“There’s a strange closeness you feel when reading (Osamu) Dazai, as if you know him, as a friend,” says "Retrograde" translator Leo Elizabeth Takada. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/09/22/books/osamu-dazai-new-translations/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #books #osamudazai #translation #japaneseliterature #books #literature #sambett #davidboyd
Why Japan’s most melancholic writer speaks to today’s youth

Osamu Dazai's works are enjoying a new boom of retranslations and readers 80 years after they were first published.

The Japan Times
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Directors on Their Successful Series Revamp and Season 2’s “Resistance Tale”

The five filmmakers — Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Michael Cuesta, Jeffrey Nachmanoff and David Boyd — had the unusual task of putting together a season following a creative overhaul, and it went surprisingly smooth.

The Hollywood Reporter
Tatsuhiko Shibusawa’s outlandish novel is based on a real-life Japanese prince who set out for India, only to go missing along the way. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2024/05/14/books/takaokas-travels/ #culture #books #takaokastravels #tatsuhikoshibusawa #davidboyd
‘Takaoka’s Travels’: A real-life royal turned monk’s fantastical romp

Tatsuhiko Shibusawa’s outlandish novel is based on a real-life Japanese prince who set out for India, only to go missing along the way.

The Japan Times

Nina Lakhani: UN expert attacks ‘exploitative’ world #economy in fight to save planet: Outgoing special rapporteur David Boyd says ‘there’s something wrong with our brains that we can’t understand how grave this is’

"The race to save the planet is being impeded by a global economy that is contingent on the exploitation of people and nature, according to the UN’s outgoing leading environment and human rights expert."

Boyd said: “I started out six years ago talking about the right to a healthy environment having the capacity to bring about systemic and transformative changes. But this powerful human right is up against an even more powerful force in the global economy, a system that is absolutely based on the exploitation of people and nature. And unless we change that fundamental system, then we’re just re-shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.”

#UN #ClimateChange #davidboyd
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/07/un-expert-human-rights-climate-crisis-economy

UN expert attacks ‘exploitative’ world economy in fight to save planet

Outgoing special rapporteur David Boyd says ‘there’s something wrong with our brains that we can’t understand how grave this is’

The Guardian
A wish list of hidden gems for Japanese literature lovers

Eight translators reveal their top Japanese books that English readers have yet to enjoy.

The Japan Times
The Stories of Eva Luna—#IsabelAllende tr. #MargaretSayersPeden
Liebe ist gewaltig—#ClaudiaSchumacher
All the Lovers in the Night—#MiekoKawakami tr. #SamBett and #DavidBoyd
Sibir—#SabrinaJanesch
Sodom and Gomorrah—#MarcelProust, tr. #JohnSturrock
Madgermanes—#BirgitWeyhe
May Ayim: Radikale Dichterin, sanfte Rebellin—#IkaHügelMarshall et al.
The cult literary figure's new collection of 11 stories unveil the chaos, conflict and pain of women rebelling against the desires of men and seeking messy self-actualization. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2023/05/07/books/book-reviews/hit-parade-of-tears/?utm_content=buffer7bbb2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=bffmstdn #culture #reviews #davidboyd #izumisuzuki #sambett #danieljoseph #helenohoran
'Hit Parade of Tears': Izumi Suzuki attacks genre and gender with twisted precision

The cult literary figure's new collection of 11 stories unveil the chaos, conflict and pain of women rebelling against the desires of men and seeking messy self-actualization.

The Japan Times
The World Goes On—#LászlóKrasznahorkai tr. #JohnBatki et al.
Breasts and Eggs—#MiekoKawakami tr. #SamBett and #DavidBoyd
Leonard und Paul—#RónánHession tr. #AndreaOBrien
Die Vereinten Nationen haben vor den tödlichen Folgen der Luftverschmutzung gewarnt. Pro Jahr seien rund sieben Millionen Tote durch verdreckte Luft zu beklagen, betonte der UN-Experte David Boyd in Genf. www.dw.com/de/dreckige-luft-is… #Umwelt #Luftverschmutzung #DavidBoyd #Weltumwelttag #VereinteNationen