Programs and Japanese
Culture Lectures at the
Donald Keene Center

The 2025–2026 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Joshua S. Mostow for his translation of Hyakunin’shu: Reading the Hundred Poets in Late Edo Japan (University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2024)

Lindsley and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize

Brent de Chene and Charles De Wolf for their translation of Keiichirō Hirano’s Eclipse (Columbia University Press, 2024)

Louise Heal Kawai for her translation of Hideo Yokoyama’s The North Light (riverrun, An imprint of Quercus Editions Ltd., A Hachette UK company, 2023)

The 2024–2025 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

David Boyd for his translation of Tatsuhiko Shibusawa’s Takaoka’s Travels (Stone Bridge Press, MONKEY imprint, 2024)

Lindsley and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize

Ralph McCarthy for his translation of Osamu Dazai’s No One Knows (New Directions, 2024)

Takami Nieda for her translation of Hiroki Takahashi’s Finger Bone (Honford Star, 2023)

The 2023–2024 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Torquil Duthie for his translation of The Kokinshū: Selected Poems (Columbia University Press, 2023)

Kendall Heitzman for his translation of Kaori Fujino’s NAILS AND EYES (Pushkin Press, 2023)

Lindsley and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize

Polly Barton for her translation of Mieko Kanai’s Mild Vertigo (New Directions Publishing, 2023)

Margaret Mitsutani for career achievement as a translator of modern Japanese literature, with particular reference to her recent translations of Yoko Tawada’s Three Streets (New Directions, 2022) and Scattered All Over the Earth (New Directions, 2022)

The 2022–2023 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Brian Bergstrom for his translation of Kobayashi Erika’s TRINITY, TRINITY, TRINITY (Astra House, 2022)

Lindsley and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize

Lucy North for her translation of Imamura Natsuko’s The Woman in the Purple Skirt: A Novel (Penguin Books, 2021)

G. G. Rowley for her translation of О̄̄gimachi Machiko’s In the Shelter of the Pine: A Memoir of Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu and Tokugawa Japan (Columbia University Press, 2021)

Donald Wood for his translation of Yoshida Saburо̄ ’s Diary of a Farmer at the Foot of Mt. Kanpū: Living off the Land in Northern Japan, 1935-1936 (unpublished at the time of award)

The 2021–2022 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

David Boyd for his translation of Oyamada Hiroko’s The Hole (New Directions, 2020)

Glynne Walley for his translation of Kyokutei Bakin’s Eight Dogs, or Hakkenden (Cornell University Press, 2021)

Lindsley and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize

Juliet Winters Carpenter as a translator of modern Japanese literature, with particular refence to her recent translation of Mizumura Minae’s An I-Novel (Columbia University Press, 2021)

The 2019–2020 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Janine Beichman for her translation of О̄oka Makoto’s poems in Beneath the Sleepless Tossing of the Planets, Selected Poems 1972-1989 (Kurodahan Press, 2018)
Sam Bett for his translation of Mishima Yukio’s Star (New Directions, 2019)

Lindsley and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize

Margaret Mitsutani for her translation of Tawada Yoko’s The Emissary (New Directions, 2018)
Matt Treyvaud for his translation of Shimura Fukumi’s The Music of Color (Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture, 2019)

Friday 3 April 2020, 5:30pm (CANCELLED)
C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University

The 2017–2018 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

David Boyd for his translation of Hideo Furukawa’s SLOW BOAT  (Pushkin Press, 2017)

Hiroaki Sato for his translation of Kansuke Naka’s THE SILVER SPOON: MEMOIR OF A BOYHOOD IN JAPAN (Stone Bridge Press, 2015)

Lindsley and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize

Jeffrey Angles for his translation of Orikuchi Shinobu’s THE BOOK OF THE DEAD (University of Minnesota Press, 2017)

Howard Hibbett for lifetime achievement as a translator of early-modern and modern Japanese literature

Friday 16 March 2018, 5:30pm, C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University

