Farewell Edward Seidensticker

Edward George Seidensticker passed away at the age of 86 on August 26 in Tokyo. It is important for all of us with a connection to Japan to not forget the meaningful work of Seidensticker. The New York Times has a pretty detailed obituary of Seidensticker. He is best known for his translation of Murasaki Shikibu’s Genji Monogatari (????). In addition, Seidensticker has translated works of some of the most important 20th century Japanese writers, including, Yasunari Kawabata, Yukio Mishima and Junichiro Tanizaki. For a list of the works, see the NY Times or his Wikipedia entry. It is very fitting that Seidensticker’s last Japanese-to-English translation-related work is associated with a Buddhism-inspired piece entitled, “You Were Born for a Reason: The Real Purpose of Life“?(Japanese title: ?????).