21 December 2012 ~ 25 Comments

What Are Japanese Saying About “Hi! My Name is Loco…”?

Misc.

Well, this reviewer doesn’t speak for all Japanese, of course (-;
But here’s what he had to say:

20121221-211601.jpg

Any of you Japanese students out there care to translate it?
Special prize for the first and most accurate translation!

Loco

PS: And if you haven’t read Hi! My Name is Loco and I am a Racist yet, what are you waiting for? A personal invitation? Check it out! It’s available in paperback and E-book version here.

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  • Mark Burns

    OK here’s a first attempt:

    This is Baye McNeil’s first book. It is discussing things such as his time as a child in New York and also after coming to Japan, etc. In his description of getting on the subway he starts off considering why there are empty seats next to him. And in that sees racial discrimination. Then this sentence, which I don’t want to misinterpret: 黒人への人種的偏見が空席となって現れると感じています。

    His style is logical, emotional and poetic. If you take someone like me who is not used to English literature, it takes a great deal of time to read.

    人は誰も人種とか宗教とか民族とかいろいろな枠の中で成長し人格形成するから、偏見から逃れられない
    この著者自身も、自分自身の側の偏見についても気付きを述べています。そして、偏見や思い込みを超えるには、一人の人間として、愛情や友情を通して、対等な人間として向き合うことが必要だという示唆があります。

    Going to give the rest another shot, now

    • Locohama

      Hey mark! Thanks, you’re off to a good start. I gt stumped a couple of times and decided to get som assistance

      • Mark Burns

        Yeah, are you aware of rikai-chan or rikai-kun for firefox/chrome? Might help if you’re not aware. Hopefully, there’s some better Japanese speakers on here though that can do a better job.

        • Locohama

          Thanks for the effort though (-: thought it might be an intetresting challenge for students. Yeah I put it through a few translators but I the ths things

  • Mark Burns

    I think this might be correct:

    黒人への人種的偏見が空席となって現れると感じています
    To a black man, it can feel that racial prejudice is visible by the presence of the empty seat.

    Not so sure how to express this:
    人は誰も人種とか宗教とか民族とかいろいろな枠の中で成長し人格形成するから、偏見から逃れられない
    As for people, anyone, race, religion, nation, etc枠の中 growth, character building, can’t escape prejudice

  • Osaka_101

    “He wrote about his childhood, his life in NY and then his life in Japan. He begins the book with the story of the “empty seat” next to him when he takes the subway. He feels it is racism and prejudice against black people. His writing style is logical, emotional and like a poem. If you are not used to read English, it takes time to read this book. He is forced to face prejudices because we are living together but people are different, as groups, religions and races. He also talks about his own prejudice. Beyond this, he thinks that people need to accept and face each other as equal people, with the help of love and friendship.”

    That’s the best I can do mate !

    • Locohama

      Osaka San, thanks yo! Thisis great as well…gonnahave ahead time choosing the “most accurate” that’s for sure. Maybe I’ll let readers decide with a poll hmmmm

  • Momotaro

    Hey Loco, long time no post!

    How’s this:

    This is Baye McNeil’s first work, where he writes about his experiences including his childhood in New York and his time spent in Japan. The book starts with the author contemplating his experiences on Japanese trains, where the seat next to him is always being left vacant, conveying to the reader how this stems from racial discrimination and prejudice towards black people. His style contains rational, emotional and poetic elements, and for an inexperienced reader of English like myself it took a substantial amount of time to get through the book. All people of all races are all brought up within their respective religious and ethnic frameworks and escaping prejudice is impossible, with even the author himself portraying his personal prejudices, past and present. The book goes on to conclude that to rise above prejudice and false assumptions, one must confront this traversing through love and friendship as a single magnanimous being.

