Christianity, Translation and War

In this seminar, I will first give a quick overview of Western missionaries' involvement in translation and interpreting in Japan from the l6th to the early 20th centuries. I will then focus on American and Canadian missionaries and their children who repatriated from Japan and actively participated in the Allied war effort as interpreters and translators during the Pacific War and its aftermath.

Lastly, I will briefly discuss Japanese Christian interpreters who were convicted as war criminals and how their being Christian was treated at these trials held in Singapore and elsewhere.

Kayoko Takeda is a Senior Specially Appointed Professor in Translation and Interpreting Studies at Rikkyo University in Tokyo. Her main research interests are the history of interpreting, interpreting in conflict, interpreter education and translation policy. She is the author of Interpreters and War Crimes and Interpreting the Tokyo War Crimes Trial, and a co-editor of New Insights in the History of Interpreting.