“Translation in Progress” – Japan-Ireland Literary Exchange
2026/5/5
Mr HAYAKAWA Kenji at the James Joyce Centre (photo taken in May 2026)
The James Joyce Centre (photo taken in May 2026)
On 5 May, at the James Joyce Centre in Dublin, Ambassador MIYAGAWA and Ms ONOZAKI, Researcher at the Embassy of Japan, attended a talk by Mr HAYAKAWA Kenji on his experience translating “Finnegans Wake” by James Joyce from English into Japanese.
His translation of the whole of “Finnegans Wake” is in progress. The translator aims to complete it in the next ten years, continuing to make steady progress. The audience was absorbed into his passion and various innovative experiments of translation. Mr HAYAKAWA so freely crosses the boundaries of language. He introduced passages from the original text and his Japanese translation, often with rhyme and alliteration, and occasionally even in song. It felt as if a Sherpa was guiding us into the world of James Joyce.
The Embassy of Japan in Ireland warmly supports Mr HAYAKAWA’s further success as he finds and shares a sense of fulfilment with the people around him in building bridges between Ireland and Japan through literature.
His translation of the whole of “Finnegans Wake” is in progress. The translator aims to complete it in the next ten years, continuing to make steady progress. The audience was absorbed into his passion and various innovative experiments of translation. Mr HAYAKAWA so freely crosses the boundaries of language. He introduced passages from the original text and his Japanese translation, often with rhyme and alliteration, and occasionally even in song. It felt as if a Sherpa was guiding us into the world of James Joyce.
The Embassy of Japan in Ireland warmly supports Mr HAYAKAWA’s further success as he finds and shares a sense of fulfilment with the people around him in building bridges between Ireland and Japan through literature.