Frederik L. Schodt
Encyclopedia
Frederik L. Schodt is an American translator
, interpreter
and writer
.
Schodt's father was in the US foreign service, and he grew up in Norway, Australia, and Japan. The family first went to Japan in 1965 when Schodt was fifteen. They left in 1967 but Schodt remained to graduate from Tokyo's American School in Japan, in 1968. After entering the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1970 Schodt returned to Japan, and studied Japanese intensively at International Christian University (I.C.U.) for a year and half. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1972, and after a brief bohemian stint at a variety of jobs and traveling became a tour guide in Los Angeles for Japanese tourists, also escorting them to Canada and Mexico. After trying to interpret for a group once at Sunkist, he realized that he could become an interpreter, but needed further training. In 1975, he was awarded a scholarship from Japan's Ministry of Education, to return to I.C.U. and study translation and interpreting. After finishing his studies at I.C.U. in 1977, he began working in the translation department of Simul International, in Tokyo. In mid-1978 he returned to the United States, and since then has worked in San Francisco as a free-lance writer, translator, and interpreter.
While working in Tokyo in 1977, he joined with several university friends in contacting Tezuka Productions
. They sought permission to translate the Phoenix
comic into English.
Schodt is notable in manga
and anime
fandom for his translations of works such as Osamu Tezuka
’s Phoenix
, Tezuka’s Astro Boy
, Riyoko Ikeda
’s The Rose of Versailles
, Keiji Nakazawa
’s Barefoot Gen
, and others.
His best known book is Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics
, published in 1983 and reprinted several times, with an introduction
by Tezuka. Manga! Manga! won a prize at the Manga Oscar Awards in 1983. Furthermore, in 2000 Schodt was awarded the Asahi Shimbun
’s Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize "Special Prize" for his outstanding contribution to the appreciation of manga worldwide.
, Japan Related, Animag, Animerica
and others.
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
, interpreter
Interpreting
Language interpretation is the facilitating of oral or sign-language communication, either simultaneously or consecutively, between users of different languages...
and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Schodt's father was in the US foreign service, and he grew up in Norway, Australia, and Japan. The family first went to Japan in 1965 when Schodt was fifteen. They left in 1967 but Schodt remained to graduate from Tokyo's American School in Japan, in 1968. After entering the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1970 Schodt returned to Japan, and studied Japanese intensively at International Christian University (I.C.U.) for a year and half. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1972, and after a brief bohemian stint at a variety of jobs and traveling became a tour guide in Los Angeles for Japanese tourists, also escorting them to Canada and Mexico. After trying to interpret for a group once at Sunkist, he realized that he could become an interpreter, but needed further training. In 1975, he was awarded a scholarship from Japan's Ministry of Education, to return to I.C.U. and study translation and interpreting. After finishing his studies at I.C.U. in 1977, he began working in the translation department of Simul International, in Tokyo. In mid-1978 he returned to the United States, and since then has worked in San Francisco as a free-lance writer, translator, and interpreter.
While working in Tokyo in 1977, he joined with several university friends in contacting Tezuka Productions
Tezuka Productions
Tezuka Productions is a company created by Osamu Tezuka. His son, Makoto Tezuka has the goal to extend Tezuka's manga series with new issues and publish posthumous works...
. They sought permission to translate the Phoenix
Phoenix (manga)
is a manga series by Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka considered Phoenix his "life's work"; it consists of 12 books, each of which tells a separate, self-contained story and takes place in a different era. The plots go back and forth from the remote future to prehistoric times. The cycle remains unfinished...
comic into English.
Schodt is notable in manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
fandom for his translations of works such as Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
’s Phoenix
Phoenix (manga)
is a manga series by Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka considered Phoenix his "life's work"; it consists of 12 books, each of which tells a separate, self-contained story and takes place in a different era. The plots go back and forth from the remote future to prehistoric times. The cycle remains unfinished...
, Tezuka’s Astro Boy
Astro Boy (1960s)
is a Japanese manga series first published in 1952 and television program first broadcast in Japan in 1963. The story follows the adventures of a robot named Astro Boy and a selection of other characters along the way....
, Riyoko Ikeda
Riyoko Ikeda
is a Japanese manga artist and singer. She is included in the Year 24 Group. She was one of the most popular Japanese comic artists in the 1970s, being best known for The Rose of Versailles.- Biography :...
’s The Rose of Versailles
The Rose of Versailles
, also known as Lady Oscar or La Rose de Versailles, is one of the best-known titles in shōjo manga and a media franchise created by Riyoko Ikeda. It has been adapted into several Takarazuka Revue musicals, as well an anime television series, produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and broadcast by the...
