Haruki Murakami, known as a translator as well as a novelist, believes that "translations have an expiration date, and no matter how great a translation is, it needs to be updated from time to time." He has worked on many "new translations" of classic works that are still popular today, such as "Catcher in the Rye" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's," which were published in Japanese decades ago.

Translations have a shelf life and need to be updated from time to time. For example, when translating "youth slang" that appears in a work, compare the Japanese translation of the word that was not yet familiar in Japan at the time. No matter how great a work is, as soon as it contains a phrase that no one uses anymore, such as "yatsu-san" (that guy), it will be read as "classic literature" and removed from the shelves of modern literature. Also, the world depicted in a work will not change from the time, but we, the recipients, live in a constantly changing world. Sometimes translations can bridge the gap between the eras, bringing back a fresh flavor. I think that Murakami Haruki's "best before date" has two meanings.

"No-No Boy" was published in 1957 by second-generation Japanese-American John Okada and is his only remaining novel. The story begins with the events of Pearl Harbor in 1941.

"The Japanese bombs fell on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. From that moment on, the Japanese in the United States became a different kind of animal from other Americans because of their yellow skin and slanted eyes, which weren't slanted at all if you look closely."

You are drawn into the work from the very beginning, and the fact that it was written in 1957 and was once almost forgotten disappears from your mind.

Since the day of Pearl Harbor, Ichiro, the protagonist, has been torn between his "homeland" Japan and America, unable to even understand his family because he refused to be drafted, and is troubled by his own identity. 75 years later, in November 2016, with Donald Trump elected as president, there is surely an "Ichiro" like him in America in 2017, who worries that "I might be considered a different kind of person than an American."

We are in a "global" and "borderless" era, where we can travel freely across borders and we were taught that America offers the American Dream, but today's second and third generation immigrants are suddenly being told to "get out of our country" and "go back to your country." Were they not Americans? Is there a country for them who thought this was "my country" to go back to? Some "Americans" feel that they have no place to belong, and that "those guys" have continued to take away their jobs and places to live.

"No-No Boy" depicts a world where hatred directed openly at "Japs" and anxiety harbored by "Americans" are two sides of the same coin. It could be America in 2017, or Japan in 20XX. With the support of changing times, the updated "No-No Boy" is reborn as a piece of contemporary literature. The translator's afterword, "John Okada and the Background of the Story," is also a worthwhile read as a short piece of non-fiction about the novel.

© 2017 Yoko Yuhara