[No. 16] Kaoruko Tanaka

I have loved books since I was a child. At first, of course, I read picture books and children's books. But even after I entered junior high school and started reading literature for adults, my love for children's books never changed. Slightly strange and fun stories like *Curious George*, *Mrs. Pepperpot*, *The Little Country Nobody Knows*, and *Professor Poppen* are still my dear friends.

It was in high school that I encountered the beautiful and playful illustrations of Mitsumasa Anno and decided I wanted to create science picture books like his math picture books. So, without hesitation, I chose to pursue a science track for my career path. Looking back, how simple-minded I was.

Following that same path, I joined the Children's Culture Study Group at university. I had intended to join the group for creating children's stories, but I was so overwhelmed by the power of a live puppet show I saw that I jumped into the cultural properties section, which was known as the "jock" section among the cultural clubs. Touring children's centers and elementary schools around the country to perform puppet shows was truly hard work for someone like me with little stamina—just remembering it now makes me feel dizzy—but those were also very fulfilling days.

The reason I chose the Department of Physics in my third year was also very simple. I was drawn by the opportunity to create holography in an experiment. The reason I joined the Chikazumi Lab (now the Miyajima Lab) was also simple. I admired Professor Chikazumi's personality, and I wanted to learn a little more about electromagnetism, which Professor Miyajima had compared to "dried squid that gets tastier the more you chew it."

The research theme for my graduation thesis was high-temperature superconductivity, which was a huge topic at the time. My research involved investigating how the properties of yttrium, barium, and copper changed depending on their mixing ratios. I believe for one hundred and sixty-five different ratios, we had to grind each mixture five thousand times in a mortar (which takes about an hour), press and pre-sinter it, then crush it again, grind for another hour, and re-sinter it. I had partners for sample preparation, so it wasn't just me spending three hundred and thirty hours with a mortar, but it was quite the heavy labor. Thanks to that, however, I became able to easily cream butter, whip cream, and beat eggs for my baking hobby without a hand mixer.

Feeling that it was a terrible waste of time to just mindlessly keep grinding, I read books while I worked. Not physics books, but all fantasy (sorry, professor). It might have been a form of escapism, but once I decided to read through every paperback I could get my hands on, the mortar time was no longer a pain. The fact that I devoured fantasy books at that time is connected to my current work, so you never know what will come in handy in life.

I put my dream of creating science picture books on hold for the time being and went to work for Sony Corporation after graduation. I was fortunate to meet many wonderfully talented people. But when I started to want to be able to work from home, what came to mind were the delightful picture books and children's books from overseas that I had enjoyed as a child. I immediately began studying translation and was instantly captivated by its charm.

The more I study, the more I feel how profound translation is! English reading comprehension is of course important, but even more so, you need the ability to gather information, to grasp the situation described in the text, and to render that understanding into the appropriate Japanese context. I was truly grateful to be able to work with the children's book editorial department at Tokuma Shoten, thanks to an introduction from my teacher at translation school, Ms. Asako Sakazaki. What made me especially happy was being able to translate the works of Diana Wynne Jones, a fantasy author I love from the bottom of my heart. Her stories are the kind that make you want to shout, "It's such a waste not to know about these amazing books! You absolutely have to read them!"

This year, I am working on another fantasy series by a different British author. This story is also incredibly engrossing once you start reading, and I am thoroughly enjoying translating it. I strive every day, hoping that the rich imagery and emotion of the original work can be conveyed as closely as possible in the translation. Just like physics research, I believe that translation is also a "lifelong study."