Interview with ‘Japanamerica’ author Roland Kelts on ‘Monkey Business’

Taking its name from the immortal Chuck Berry tune, the debut English-language edition of Monkey Business: New Voices from Japan is based on the annual Tokyo-based Japanese literary magazine founded in 2008 by award-winning translator, scholar, editor and author Motoyuki Shibata, one of Japan’s best known and most highly regarded translators of American fiction. The first installment offers poetry, Kafka-adapted manga, a wide-ranging, in-depth interview with Haruki Murakami, and much more. And despite its mischievous title, twenty-five percent of all Monkey Business sales will go toward the Nippon Foundation/CANPAN Northeastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.

Roland Kelts is the author of 2006’s Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. and a curator and editor for Monkey Business. A weekly columnist for The Daily Yomiuri, commentator for National Public Radio, and teacher of Japanese popular culture at New York University and the University of Tokyo (he splits his time between both cities), Kelts is back in town this week for the new book’s launch, beginning April 30 at Asia Society, May 1 at BookCourt in Brooklyn, and May 3 at Japan Society. I caught up with Kelts during his recent appearance at Seattle’s Sakura-Con for this exclusive interview.

How did you get involved as an editor and curator for this book?

Ted Goossen, translator, scholar and editor of The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories, and translator and scholar Motoyuki Shibata, both friends of mine, started the project four years ago. They were trying to find ways to get something similar to the bestselling Oxford book, but featuring newer material, into the hands of English-language readers. Goossen loved Monkey Business, Shibata's magazine, and proposed creating an English-language edition featuring the best and/or most appropriate materials for a translated edition. They chose both pre- and post-War works, and eventually shared the manuscript with me.

As a contributing editor at A Public Space, a literary magazine based in Brooklyn, I was keen to build another bridge between the two countries. I had curated a portfolio of Japanese literature for the magazine's first issue in 2006. So I talked with Brigid Hughes, founding editor of A Public Space, about publishing an English-language Monkey Business, and she was interested. APS's Anne McPeak then vetted the translated manuscript very carefully. We received a grant from the Nippon Foundation, and the Japan Foundation, the Asia Society and the Japan Society all supported our project. I am deeply grateful to all parties involved.

What can readers expect from the book?

The freshest, newest, most exciting contemporary literature, poetry and manga from Japan, plus some American voices, like Barry Yourgrau, who have emerged as major American authors in Japan.

How did you select the pieces for the English version?

Shibata and Goossen made the selections, which cover a broad territory. They include some older material alongside new works, bring together Haruki Murakami, Yoko Ogawa and Hiromi Kawakami in a single volume, and introduce Hideo Furukawa, a rising literary star in Japan. The poetry selections include haiku, tanka and free verse. And American author Barry Yourgrau's short fictions, written for a Japanese audience and translated by Shibata into Japanese, are also in the mix.

What are the biggest challenges of translating and editing Japanese creative writing into English?

It’s not as simple as it sounds. You need to choose the material that will speak to American readers, who, after all, are limited and defined by their cultural context. Not every successful book in Japan will speak to American readers. You need cultural authorities on both sides of the Pacific Ocean to make a valuable publication.

How was A Public Space chosen as the publisher?

A Public Space had enormous success with its first issue, which featured contemporary Japanese writers like Haruki Murakami and Yoko Ogawa. I work with APS, thus it was a natural partnership.

Tell us about your upcoming appearances in New York.

These are unprecedented events related to an unprecedented publication: Japanese writers, editors and translators are flying to New York to join American authors and editors in one-of-a-kind discussions. Nothing like this has ever been attempted or accomplished. I will be a facilitator, reader and bridge-builder. And I am deeply honored.

What characteristics can you identify with contemporary Japanese fiction? How does it differ from what’s in the U.S.?

As Haruki Murakami and Shibata have noted, the two literatures, American and Japanese, have become more deeply entwined in recent years. The sense of apocalypse, chaos and dread are embedded in our countries, and our artists are beginning to come to terms with them.

Some of your favorite pieces in Monkey Business are…

So many to mention—but I love Hideo Furukawa’s vision of Tokyo inhabited by monsters, everything by Hiromi Kawakami, and the chat between Haruki Murakami and Furukawa. I’m also partial to the manga of Kafka’s “A Country Doctor” and Barry Yourgrau’s Japan-inspired short stories.

You’ve been working on a novel of your own called Access for years now. What can you tell us about it, and how’s it coming along?

Very close to completion. I think it’s a masterpiece, but I’m partial, of course. It’s a cross-cultural narrative built upon sex and longing—both close to my heart.

What made you want to be a writer, and who are your biggest influences?

I liked writing stories from an early age, around ten, I think, and my biggest influences are Shakespeare, Osamu Dazai, Dostoevsky and Salinger. DeLillo and Salter figure in, as does Duras.

It’s been said that to America, Japan is better-known for its art and entertainment over the individuals who create it. What do you think about the success of someone like novelist Haruki Murakami here, and what would you say is a key factor for his success?

Haruki is very comfortable in American contexts, and speaks excellent English. He also spends lots of time here, living in Boston and Princeton, and appearing in places like Seattle, Berkeley and elsewhere. I can only hope that other Japanese artists will be similarly bold in their approaches to America. One of the reasons we’re hosting events in New York with so many Japanese writers is to encourage such exchanges.

What other Japanese writers would you like to see get similar attention?

Kazushige Abe, Masaya Nakahara and Yoko Ogawa, among many others.

As a participant of Japan's international exchange-based JET Program, what were your biggest takeaways from your experience that you’ve applied to your career today?

I learned how to live and work in Japan—an invaluable lesson.

As of now, are there plans to release future annual editions of Monkey Business in English? Are digital editions in the works?

We’re planning a second edition next year, for 2012. We are negotiating with various suitors for digital editions on Kindle and iBooks.

What other writing projects of yours can we look forward to?

I am working on two nonfiction projects: One on what we Americans can learn from Japan after the quake; the other on half-Americans like myself, Korean- and Chinese-Americans, and current U.S. president Barack Obama, who is himself a “half.” I should have three new books in the coming two years.

Roland Kelts will appear with Monkey Business editors and contributors on April 30 as part of the Word from Asia lecture series at Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, 2:30 p.m.; May 1 for the Monkey Business launch party at Brooklyn’s BookCourt, 163 Court Street, 7:00 p.m.; and May 3 for the Contemporary Japanese Storytelling lecture and reception at Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street, 6:30 p.m. Click venue links for addition details. For more information and to order Monkey Business, go to www.apublicspace.org/pre-order_monkey_business.html. Visit Roland online at http://japanamerica.blogspot.com.

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