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Editorial

Toward Babel’s 52nd Year: Expanding the Horizon of Translation

Next year, Babel will mark its 52nd year since its founding.
Looking back over more than half a century, our history of translation can be understood as unfolding through four distinct phases.

The first phase was dedicated to building foundations.
With the publication of The Monthly Journal of Translation, Implementation of the “Translation Encouragement Award” and “International Translation Grand Prize” in Japan, the U.S., China, and South Korea, the development of “translation grammar,” the launch of translation education programs, and the establishment of a U.S. federally accredited graduate school for professional translators, we systematized translation as the conversion of words from one language to another. It was a period focused on structure, methodology, and discipline.

In the second phase, we redefined translation as communication.
Through pre-departure training programs for Japanese executives assigned overseas, the founding of the Legal Communication Association, and collaborations with the Japan Debate Association, Babel supported both corporate globalization and individual international competence. By inviting U.S. debate champions to Japan and organizing nationwide bilingual debate tournaments, we sought to cultivate people who could think, argue, and engage across cultures.

Furthermore, during the Lingua Franca era, he independently developed Plain English—a globally accessible form of English—which later evolved into Plain Japanese, the language that opened Japan. He pursued a unique language strategy encompassing both.

It was also during this period that we acquired and promoted the exclusive distribution rights in Japan for the U.S. certification, CAP (Certified Administrative Professional—originally Certified Administrative Secretary).

The third phase emerged under the guiding principle of sharing knowledge.
We launched the “Global Knowledge Garden,” a project dedicated to translating important yet previously untranslated works from around the world into Japanese. Yet sharing knowledge is not limited to translation alone. It can also be achieved when individuals express ideas in their own voices and send them into the world. In the coming decades, Babel will continue to stand at the intersection of translation and creation, supporting new ways for global knowledge to circulate and resonate.

The fourth phase, which we are now entering, lies in the space between translation and authorship. At its core is Creative Translation —what we call “Transcreation with intellectual intent.” Here, we aim to redefine literary and publishing translation as a creative act distinct from industrial translation, generating new cultural and intellectual value.

While conventional translation has primarily focused on sharing contemporary knowledge along a horizontal axis, creative translation engages with humanity’s accumulated heritage—classical texts and timeless works—by editing, reinterpreting, and creatively reanimating them for the present. It represents a vertical axis of knowledge sharing: reviving the past so it can speak meaningfully to today’s world.

In particular, we aim to expand our initiative to introduce Japanese works to the world globally as the “Books & Rights Marketplace.”

Returning to our fundamental belief that translation itself is an act of creation,
Babel will continue to challenge established assumptions, expand the boundaries of translation, and explore its deeper possibilities.