With the help of translators Akihiro Okada Sensei and Hiroko Mori Sensei I was able to get my first book, Pualani and da 3 Manō published in Japanese through Createspace after nearly a year of going back and forth and enumerable edits on Googledocs.
Akihiro is a kendo sensei I practice kendo with. In addition he is the reverend of the Shinto Shrine Hawaiʻi Daijingu in Nuʻunau. Recently I helped him make a mural on the shrine's stage wall. I met Hiroko when she came to visit my karate dojo. She is a 4 dan sensei teaching in California. It turned out she is also a teacher of the Japanese language in a community college! Together we tried to maintain the feel of the original pidgin conversations while gearing the book for a younger audience.
When I began writing and illustrating the book I was thinking about growing up in the 70's. I tried to capture a part of that nostalgic past spent on the waves by Hawaiianizing the classic story Goldilocks and the Three Bears. I hope readers from Japan will get a better understanding of Hawaiian culture and lifestyle through my book.
Midway through the translation I was in a quagmire of projects. Diane Ako kickstarted the translation of the book by writing a blog on it: https://www.dianeako.com/blog/hawaii-childrens-book-author-expands-to-japan. With that kind of press I had to get the whip out and complete the project.
Once the translation was mostly done I sent the book to Irene Takizawa from Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha - Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu. She became the first person to give us feedback on the book. On line Rose Young, Steve Martyak, and Heidi Shimada also helped to get the Japanese, Pidgin, and Hawaiian into some semblance of alignment.
Amazingly, everyone are volunteers! All my adventures as an artist illustrate one important thing: We need the support of our friends, family, and community to succeed and enhance the culture of our society. Aloha all!
Eh. . . you guys like make one more?
