About

About the author (English)

Background

Born in 1981 in Sendai, Miyagi, Yumi Tanaka moved to New Jersey at the age of four, and then to Bangkok at the age of fourteen, growing up learning in American, international, and Japanese schools. She returned to Japan to attend Chiba University and since, has worked for all-Japanese, all-international, and mixed environments, where her main job was to communicate with people in both languages. She currently translates manga & books and loves good contemporary fiction that has strong dialogue, with brownie points for characters she recognizes in real life.

Translations

Manga
The Failure at God School series/Modomu Akagawara, Original Story by Natsu Hyuuga, Character Design by Seikaisha/Yen Press
Aria of the Beech Forest/Yugiri Aika/Yen Press (Vol. 1-3)
Two A.M. at the Dining Table/Tomoyo Kondoh/Yen Press (Vol. 1 & 2)
Plus a long list of online series.

Books
Not yet published – but very excited to share the titles when they are!

Shortlisted for the 6th JLPP International Translation Competition (English) in 2021

Translating professionally since 2017 (J→E)

Context

More often than not, when I read a literary translator’s bio, they seem to contain long lists of intimidating academic achievements and prestigious awards. It is enough to give any sane person a very unhealthy dose of imposter syndrome.

So allow me to give you some context.

While I have built a career as a professional translator, I am also a mother of two, and at least according to my kids, I am “the best mom ever” (I’m serious. I have the mug). My daughter was born in 2009, and my son in 2020, and if you do the math, it means that when I entered the 6th JLPP competition—the only translating competition I have ever made time for—my son was just turning one, not yet going to daycare, and I was the sleep-deprived primary caregiver.

From 2015 to 2019, I was also a single mom. It’s actually how I got into translating professionally in the first place, thanks to the nudges of a couple of caring friends. They wisely foresaw that it would be a great way for me to support my family of two while giving me the flexibility to be there for my daughter when she needed me. They also had the kind of faith in me that I didn’t have in myself at the time.

So, there you have it. I’m definitely scrappy. I don’t have a lot of time, but when I do agree to a project, I go all in. I still love em dashes (see? I’m even loyal). I may not have the sort of credentials many other published translators seem to have, but to tell you the truth, I’m pretty proud of what I’ve achieved despite the circumstances. And, if you need any more proof that I have the skills to do the job, below is some feedback from my previous editors:

Feedback from editors

“You’re a really gifted translator. You’re able to really nicely tow that line between accuracy and making the content sound natural.” – A

“I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but seriously, no major edits as usual. Thank you for making this series such a breeze to check.” – B

“Holy moly, excellent job on this chapter! Got to the very end and saved the File, and when I looked back, I realized I didn’t need to make any changes whatsoever. Labeling was perfect, dialogue sounded great, SFX all good.” – C

“This was utterly amazing!! Everything flowed beautifully, it was well localized, and it all read very naturally… pretty much perfect! I tweaked very little, and most of the time, if I changed something, it was to one of your other suggestions.” – D

Original manga

I also draw/write original manga.

In fact, this site was originally created to offer some free bilingual content to Japanese English-learners (since I taught so many when I was an English instructor), which is why the English here is more straightforward than playful, and the translations closer to the Japanese structures than localized.

If you’d like to take a peek, I suggest you start with a readers’ favorite:
Confidence

Other favorites include:
Peanut Butter
Overwhelming
The Apple Doesn’t Fall Too Far From the Tree

作者紹介

経歴

1981年に仙台市で生まれ、4歳からニュージャージー州、14歳からバンコクに移住。アメリカンスクール・インター校・日本人学校（補習校含む）で学びながら育つ。千葉大学に通うため日本に帰国し、その後、日本人のみ・日本人以外（主に英語圏）・両者含むインターナショナルな職場環境で働き、英語・日本語のコミュニケーションをメインとする仕事につく。現在、漫画や本を翻訳し、活字に関しては会話が光る現代小説を好み、登場人物にリアルな人の面影が潜むと更に嬉しい。