UCANEWS reports that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan has recently published a new Hail Mary translation, to be used on a trial basis. “Translation issues have been a recurring point of discussion in Japan for centuries. In the past 10 years there are a number of vociferous debates on Japanese translations of everything from prayers to the catechism, to the Mass,” the report notes.
Japanese unveil new Hail Mary translation
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5 responses to “Japanese unveil new Hail Mary translation”
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A priest friend who knows a great deal about these things approves heartily of this new translation.
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On the Japanese Bishops Conference web site it is possible to compare the translation in classical/literary Japanese, which was in use when I first came to Japan in the mid 70’s, the more colloquial translation we currently use, and then the current ‘proposed’ version. Re-reading the classical/literary version side by side with the new version, while the new translation carries echoes of the former, the mix of styles may make it hard to pray or recite.
I’m also tempted to say that the traditional translation still works the best, but sadly that is increasingly inaccessible to the younger generation.
Shall be meeting up with some senior Japanese members of the local parish tomorrow, (Dec 12th). I count a few of them as good friends and valuable sounding boards on such matters, and I am sure a few of them will have comments. Our SVD provincial here is on the Bishops liturgy committee and I shall probably have a few questions for him, relaying the voice from the pews, the next time I meet him.
Translating either liturgical texts or popular traditional prayers is causing a lot of anguish in English speaking countries these days as this blog witnesses, putting them into Japanese, is may I tell you an even bigger challenge. The revised translation into Japanese of MR3 is still going back and forth like a yo-yo between here and Rome, and made more difficult by the fact that there are only a handful of Japanese priests and religious in Rome.
Wish I could find time to review and comment on the new English translation of MR3 since in time I will have to use it. but teaching commitments etc. don’t permit that at the present. Looking over what has been made available or leaked so for, with respect to the congregation I minister to, migrant workers and exchange students from all over the world, I shall probably have to provide a glossary of unfamiliar terms each week.-
Fr. Brendan, thanks for this comment and update on the situation. I really appreciate hearing your views, and I hope you will find time to post an update “from the trenches” as the project continues.
The idea of providing a glossary of unfamiliar terms each week is a sad commentary on the direction all this is taking. A prayer such as the Hail Mary is said more often in private than in public, istm. Will a new translation even “take” when devotions such as the rosary are being prayed in the privacy of one’s home?
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I celebrate Mass in Japanese and find the language of the translation quite unattractive. The Offertory prayer uses the phrase banbutsu no tsukuri-nushi (of all things the creator-lord) which I think sounds as clunky and unidiomatic to Japanese ears as to mine. The preces are amazingly boring — endless references to eien no inochi (eternal life). The Japanese bishops tried to indroduce preces linked to the seasons, in traditional Japanese style, but it was blocked by Rome. Older, traditional wording in prayers and bible translations is certainly best, has more rhythm and sap. Apparently a new translation of the liturgy is being prepared along the lines of Liturgiam Authenticam — perish the thought.
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Joe, could you say more about the “preces linked to the seasons, in traditional Japanese style”? Do you mean the seasons in the natural world or the liturgical seasons? It sounds like a lovely idea.
In principle, Varietates Legitimae ought to be able to be invoked to support this sort of thing, but then you get the situation where the people with oversight in Rome are stricter than the letter of the law. Alas, all the principles in the world are useless when power is concentrated in the hands of people who don’t want to give permissions in the first place.
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