[Event report] Book club and autograph session held to commemorate the publication of “Black Dragonfly – Novel Koizumi Yakumo -” written by Jean Passley and translated by Yu Komiya Kosei Publishing Co., Ltd. Press release: October 3, 2024 [Event Report] Book club and autograph session held to commemorate the publication of “Black Dragonfly – Novel Koizumi Yakumo -” written by Jean Passley and translated by Yu Komiya Shikisha Kosei Publishing (Headquarters: Suginami-ku, Tokyo) will commemorate the publication of “Black Dragonfly – Novel Koizumi Yakumo -” (2024) in September. On the 28th, we held a reading session and autograph session with Gene Pasley and Yu Komiya.
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Japanese-translated novel depicting the life of Yakumo Koizumi, and by interweaving historical fact with fiction, it highlights the image of Yakumo Koizumi as a human being. Written by Gene Pasley published in 2021 Black Dragonfly To mark the 120th anniversary of Yakumo Koizumi’s death, we published the Japanese translation “Black Dragonfly – Novel Koizumi Yakumo” at the end of August this year.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/147787/34/147787-34-284f99ec6c8bdb9f41f09aad21386bbd-667×372.jpg Gene Pasley (left), Mai Tanami (interpreter) “I thought Yakumo wanted to be a dragonfly.” Gene Pasley In response to a question from a participant, “Japan is home to a variety of creatures, please tell us why you chose the title “Island of Dragonflies” to describe Japan.” Mr. Pasley replied, “Japanese people love dragonflies.” I have always known that dragonflies hatch from eggs in dark water, spend some time there, and then emerge from the water to emerge and fly out into the sky. I believe that the flapping dragonflies represent Yakumo Koizumi’s life, which is why I chose the title “Black Dragonfly.” Yakumo also loved nature because of his compound eyes. I think he wanted to be a dragonfly with many eyes,” he answered, and talked about his views on Yakumo Koizumi and the thoughts behind the title. “To help people understand Yakumo even a little bit” Gene Pasley In addition, in response to a participant’s comment, “To be honest, I didn’t like Yakumo.However, as I read on, I gradually began to understand more about him.” “There was something very interesting about your impressions.Especially the part about “I didn’t like Yakumo.”In fact, when I first started working on the book, there was no prologue for this book. But there was no prologue Black Dragonfly When I asked a friend to read it to me, he said the same thing as you: “I can’t like Yakumo.” I believe that in order for readers to read a book to the end, it is important to have them fall in love with the main character. Therefore, I included a prologue so that people could understand Yakumo even a little bit by illustrating how his
personality was formed.” > I talked about it.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/147787/34/147787-34-790842833badcde7d3c2c3754ae11376-582×561.jpg Yu Komiya “ is the symbol of Yakumo Koizumi” Yu Komiya A participant asked, “In the main text, it was written as “Dragonfly,” but in the title, it was written as “Dragonfly.” What was the intention behind this?” In response to a question, Mr. Komiya said, “I wanted to express the normal dragonfly and Yakumo’s dragonfly separately. Therefore, in this book, dragonfly is expressed as a living thing, and the kanji for dragonfly is… “I expressed it as a symbol of Yakumo Koizumi,” he said, explaining his intention behind the title as a translator. “You don’t have to suffer just because you can’t become a woman like Setsu” Yu Komiya “I thought Yakumo’s wife, Setsu, was ideal.Setsu is a good wife, wise mother, and a woman who is devoted to her husband.While I think that is the charm of a woman, I can’t be like that.That conflict is a little painful. In response to the comment of a participant who said, “I feel the way Setsu dedicated himself to Yakumo. This image of women was created in the past.In the same way, today’s men are also very different from men of the past. In the past, men were prepared to risk their lives to protect their families and communities and take on all responsibilities. That was so heartbreaking. Therefore, women were able to believe in men who were determined and do their best, and the value system that “women support men” could exist. In other words, I think there was a mutual relationship between a man who was determined and a woman who was devoted to that man. However, we are not in such an era now, and there are fewer men who have the “resolution”, so mutual relationships are no longer possible. So I don’t have to suffer just because I can’t become a woman like Setsu. Furthermore, I believe that this conflict is not only a problem faced by women,” she said, comparing the gender views in the story with those of today, and answering the concerns of event participants. At the end of the book club, Mr. Komiya said, “It was great to be able to have such a deep conversation with everyone. “Kuro Tonbo” has only been published for about a month, but I’m glad to be able to interact directly with readers like this. It was a valuable experience,” he said, expressing his gratitude to the participants. Pasley also said, “There are many biographies of Yakumo Koizumi, but I wanted as many people as possible to know about him, so I drew “Black Dragonfly” as a piece of fiction.I hope that even people who don’t know Yakumo Koizumi can read it with excitement. “That was my mission,” he continued, expressing his feelings for the readers in Japanese, saying, “I would be very happy if you enjoyed reading it.” At the autograph session that followed, the event had a calm atmosphere, with participants sharing their impressions that they had not been able to convey at the book club.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/147787/34/147787-34-58356788315ae9ba70af5307f8548167-1868×1294.jpg Autograph session scene [Book information] Book title: “Black Dragonfly ──Novel Koizumi Yakumo──” Author: Gene Pasley Translation: Yu Komiya Publisher: Kosei Publishing Company Release date: August 30, 2024 Number of pages: 344 pages List price: 2,750 yen (tax included) Content introduction: Black Dragonfly The long-awaited publication of the Japanese translation. Lafcadio Hearn, who had a complex about his birth, decided on Japan as his final destination. What was it that drew him to Yakumo Koizumi, who later became the author of “Ghost Stories”? A fantastical biographical novel that approaches its essence.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/147787/34/147787-34-6b4f8ed526d9b086d0b3f05cb2a62dbd-1833×2673.jpg [Special site] https://special.chieumi.com/029259 [Author profile] Gene Pasley Screenwriter. He studied film production at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, earning a bachelor’s degree in Japanese and a master’s degree in film studies. His major screenplay works include novelist Maeve Binchy’s short story How About You, and co-written The Bright Side, which won the Audience Award at the Cork International Film Festival in 2020.In 2021, he directed and wrote the screenplay. The short film Ship of Souls was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award. He also appears regularly on Irish Broadcasting Corporation radio programs. Although he lived in Japan for many years, he now lives in Dublin, Ireland, near Lafcadio Hearn’s childhood home. This book is my first novel. [Translator profile] Yu Komiya Translator. Born in Tokyo. After working at a publishing company and studying abroad, she mainly engaged in translating children’s books. Since 2004, he has been running the home library “Kono Ano Bunko” in Asagaya, Tokyo. He has translated many books, including “Upside Down Town” and “The Seeds of Fighting” (both published by Iwanami Shoten), “Ivan the Fool”, “Kipling’s Fairy Tales”, and “The Nutcracker” (both published by Anonyma Studio). His grandfather was the late Jiro Kitamikado, a translator of Tolstoy’s literature and a conscientious objector to military service. [Company Profile] Kosei Publishing Co., Ltd. TEL: 03-5385-2311 (main) / FAX: 03-5385-2395 (main) Fumon Media Center, 2-7-1 Wada,
Suginami-ku, Tokyo 166-8535 URL: https://kosei-shuppan.co.jp/