No prize was awarded this year

The 2015–2016 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Steven D. Carter for The Columbia Anthology of Japanese Essay (Columbia University Press, 2014)

Terry Gallagher for Toh Enjoe’s Self-Reference ENGINE (VIZ Media, 2013)

Stephen D. Miller and Patrick Donnelly for The Wind from Vulture Peak (Cornell East Asia Series, 2013)

Awards Ceremony and Reception for the 2015-2016 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature Friday 11 December, 5:30 PM, C.V. Starr East Asian Library Reading Room, 300 Kent Hall

The 2014–2015 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Juliet Winters Carpenter for A True Novel (Other Press, 2013)

Rebecca Copeland for The Goddess Chronicle (Canongate Books, 2012)

The 2013–2014 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

W.S. Merwin and Takako Lento for

Collected Haiku of Yosa Buson (Copper Canyon Press, 2013)

Friday 12 September 2014, 5:30pm
C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University

No prize was awarded this year

The 2011–2012 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Matthew Fraleigh Assistant Professor of East Asian Literature and Culture at Brandeis University

New Chronicles of Yanagibashi and Diary of a Journey to the West: Narushima Ryūhoku Reports from Home and Abroad (Cornell East Asia Series)

J. Keith Vincent Assistant Professor of Japanese and Comparative Literature at Boston University

The Food Demon (in A Riot of Goldfish, Hesperus Worldwide)

Friday 27 April 2012, C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University

The 2010–2011 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Michael Emmerich For Manazuru (original work: Manazuru by Hiromi Kawakami). Michael Emmerich is an assistant professor at University of California, Santa Barbara Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures.

Tom Hare For Zeami: Performance Notes (original work: Nihon Shisotaikei 24 Zeami Zenchiku by Zeami Motokiyo). Thomas William Hare is William Sauter LaPorte ’28 Professor in Regional Studies, Professor of Comparative Literature at Princeton University.

25 February 2011
C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University

The 2009–2010 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Jeffrey M. Angles For his translation of Tada Chimako’s Forest of Eyes: Selected Poems of Tada Chimako, to be published by University of California Press in 2010.

Esperanza Ramirez-Christensen For her translation of Shinkei’s Murmured Conversations

April 2010
C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University

The 2008–2009 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Dennis C. Washburn For his translations of Tsutomu Mizukami’s The Temple of the Wild Geese and Bamboo Dolls of Echizen.

The award ceremony took place in 2009.
C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University

The 2007–2008 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Anthony H. Chambers for his translation of Akinari Ueda’s Tales of Moonlight and Rain

Kozue Uzawa and Amelia Fielden for their translation of tanka poems in Ferris Wheel: 101 Modern and Contemporary Tanka

18 April 2008
C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University

The 2006–2007 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Professor Joel Cohn For his translation of Botchan: A Modern Classic by Natsume Sōseki

Professor Edward Fowler For his translation of A Man with No Talents: Memoirs of a Tokyo Day Laborer by Ōyama Shirō

3 April 2007
C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University

The 2005–2006 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Professor Damian Flanagan for his translation of The Tower of London by NATSUME Sôseki

Professor Yosei Sugawara for his translation of The Gift of Numbers by OGAWA Yôko

21 April 2006, C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University

The 2004–2005 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Professor Lawrence Rogers

For his translation of Tokyo Stories: A Literary Stroll (University of California Press)

29 April 2005
C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University

The 2003–2004 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Classical Literature: Charles S. Inouye – Japanese Gothic Tales, Volume Two by Izumi Kyoka Modern Literature: Shogo Oketani & Leza Lowitz – America and Other Poems by Ayukawa Nobuo

The 2002–2003 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Professor Royall Tyler for his translation of  The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu. (Viking Press)

11 April 2003, C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University

The 2001–2002 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Professor Mae J. Smethurst for her translation of Dramatic Representations of Filial Piety: Five Noh in Translation (Publisher: Cornell University East Asia Series)

