Motoyuki Shibata

Motoyuki Shibata (1954), is a scholar and translator of American literature into Japanese, including Blood and Soap by Linh Dinh.

Motoyuki Shibata caricature by Takeshi Kitamura from Japan Foundation

One of the distinguished literary translators of Japan, he was raised in a working class neighborhood. Professor of American Literature at the University of Tokyo, he has translated contemporary American novelists such as Paul Auster, Stuart Dybek, Steve Erickson, Edward Gorey, Steven Millhauser, and Richard Powers. Also translating from Japanese into English, he has won numerous awards for work in both directions.

Dan Duffy started this entry.

Motoyuki Shibata online

• Profile by Roger Pulvers from The Japan Times, May 18, 2008