, Keiji Nakazawa
Keiji Nakazawa
is a Japanese manga artist and writer.He was born in Hiroshima and was in the city when it was destroyed by an atomic bomb in 1945. All of his family members who had not been evacuated died in the bombing except for his mother, and an infant sister who died several weeks after the bombing...
’s Barefoot Gen
Barefoot Gen
is a Japanese manga series by Keiji Nakazawa. Loosely based on Nakazawa's own experiences as a Hiroshima survivor, the series begins in 1945 in and around Hiroshima, Japan, where the six-year-old boy Gen lives with his family...
, and others.
His best known book is Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics
Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics
Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics is a 1983 book by Frederik L. Schodt. Published by the Japanese publisher Kodansha, it was the first substantial English language work on Japanese comics, or manga, as an artistic, literary, commercial and sociological phenomenon . Part of Schodt's...
, published in 1983 and reprinted several times, with an introduction
Foreword
A foreword is a piece of writing sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the writer of the foreword and the book's primary author or the story the book tells...
by Tezuka. Manga! Manga! won a prize at the Manga Oscar Awards in 1983. Furthermore, in 2000 Schodt was awarded the Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun
The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...
’s Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize "Special Prize" for his outstanding contribution to the appreciation of manga worldwide.
Selected works
Schodt has written five books, translated several novels and manga, and published articles and columns in such newspapers and periodicals as Mainichi Daily News, Japan Times, Anzen, MangajinMangajin
Mangajin was a monthly English-language magazine for students of Japanese language and culture. It was distinct from many other magazines of its type in that it unabashedly embraced Japanese popular culture as a learning tool and a route towards rapid acclimation into Japanese society...
, Japan Related, Animag, Animerica
Animerica
Animerica is a quarterly digest published by Viz Media. It initially started as a monthly magazine featuring reviews of anime and manga titles, as well as related works. After a preview issue was released in November 1992, the magazine's first issue was released in February 1993 with a March 1993...
and others.
- Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese ComicsManga! Manga! The World of Japanese ComicsManga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics is a 1983 book by Frederik L. Schodt. Published by the Japanese publisher Kodansha, it was the first substantial English language work on Japanese comics, or manga, as an artistic, literary, commercial and sociological phenomenon . Part of Schodt's...
. KodanshaKodansha, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
International, 1983. - Inside the Robot Kingdom: Japan, Mechatronics, and the Coming RobotopiaInside the Robot Kingdom: Japan, Mechatronics, and the Coming RobotopiaInside the Robot Kingdom: Japan, Mechatronics, and the Coming Robotopia is a 1988 book about robotics in Japan by Frederik L. Schodt. In 2011, it was also issued as an e-book for the Kindle, Nook,and iBookstore platforms, with a new cover designed by Raymond Larrett, added color photographs, and...
. Kodansha International, 1988. (ISBN 0-87011-854-4) - America and the Four Japans: Friend, Foe, Model, Mirror. Stone Bridge PressStone Bridge PressStone Bridge Press, Inc. is a publishing company distributed by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution and founded in 1989. Authors published include Donald Richie and Frederik L. Schodt...
, 1994. - Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern MangaDreamland Japan: Writings on Modern MangaDreamland Japan is a 1996 book by Frederik L. Schodt published by Stone Bridge Press that was intended as a "sequel" to Schodt's 1983 book Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics. It includes information on several major manga magazines and manga writers and artists, including many who are...
. Stone Bridge PressStone Bridge PressStone Bridge Press, Inc. is a publishing company distributed by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution and founded in 1989. Authors published include Donald Richie and Frederik L. Schodt...
, 1996. - Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan. Stone Bridge PressStone Bridge PressStone Bridge Press, Inc. is a publishing company distributed by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution and founded in 1989. Authors published include Donald Richie and Frederik L. Schodt...
, 2003. - The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution. Stone Bridge PressStone Bridge PressStone Bridge Press, Inc. is a publishing company distributed by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution and founded in 1989. Authors published include Donald Richie and Frederik L. Schodt...
, 2007 (ISBN 978-1933330549)
External links
- Jai2—his official website
- Detailed interview with Fred Schodt on manga and Osamu Tezuka—Electric Ant #1
- Interview with Fred Schodt on The Astro Boy Essays—Animation Insider
- Interview with Fred Schodt on the Astro Boy story, franchise, and character—The Sci-Fi Block
- Frederik Schodt - Anime Convention Personality of the Week - Sept. 17, 2000
- Interview: Fred Schodt at Anime News NetworkAnime News NetworkAnime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
- http://web.archive.org/web/20070618235728/www.fansview.com/2000a/022600c.htm