Profile

Yui Kajita | 梶田 唯

I am a literary translator and illustrator, originally from the countryside of Japan — a small town on the south border of Kyoto. My book translations include Run with the Wind by Shion Miura (HarperVia), The Samurai Detectives by Shotaro Ikenami (Penguin), Diary of a Cat by Mayumi Nagano (MacLehose), and The Friday Bookshop by Sawako Natori (Berkley). Shorter translations — stories by Mayumi Inaba and Sachiko Kishimoto, poems by Yosano Akiko — have appeared in Modern Poetry in Translation, The Massachusetts Review, and Asymptote Blog, among others. Besides prose fiction and poetry, I also work on picture books, manga, and material for international art projects, such as TERASIA. I have a PhD in English literature from the University of Cambridge.

日英・英日翻訳者、イラストレーター。京都府南部の里山のある町と、ニューヨークの郊外で育つ。同志社大学文学部英文学科卒。ケンブリッジ大学英文学修士課程・博士課程修了。長編小説の英訳は『風が強く吹いている』（三浦しをん著）、『剣客商売』シリーズ（池波正太郎著）、『チマチマ記』（長野まゆみ著）、『金曜日の本屋さん』シリーズ（名取佐和子著）等。稲葉真弓や岸本佐知子の短編小説、与謝野晶子の詩の英訳も文芸雑誌に掲載されている。TERASIAなど国際的な芸術プロジェクトの翻訳にも携わった。

About me

Storytelling is a common thread that runs through everything I do — listening in to stories told by others and retelling them in new ways.

I juggle multiple hats: as a translator, I am drawn to texts in a wide range of styles, from heartful to unsettling, pensive to humorous, adventurous to serene. As an illustrator, I mainly work in ink and watercolor to create calming, dreamlike worlds with a touch of poetry.

After completing my PhD, I returned to art — my childhood dream — and started looking for a way to get my foot in the door of literary translation. Translation has always held a fascination for me, as I grew up straddling different cultures, and it was a natural transition from close reading in an academic setting to engaging with texts creatively. I am fortunate to call myself a full-time literary translator now (with a growing list of publications). If anyone is curious about my path, I’ve shared a part of the story here.

I’m most at peace when I’m getting lost in drawing, sinking into a book, or being in nature. A wide river flows through my hometown in Japan, surrounded by rice fields, bamboo forests, and mountains, and in New York, I grew up on a sycamore-lined street close to the sea. These days, I divide my time between Japan and a hilly town in Germany. I draw inspiration from wandering in the woods and climbing mountains whenever I can get away — and growing pumpkins on the balcony when the season comes.

Education

• University of Cambridge, PhD in English Literature (2015–19)
• University of Cambridge, MPhil in Modern and Contemporary Literature (2014–15)
• Doshisha University, BA in English Literature (2010–14)

Selected awards

• BCLA John Dryden Translation Competition (2022): Longlisted (Poems by Yosano Akiko, co-translated with Clara Marino)
• SCBWI-LA #KTIllustrates Contest (2021): Runner-up (Prompt: “Here you will find the dragon’s secret.”)
• The 5th JLPP International Translation Competition (2021): Shortlisted (Texts by Seiko Tanabe and Hiromi Ito)
• The Thomas Hardy Society Journal Cover Design Competition (2019): Winner
• University of Cambridge, Faculty of English, Member’s English Fund Scholarship for Academic Merit (2018)
• The Thomas Hardy Association Student Essay Prize (2018): First Place (Title: “Hardy’s Questioning”)
• JASSO Postgraduate Scholarship for PhD (2015–18) and MPhil (2014–15)
• Ikuei Award for Academic Excellence, Doshisha University (2012)
• The 5th Kyorin University Translation Contest (2009): First Place (Children’s story, EN to JP)

The words going out into the room seemed like actual presences, hard and independent; yet as she was listening they were changed by their contact with her.

– Virginia Woolf