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I don't know who's doing the subs for Mars Red but let me give you major props because quoting poetry and books from the Taisho era is no easy feat.
you: but it's a stupid vampire alternate history show!
me: and yet episode three has one of the main cast and his wife reciting poetry/literature to each other from the Meiji/Taisho eras.
me: and yet episode three has one of the main cast and his wife reciting poetry/literature to each other from the Meiji/Taisho eras.
Anyway this is why we need to pay translators better. This is literally part of our job.
Last thing I'll say on this: Any literature pre-1947 is doubly hard to translate for modern learners because of the 国語国字問題, or the kana/kanji reform that had been brewing for roughly 47 years within the Meiji/Taisho administrations.
Certain kana/kanji were eliminated. 1/n
Certain kana/kanji were eliminated. 1/n
Hentaigana, or older kana/sounds were eliminated in the early 1900s, as the reform didn't all happen at the same time. Ex: Yebisu beer. "Ye" as a sound was eliminated and changed to "e" instead, making that Ebisu, a district still in Tokyo to this day. 2/n
It should be noted that these reforms were mostly actively formulated in the 20s. In 1922, rinji kokugo chousakai (Temporary National Language Investigation Committee) approved 1,962 kanji for daily use, the so-called toyo kanji (post-war it became joyo kanji). 2/n
In Dec 1923, a list of kana was approved for use by the same council. Immediately post-war, though there was major concern about the cultural impact if kanji were dropped altogether and romaji was used in its place. In 1947, the toyo kanji list was approved by SCAP. 3/n
Toyo kanji was 1,850 characters and published by the cabinet in 1946 as a daily use kanji list. There was also the issue of standardizing kanji forms in orthography (you can see the Wikipedia entry for more abt that) but that ended with only a few major changes to orthography 4/n
The kanji for names list was published in 1948 by the same cabinet. These reforms cont at this point in time by the Japanese Language Council (a new name for an old body), and ended in a stalemate in 1961 when members walked out in disagreement over the next set of reforms. 5/n
By 1965, the SCAP ruling that kanji would be eventually abolished had been abandoned when it became clear that kanji wasn't going anywhere with citizens and their use. Joyo kanji replaced toyo kanji in 1981, then was renewed in 2010. 6/n
Currently there are 2,136 approved joyo kanji for daily use. It's made of 1,026 chars taught in elementary schools plus another 1,110 chars taught to those in secondary schools
We need to know those to translate things.
We need to know those to translate things.
And these are just for daily use, not including the thousands of kanji relegated to history. Reading works from before 1947, if no modern edition is being used, means you have to know more of those kanji.
This is why we need to be paid more lol
This is why we need to be paid more lol
And what started these reforms? The Meiji restoration. For the first time in many, many years, Japan had embassies in other countries, esp Western ones that had no way to deal with kanji. Reforms were suggested to make it easier for those in those embassies to communicate.
And that it for this impromptu thread lol can you tell these reforms are a hyperfixation with me? Because they are! ;A;
Uh anyway if you want more surface-level info on these reforms, Wiki has a great article about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_script_reform
