Sweet Bean Paste.
Translated by Alison Watts.
London: Oneworld Publications, 2017.
(First published in Japan by Poplar Publishing Co., 2013; revised edition, 2015.)
Book Information : Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com; Goodreads.
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Author Information :
- ドリアン助川 (b. 1962), pen name / psuedonym of Tetsuya Akikawa, Wikipedia Japan.
(Google Translate presents his name with four slightly different spellings in this article: Durian Sukekawa, Durian Sukegawa, Dorian Sukegawa, Dorian Sukekawa.) - Tetsuya Sukegawa, Meiji Gakuin University.
- 助川 哲也 ; SUKEGAWA Tetsuya, The Faculty of International Studies, Meiji Gakuin University.
- あん (小説), first published 2013, revised edition 2015, movie 2015; English translation published as Sweet Bean Paste; Wikipedia Japan.
- Sweet Bean Paste, 2017; Wikipedia English.
- "Author of novel on leprosy stresses every life has meaning in lecture," The Mainichi, 15 September 2018.
- Alison Watts and Durian Sukegawa, "An Introduction to Durian Sukegawa’s A Dosimeter on the Narrow Road to Oku." Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, Volume 21, Issue 5, Number 1, 15 May 2023.
- Durian Sukegawa, "Cycling the Narrow Road to the Deep North: Thoughts, Sights, and Encounters," translated by Alison Watts, Asymptote, April 2020.
(This excerpt from A Dosimeter on the Narrow Road to Oku does not overlap with the one published in Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus above. I recommend reading the Asia-Pacific Journal one first since it covers the beginning of Sukegawa's journey and ends with his arrival in Nasu while the Asymptote excerpt continues, after an introduction, with stories of people he met while in Nasu and later in his journey.) - "Travelogue as Moral Inquiry: Cycling the Narrow Road to the Deep North [PDF], A Primal Design: Spring 2020 Educator’s Guide, Asymptote, 2020, pages 5-9.
(This is a collection of lesson plans for teachers using the excerpt from Asymptote above.)
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Translator Information :
- Alison Watts: Japanese to English Literary Translator.
- List of other books translated by Alison Watts at her website Alison Watts.
- Alison Watts, LinkedIn.
- Alison Watts, Words Without Borders.
- Deborah Iwabuchi, "The Saga of Sweet Bean Paste: A Conversation with Alison Watts," SCBWI Japan Translation Group.
- Alison Watts, "Literary Journeys: Living Through Art in the Wake of Disaster," Words Without Borders, 11 March 2019.
- Christopher Hermelin, "Alison Watts: The Life of a Translator and Reading for Fun When Your Job is in the Literary World," So Many Damn Books, 13 December 2022.
- "Ms Alison Watts," St Mark's College, North Adelaide, South Australia.
(Biography and interview of an alumna of the college.) - Watts Sashiko, Alison Watts' website about Sashiko (a type of embroidery).
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Wikipedia Articles :
- Leprosy in Japan.
- Tama Zenshoen Sanatorium, appears as "Tenshoen" in Sweet Bean Paste.
- National Hansen's Disease Museum (Japan), mentioned in Sweet Bean Paste.
- Cannabis in Japan; the character Sentaro in Sweet Bean Paste spent two years in prison for a cannabis offense.
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