Mistranslate
FMA and Me: Reckoning With Anime as Japanese and American
The affectations of white anime enthusiasts made me feel fake, confusing my yearning for the language and familiarity I craved.
In Immigrating from Japan, I Lost Language, Home, and Pokémon
Maybe, I thought, I could play Pokémon with my peers and bridge the gap between me and my an all-white classroom. But we lose things in translation.
ハーフ (Hafu): On the Fetishization and Mistranslation of a Biracial Identity
Hafu carries insinuations of otherness; of not belonging, but being fetishized. How do I carry this name and this history at once?
温もり (Nukumori): When the Distance Between You and Your Loved Ones Disappears
Nukumori can refer to a kind of existence not dependent on physical proximity, allowing a person’s presence to linger with you even if they cannot.
憂鬱 (Yuutsu): When Mental Health Is Mistranslated
How could I navigate my Japanese-language emotions in pursuit of a Western psychiatric label?
愛してる (Aishiteru): How to Say “I Love You” When the Language Doesn’t Exist
When he asked me how to say “I love you” in Japanese, I translated linguistically, but mistranslated culturally.
切ない (Setsunai): When You Need a Word to Hold Both Sorrow and Joy
‘Setsunai’ implies something once bright, now faded. It is the painful twinge at the edge of a memory, the joy in the knowledge that everything is temporary.
大事 (Daiji): On Living Between Two Cultures and Learning What Is Most Important
To me, ‘daiji’ embodies the struggle to prioritize two languages, homes, and selves.