    • Locohama

      Whoa! This is fantastic Paul! Thanks man! Just made me realize that I am far from being qualified to assess whose translatin is the best. May need to it together a blue ribbon commission lol thanks again man. Especially love that “magnanimous” ending. Was that a bit of poetic license there? (-;

      • Momotaro

        Hey Loco, the magnanimous part involved a little bit of poetic license, only because the straight translation sounded very awkward, so I just tweaked it a bit to make it appear a bit more natural.

        Next time it is probably better for people to individually send you their translation rather than posting them publicly :-)

  • http://wherethestreetshavenoname.jimdo.com/ tonykeyesjapan

    It’s not dictionary perfect, but I think I got the spirit of it.

    Tony
    (Never got round to reviewing it myself, so glad to be able to give something back.)

    ————————————–
    by Hide

    This is Baye McNiel’s first work.
    He writes about his childhood,
    growing up in New York, and coming to Japan.
    His story begins when he notices an empty
    seat beside him on the subway.
    He feels this happens because of discrimination
    and racial prejudice against black people.
    His approach is logical, emotional, poetic, so it
    may take a long time for readers (like me)
    who are not used to English.
    All people grow up in the framework of race, religion,
    and nationality, so we cannot escape such prejudice.
    The author realises and writes about his own prejudices,
    and realises that as a person, to overcome those
    prejudices and misconceptions takes love and friendship,
    and accepting other people as your equals.

    • Locohama

      Thanks Tony! Looking good, let’s see what the survey says once we get them all in (-;

  • Thuruk

    Still far from being able to translate that as good as you guys, I only drop by to thank loco for this excellent book.

    Very insightful for someone not usually having to deal with racism of any kind. I’d buy it again. :-)

    • Locohama

      Thanks yo! Hope you told all your friends and did a review on some prominent site where it’ll be seen like gooodreads or amazon. If not, get on it. Would love to hear your thoughts

  • http://durf.org/ Durf

    Reposting from your G+ page:

    How do you perceive those empty subway seats?

    This is Baye McNeil’s first work. In it he writes about his childhood, experiences from his time in New York, things that have happened since he came to Japan, and more.

    The narrative begins with his observation that the seats around him on the subways in Japan always seem to be empty. This is racial discrimination, he feels: prejudice against people of African descent appears in the form of these empty seats.

    His writing style is at times logical, at times emotional, at times poetic, making this a book that takes some time to read if you’re not used to English (like me).

    All people grow up within frameworks of race, religion, ethnicity, and the like. This forms our personalities and there is no escape from the prejudices that come with them. The author writes about his realization that he, too, bears prejudices within him. To go beyond these prejudices, these ideas we cling to, his work hints, we must find our place as an individual human and face other humans on an equal footing, through love and friendship.

  • Locohama

    Thanks Peter! Kick ass translation! Definitely a front runner

  • http://www.danielmcbane.com Daniel McBane

    I was going to give this a shot, but plenty of people have already translated this better than I could, so I’ve just used it as a study aid instead. So thanks for that.

    I think you should put this to a reader vote and let us decide which translation is best.

    • Locohama

      Thanks Daniel I was thinking the same thing!

  • http://www.intokyotown.tk Tokyo Joe

    It’s a good review friend. Four stars! Congratulations on your success friend, and I sure hope it continues in the New Year. Peace, Tokyo Joe. http://www.tokyojoe.tk

  • http://rudeboyabroad.blogspot.ca Rude Boy Abroad

    So hey, is your book on shelves here? I don’t have a credit card or anything so I don’t do the e-book stuff.

    • Locohama

      Not that I’m aware of )-: not yet. I’m working on it though.

    • Momotaro

      Hi Rude Boy, you do know that payment for sites like Amazon can be made at a convenience store without the need for credit cards? Quite simple to do.

      • Momotaro

        Or for the physical book you can do pay on delivery.

      • Locohama

        Thanks Momotaro!! I didn’t even know about that! wow, how cool is that!

      • http://rudeboyabroad.blogspot.ca Rude Boy Abroad

        I did not know, I’ll have to make use of that! Thank you for the information ^-^