The translation conference 2020, organized as part of a project to retranslate Anecdotes of Oyasama, was held via Zoom from September 29 to October 3. The conference was originally scheduled to be held in Hawaii, but the pandemic eliminated the possibility of an in-person event.
This project was launched on the initiative of the translation committees of the America and Canada Diocese and the Hawaii Diocese, and this is the third year of the project. This retranslation effort aims to produce a more accessible translation than the current version published in 1977.
There were a total of 24 participants from the U.S. mainland, Hawaii, and Japan. Attending from the mainland were Rev. Marlon Okazaki, Rev. Takahiko Hayashi, Rev. George Blesch, Rev. Robert Yuge, Rev. Michael Yuge, Rev. Hiroko Okazaki, Rev. Hamilton Niwa, Ms. Hanna Ryono, Mr. Hiromu Kamio, and Mr. Raymond Morishita. The participants from Hawaii were Rev. Tsunenori Ichise, Rev. Colin Saito, Rev. Setsuo Kakitani, Rev. Tad Iwata, Rev. Wesley Mikuni, Mrs. Taeko Nakao, Mrs. Rumi Miyauchi, Mr. Daniel Higaki, Mrs. Joy Robinson, and Ms. Janyce Imoto. From the Overseas Department, Translation Section Chief Masaharu Matsuda and Mr. Akihiro Yasuda took part in the conference. Also, Rev. Motonao Yasui and Mr. Jason Miyauchi joined the discussion from their homes in Japan.
The participants engaged in lively discussions while contemplating how things might have been when Oyasama was physically present. So far, half the 200 stories in Anecdotes of Oyasama have been discussed, and this project is expected to continue next year and beyond to review the drafts of the remaining stories.