005). His translation of 18 stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa appeared as a Penguin Classics in 2006. His debut novel, The Sun Gods, was released in May 2015 (Chin Music Press) and explores the relationship between a Japanese mother, Mitsuko, and her adopted, American son, Billy, as they face American internment during World War II.

Rubin also translated the "Thousand Years of Dreams" passages by Kiyoshi Shigematsu for use in the Japanese-produced Xbox 360 game Lost Odyssey.[2] In 2018, he edited The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories.[3]

Rubin's translation of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami won the 2003 Noma Award for the Translation of Japanese Literature.[4]

Translations
  • Sōseki, Natsume (1977). Sanshirō: A Novel. Translated by Rubin, Jay. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-95558-2.
  • Sōseki, Natsume (1988). The Miner. Translated by Rubin, Jay. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-1460-0.
  • Murakami, Haruki (1993). "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning". The Elephant Vanishes. Translated by Rubin, Jay. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-679-42057-6.
  • Murakami, Haruki (1997). The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Translated by Rubin, Jay. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-679-44669-9.
  • Murakami, Haruki (2000). Norwegian Wood. Translated by Rubin, Jay. New York: Vintage International. ISBN 978-0-375-70402-4.
  • Murakami, Haruki (2002). After the Quake. Translated by Rubin, Jay. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-375-41390-2.
  • Akutagawa, Ryūnosuke (2006). Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories. Translated by Rubin, Jay. London: Penguin Classics. ISBN 978-0-14-303984-6.
  • Murakami, Haruki (2007). After Dark. Translated by Rubin, Jay. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-26583-8.
  • Murakami, Haruki (2011). 1Q84 (Book 1 April–June and Book 2 July–September). Translated by Rubin, Jay. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-59331-3.
  • Rubin, Jay, ed. (2019). The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories. Translated by various. London: Penguin Classics. ISBN 978-0-241-31190-5.

Published works
  • Tansman, Alan and Dennis Washburn. (1997). Studies in Modern Japanese Literature: Essays and Translations in Honor of Edwin McClellan. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan. ISBN 0-939512-84-X (cloth)
  • Making Sense of Japanese: What the Textbooks Don't Tell You (Power Japanese Series, Kodansha's Children's Classics), Kodansha International (March 1, 2002), paperback, 144 pp., ISBN 978-4-7700-2802-0 – first published as Gone Fishin' (1992)[lower-alpha 1]
  • Rubin, Jay (2015). The Sun Gods. Seattle: Chin Music Press. ISBN 978-1-63405-950-3.

See also

Notes
  1. The title, "gone fishin'", is a subjectless sentence, which is a common construction in Japanese. The title was changed because purchasers were disappointed at the lack of coverage of fishing, finding this a misleading title for a book on Japanese grammar – see preface to retitled Making Sense of Japanese for discussion.

References
  1. Kokusai Kōryū Kikin; Association for Asian Studies (1989). Directory of Japan Specialists and Japanese Studies Institutions in the United States and Canada. Japan Foundation. p. 371. ISBN 978-0-924304-02-6.
  2. "Harvard's Rubin on translating 360 epic Lost Odyssey into English". MCV/DEVELOP. 17 March 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  3. Rollmann, Rhea (November 15, 2018). "'The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories' Is a Perfect Balance of Classic and Modern". PopMatters. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  4. Japan Info. Japan Informational Center, Consolate General of Japan. 2005. p. 6.
  • Jay Rubin – Harvard faculty homepage (archived)
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