The Japan Times has an interview with American writer Frederik Schodt, who translated the first five volumes of Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix into English (with Jared Cook).
The main subject of the interview is Schodt’s newly published book Native American in the Land of the Shogun, about Ranald MacDonald (no, that’s not a typo), a half-Chinook, half-Scottish explorer who traveled to feudal Japan. The book sounds fascinating to someone who, like me, is interested in both history and Japanese culture.
Schodt spent part of his youth in Japan, studied at the International Christian University in Tokyo, and went back to Japan as an adult. He’s in the happy position of being able to pick and choose which books to translate.
Fred thinks manga comics are wonderful entertainment, offering also “a straight view into the Japanese id, you might say. They are great fun, and also very useful to me in my line of work. Right now, with a friend (Jared Cook) I am translating one of the most famous manga series, Osamu Tezuka’s ‘Hi no Tori’ (‘The Phoenix’).”
Fred and Jared translated the first five volumes almost 30 years ago, but these were published in English only a few years ago, by Viz in San Francisco. “We’ve been commissioned to finish the series (12 volumes all told), so our work has come full circle. I’m also working on a short manga-related book of essays.”
I guess the rest of the world just caught up with him. If you happen to be in Tokyo, Schodt will be speaking at Good Day Books in Ebisu, Tokyo, on March 19 and at the Asiatic Society of Japan on March 20.