It was a pleasure to take part in the Japanese Language, Culture and the Art of Translation event at King’s College London, and to be able to share some of my Japanese experiences as a non-native speaker. The audience welcome was warm, and the conversation afterwards with Oliver Eccles provoked many interesting questions on the nature and limits of translation that I have been pondering since.
Professor Catherine Butler
11 June 2026
Japanese Language, Culture and the Art of Translation event series
Yuko Hasegawa-Arango and Aiko Otsuka
Discover how translation opens doors between cultures
In spring 2026, we hosted the Japanese Spring Event Series 2026 at King’s College London under the title Japanese Language, Culture and the Art of Translation. Across two events, the series explored how language, culture, and meaning travel across borders, and how translation opens doors between people, perspectives and experiences.
In the first of these, held on 25 April, guest speaker Professor Catherine Butler of Cardiff University addressed the questions of how elements of Japanese language and culture are conveyed into English in her lecture, 'Arrietty and Thomas: Case Studies in Culture and Translation', exploring what strands of meaning and nuance may be retained, adapted or potentially sacrificed in the process.
Following Professor Butler’s presentation, Oliver Eccles from the Doctoral Training Partnership Japanese Advanced Plus programme, joined her for a panel discussion examining the challenges that cultural differences, expectations and assumptions can pose to translation, with expressions that lose nuance – or become unintentionally absurd – when translated word for word.
The discussion explored phrases shaped by culture, concepts without straightforward equivalents, and meanings that resist literal interpretation. Thoughtful questions from the audience helped sustain a lively discussion, before participants continued the conversation in mini-workshops, brainstorming possible translations and solutions together.
It is one thing to be told about translation, that it involves imaginative choices and ideological compromises. It is something else entirely to actively grapple with those challenges and puzzles. The talk and workshop by Professor Catherine Butler and the Japanese team at King’s Language Centre provided us with just that opportunity. Smuggled inside the comforting familiarity of children's literature, we discovered the functional and philosophical changes made as stories travel between Japan and the UK. This was an inspiring afternoon of translation in practice, for Japanese language learners, literature students, and all of us moved by the enduring power of children's media from both countries.
Oliver Eccles
For the second event held on 9 May, discussion centred on the efforts of guest-speaker, playwright and theatre director Phillip Breen to bring Shakespeare’s King Lear – translated into Japanese from his own English-language adaptation - to the stage for a Japanese audience. Originally staged at the Milano-za Theatre in Tokyo and screened as part of the event, the production offered a striking example of translation in practice: Phillip directed in English through an interpreter, while the cast performed entirely in Japanese.
Joined once again by Oliver Eccles, the discussion considered how artistic vision, nuance and dramatic intention travel across languages and cultures, and what may be lost, adapted or reimagined in the process. Does translation inevitably alter the essential truth of an original work, even slightly? These were among the questions explored collectively during the panel discussion, enriched by live online contributions from members of Phillip’s King Lear creative team in Japan, including translator Hiromasa Kiuchi, interpreter Yoko Tokita and actor Masanobu Katsumura.
It was a very great pleasure to revisit this very special collaboration with colleagues, Tokita Yoko san, Hiromasa Kiuchi san and Masanobu Kastumura san. The abiding memory was of the final performance of course, but it was great to be transported back to the hours of translation, the thrilling thinking and ingenuity that went into this new Japanese text. How wonderful to be able to share this with an enthusiastic bilingual audience and hear them react to the film in London like our audiences reacted in person in Tokyo. Special thanks to Oliver Eccles san, who hosted the event with care, bilingual skill and enthusiasm for the act of translation.
Phillip Breen
What a privilege to hear not only about the efforts that went into translating King Lear into Japanese, but also the work that helped translate the director's vision onto the stage. Far from being considered a challenge, we were treated to discussion of the inspiration and possibilities therein, through an illuminating series of conversations between Phillip Breen (in person) and the actors, translators and interpreters (online) who worked alongside him. The subsequent screening of the Tokyo production left none of us in any doubt as to the power, ingenuity and emotion of the resulting work.
Oliver Eccles
Audience responses suggested that the production resonated strongly even with those unfamiliar with King Lear. Participants commented on the power of the performances, noting that the emotional impact of the production often transcended the language barrier, while the accompanying discussion offered valuable insight into the creative and translational processes behind the work.
The series was made possible with the support of The Sasakawa Foundation and the King’s Language Centre.
As the discussion across both events demonstrated, translation is not only a linguistic process but also a collaborative act of interpretation, shaping how meaning moves between people, culture and contexts.
In this story
Lecturer in Japanese Language Education
Lecturer in Japanese Language Education