Professor James Philip Gabriel For his translation of Life in the Cul-De-Sac (Gunsei) by Senji Kuroi (Publisher: Stone Bridge Press)

The 2020–2021 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Professor Roger K. Thomas For his translation of A Tale of False Fortunes (Namamiko Monogatari) by Fumiko Enchi (Publisher: University of Hawai’i Press)

Ms. Meredith McKinney For her translation of Ravine and Other Stories (Tani, etc.) by Yoshikichi Furui Publisher: Stone Bridge Press

The 1999–2000 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Modern: Prof. Jay Rubin for The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Nejimaki-dori Kuronikuru), Murakami Haruki, Knopf

Classical: Mr. Hiroaki Sato for Breeze Through Bamboo, Ema Saiko, Columbia University Press

The 1998–1999 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Modern: Prof. Elaine Gerbert for Love of Mountains (Yamagoi), Uno Koji, University of Hawaii Press

Classical: Prof. J. Thomas Rimer & Prof. Jonathan Chaves for Japanese and Chinese Poems to Sing: The Wakan Roei-shu — Columbia University Press

No prize was awarded this year

The 1996–1997 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Modern: Prof. John Solt Glass Beret for The Selected Poems of Kitasono Katsue (1902-78), Kitasono Katsue, Morgan Press

Classical: Prof. Makoto Ueda for Modern Japanese Tanka — Columbia University Press

No prize was awarded this year

The 1994–1995 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Modern: Mr. Wayne P. Lammers for Still Life and Other Stories, Shono Junzo, Stone Bridge Press

Classical: Prof. H. Mack Horton for The Journal of Socho, Saiokuken Socho, Stanford University Press

The 1992–1993 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Modern: Ms. Eve Zimmerman for Strawberry Road, Ishikawa Yoshimi, Kodansha International

Classical: Prof. Edwin Cranston for A Waka Anthology: The Gem-Glistening Cup (Vol 1) — Stanford University Press

The 1991–1992 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Modern: Prof. Paul McCarthy for A Cat, A Man, and Two Women (Neko to Shozo to Futari no Onna), Tanizaki Jun’ichiro, Kodansha International

Classical: Prof. Margaret Childs for Rethinking Sorrow: Revelatory Tales of Late Medieval Japan — University of Michigan, the Center of Japanese Studies

The 1990–1991 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Modern: Prof. Stephen Snyder for The Signore (Azuchi Okanki), Tsuji Kunio, Kodansha International

Classical: Prof. Paul Gordon Schalow for The Great Mirror of Male Love (Nanshoku Okagami), Ihara Saikaku, Stanford University Press

The 1989–1990 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Modern: Ms. Phyllis Birnbaum for Confessions of Love (Irozange), Uno Chiyo, University of Hawaii Press

Classical: Prof. Steven Carter for Waiting for the Wind: 36 Poets of Japan’s Late Medieval Period — Columbia University Press

The 1988–1989 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Prof. Carol Apollonio Flath for Aogiri Rasoku, Kizaki Satoko, Kodansha International

The 1987-1988 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Prof. William Naff for Before the Dawn (Yoakemae), Shimazaki Toson, University of Hawaii Press

No prize was awarded this year

The 1985-1984 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Mr. Lane Dunlop for Twenty-four Stories from the Japanese — Northpoint Press Charles E Tuttle

No prize was awarded this year

The 1983 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Phyllis Lyons for The Selected Works of Dazai Osamu (Stanford University Press)

The 1982–1983 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Laurel Rodd for Kokinshu (Princeton University Press)

The 1981–1982 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Kären Wigen for A View by the SeaP Yasuoka Shotaro (Columbia University Press)

The 1980–1981 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Juliet Winters Carpenter for Secret Rendezvous, Abe Kobo, Knopf

The 1979–1980 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

Ian Hideo Levy for Man’yoshu (Princeton University Press)

Robert Epp for Poetry by Kinoshita, Yuji Kinoshita, Yuji Katydid Books