Winning Work

< Translator’s Comments >When I was approached to translate Golden Kamui, I felt delight as a reader, but also apprehension that it would be a daunting task, and I wavered dramatically between these two emotions. This was because, in addition to the inevitable difficulty that comes with such an elaborate text, there were a number of challenges particular to this work, including re-writing Ainu words, military and botanical terms that have no equivalent in French, and transposing the cultural background.
In the end, however, I decided to give it a try. The apprehension that I felt at first gave way to satisfaction. A translator is generally someone who works in solitude, but because I was consulting with my editors in France and Japan while I created the glossary of Ainu terms, that tradition fell away, and it was this that taught me that new language. Also, as part of my research, I twice climbed up snow-covered mountains in Hokkaido, and I found that there was an astonishingly rich culture there. So here, I want to say: “Thank you, Golden Kamui!”

< Synposis > Saichi Sugimoto is a true legend of the Russo-Japanese War, which took place at the start of the 20th century. Known as the “Immortal Sugimoto”, he escapes life-or-death situations in Hokkaido, Japan’s wildest frontier. However, after the war ends, he finds himself penniless and alone. Then, he hears of a legendary stash of 75 kilograms of gold, treasured by the Ainu people, who live in harmony with nature. However, that gold is said to have been stashed away by a man held in Abashiri prison, a facility for dangerous criminals. The only clue to the gold’s location is a mysterious tattoo drawn on the body of an escaped inmate. Sugimoto’s treasure hunt begins now!