Japanese Translations of the U.S. Constitution and Japanese Americans

Abstract

Until the passage of the McCarran-Walter Act in 1952, Japanese Americans had beendeprived of the right to citizenship, not to mention they had faced prejudice anddiscrimination. Following Inghilleri (2017) and Polezzi (2012), who delved into powerrelations holding where translation and migration meet, this study examines how Japanesetranslations of the U.S. Constitution contributed to the empowerment of the first generationof Japanese Americans (Issei) with language difficulties. It focuses on two highly educatedIssei translators, Katsutaro Tanigoshi (1880-1933) and Choei Kondo (1878-1966), both ofwhom eventually became prominent figures in the Japanese-American community. The paperconsiders each as an agent of translation together with their translations. It shows that thetwo translators, while sharing the purpose of translation, i.e., to facilitate Issei’sempowerment, differed in the language they used in terms of accessibility to readers, as wellas in the mode of translation - one-way or interactive.