PROFILE Author & Translator

Author: Motohiko Izawa

Born in Japan, 1954, Nagoya native and Waseda University Law graduate Motohiko Izawa began his career as a political news correspondent for TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System). While working as a reporter in 1980, Izawa became the twenty-sixth recipient of the Edogawa Rampo literary award for his novel Sarumaru genshi-kō (The Illusionary Travels of Sarumaru). In addition to being a writer of historical nonfiction and mystery novels, Izawa is an essayist and critic whose work covers a variety of current events and issues. Available in hardback, paperback, and illustrated formats, Izawa’s Gyakusetsu no Nihonshi (The Paradoxical Japanese History) series has sold over 4.8 million copies, making it one of Japan’s all-time best sellers. Other notable titles include Tennō ni narō to shita shōgun (The Shogun Who Wished to Become Emperor), Kotodama (Words: the Soul Within), and Kegare to chawan (Defilement and the Tea Bowl).

Translator: Matthew Hunter

            Photo  © Graham Hicks

Matthew Hunter is a best-selling translator, editor, copywriter, and ADR script writer who lives and works in San Francisco. After graduating from the University of San Francisco with a BA in Japanese language, Matthew went on to receive his MA in Japanese language and translation from Oita University and San Francisco State University. Over the past decade, Matthew has translated and localized works for publication across a broad spectrum of genres and styles, from art and architecture, to technical translation, literature, history, and anime. Publications include the best-sellingTadao Ando: Conversations with Students (Princeton Architectural Press), and Motohiko Izawa’s An Upside-Down History of the World, Vol.1 (Shogakukan). In addition to being the translator and editor for Shogakukan's popular monthly web magazine, BOOK PEOPLE, Matthew is the producer, translator, and ADR script writer for the English version of the long-running anime adaptation of Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo's Bizarre Adventure for broadcast on national TV and home video.