I found the ending (which I won’t spoil here) curiously joyful, and I chose to translate it out of readerly pleasure. “Firstclaw” struck me as a skillfully wrought, surprising tale of a reclusive witch, a resourceful princess, and a brave king. That was a story scouting day for the ages! Hours later, Kashiwaba herself signed my book. I even exchanged bows with a window washer who floated by in his rigging. Since we are all stuck at home these days needing vicarious outings, I’ll share that I savored this book over chiffon cake in Maruzen’s third floor café, glancing out as JR local trains and bullet trains pulled in and out of Tokyo Station. I encountered this story on precisely the morning of October 24, 2018, in the large Maruzen Marunouchi bookstore in Tokyo, where I had gone to spend time before a meeting with the author. I started by asking her about her latest translation piece in Words Without Borders, and why she wanted to translate it.ĪFU: “Firstclaw” at Words Without Borders is my rendering of イチノツメと呼ばれた魔女 by Sachiko Kashiwaba, a fairy tale from her collection of linked tales, 王様に恋した魔女 (Kodansha, 2016). NH: I’m delighted to be interviewing Avery Fischer Udagawa, because I have a huge admiration for translators who focus on young readers. On Translation Columnist, Asian Books Blog
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