Photo/Illutration The National Diet Library in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Akira Yanabu (1928-2018), an expert on the history of translation and author of “Honyaku towa Nanika” (What is translation?) and other works, once noted cryptically, “Translation, after all, is misunderstanding.”

By that, he presumably meant that when we try to convey the meaning of a foreign concept in our own language, the translation that results ultimately comes down to nothing more than “our own limited understanding” of the notion in question.

With that in mind, I went to the National Diet Library for a special exhibition titled “Seek Knowledge Throughout the World: Culture of Translation before and after the Meiji Restoration,” which kicked off Nov. 11.

Focused on how foreign languages were translated into Japanese around that time, the displays include more than 200 publications, including “Yoji wo Motte Kokugo wo Shosuru no Ron” (A study on writing Japanese with Western characters) by Nishi Amane (1829-1897).

From the yellowed pages of print, I felt the passion of scholars for translation during the Meiji Era (1868-1912).

I appreciated the voraciousness with which the Japanese intelligentsia of the time sought to soak up knowledge from the outside world as Japan opened its doors following more than two centuries of self-isolation.

The great dilemma of early translators lay in how to render into Japanese Western concepts that did not exist at the time, such as “society,” “individual,” “love” and “existence.”

It feels strange to realize that these and many other words we use in everyday life today were newly coined back then.

Senior librarian Tetsuro Kurahashi, 54, noted that over time many people “digested” translations of new concepts until they became their own, thereby contributing to the development of modern Japan.

New translated words not only introduced the world beyond to Japan, but also changed the Japanese language and transformed society as a whole.

Yanabu also described language as a “jewelry box” that is empty at first. A word may mean little when it is first coined, but gradually it will “attract” people.

I pay my respects to the “misunderstanding” of translation pioneers.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 12

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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