Anne's Cradle: The Life and Works of Hanako Muraoka, Japanese Translator of Anne of Green Gables

by Eri Muraoka, Cathy Hirano (Translator)

The name Hanako Muraoka is revered in Japan. Her Japanese translation of L. M. Montgomery's beloved children's classic Anne of Green Gables, Akage no An (Red-haired Anne), was the catalyst for the book's massive and enduring popularity in Japan. A book that has since spawned countless interpretations, from manga to a long-running television series, and has remained on Japanese curriculum for half a century. For the first time, the bestselling biography of Hanako Muraoka written by her granddaughter, Eri Muraoka, and translated by the award-winning Cathy Hirano (The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up), is available in English.

A young girl born into an impoverished farming family in Yamanashi Prefecture, when Hanako Muraoka is given the opportunity to attend the illustrious girls' school Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin, she falls in love with the English language, and with translating poetry. This love of the written word leads to a career as a children's writer, but her burgeoning literary life is cut tragically short with the death of her son and the bankruptcy of her husband's printing company. When the Second World War brings an end to her stint reading children's stories over the radio—for which she is known across Japan as "Aunty Radio"—she turns to her first love: translation.

It was the story of a young girl in a pastoral setting with a love of poetry that spoke most powerfully to Muraoka's heart. Amidst the wail of air raid sirens, she began translating her copy of Anne of Green Gables into Japanese around 1943, completing the majority of the work during the Second World War. In 1952, despite the crumbling of the Japanese publishing industry and the censorship enforced by the occupation, a publisher took a chance on an unknown translator, and the rest is history.

From rural Japan to mid-century Tokyo, Anne's Cradle tells the complex and captivating story of a woman who came of age in conservative twentieth-century Japan, and risked everything to bring the best of children's literature to her people, and cultivated a literary career that led generations of Japanese readers to fall in love with a plucky redhead from Prince Edward Island.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Japan, Memoir

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2008

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we (at least in Canada) think and talk about Lucy Maud Montgomery and her oeuvre (and in particular Anne of Green Gables), this is often also intertwined with our knowledge and also our appreciation of how hugely and lastingly popular AOGG is and continues to be in Japan, and that each summer, Prince Edward Island welcomes thousands of Japanese Anne of Green Gables and L.M. Montgomery fans (who travel to PEI to tour "Avonlea" landmarks, to smell the apple blossoms, to walk through Lover's Lane and so on and so on and so on). But said lasting and enduring fame of Anne of Green Gables (and of L.M. Montgomery) in Japan, this basically and primarily exists and has flourished primarily due the bravery of Hanako Muraoka, who during WWII secretly translated Anne of Green Gables into Japanese (and knowing full well that what she was doing could easily get Muraoka arrested or worse since rendering an English language novel into Japanese in WWII Japan was of course rather considered to be an act of treason), and whose life story is recalled in Anne's Cradle: The Life and Works of Hanako Muraoka, Japanese Translator of Anne of Green Gables (originally penned in Japanese by her granddaughter Eri Muraoka in 2008 under the title of アンのゆりかご　村岡花子の生涯 and translated into English by Cathy Hirano in 2021).

Now Anne's Cradle: The Life and Works of Hanako Muraoka, Japanese Translator of Anne of Green Gables is in many ways a complex story about the human trauma of colonialism and war, but at its centre, what Eri Muraoka (and Cathy Hirano) textually present with Anne's Cradle: The Life and Works of Hanako Muraoka, Japanese Translator of Anne of Green Gables is first and foremost the delightful and also immensely personally relatable account of someone who loved books, who simply and utterly adored reading (and how after her Canadian missionary teachers had given to Hanako Murakoa a copy of L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables as a gift when they were forced to leave Japan, Murakao then took it upon herself to translate AOGG into Japanese, and indeed also heroically so, because and as already mentioned above translating a novel penned by the "enemy" into Japanese was something that could be pretty darn dangerous during WWII).

A wonderful, enlightening and inspiring reading experience Anne's Cradle: The Life and Works of Hanako Muraoka, Japanese Translator of Anne of Green Gables has been (and while I have of course not read Eri Murakoa's Japanese original as I do not know how to either speak or read Japanese, yes, I do find that Cathy Hirano's translation flows very smoothly and as such is sounding delightfully original, is sounding as though Hirano is actually presenting her own and personal text in Anne's Cradle: The Life and Works of Hanako Muraoka, Japanese Translator of Anne of Green Gables and not just presenting a verbal mirror and reflection of Muraoka's words). Supremely well researched, with excellent and comprehensive textual information, as well as showing and providing wonderful endnotes, a detailed bibliography, an annotated chronology of Hanako Murakoa's life, a glossary and last but definitely not least a very user-friendly index, Anne's Cradle: The Life and Works of Hanako Muraoka, Japanese Translator of Anne of Green Gables brilliantly and gloriously features not only the supremely readable biography of fascinatingly strong, resourceful woman (very much a bookworm and for me thus also a true so-called kindred spirit), but yes, Anne's Cradle: The Life and Works of Hanako Muraoka, Japanese Translator of Anne of Green Gables also concurrently provides for readers an enlightening and educational historical chronicle of Japan’s tumultuous 20th century, for me, most definitely solidly five stars and most highly recommended (and indeed, not only for Lucy Maud Montgomery fans, not just for lovers of literature since Anne's Cradle: The Life and Works of Hanako Muraoka, Japanese Translator of Anne of Green Gables should also be of interest for potential readers who are into social and cultural history).

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Hanako Muraoka, who translated Anne of Green Gables into Japanese. The book became remarkably popular in Japan and has remained so. This biography, written by her granddaughter, has now been translated into English for the first time, and what a great read it is. Well-researched, comprehensive and wide-ranging, with many evocative illustrations, it’s not only a portrait of a fascinating woman but also a chronicle of Japan’s tumultuous 20th century, and will be of interest not only to lovers of literature but also to anyone interested in social and cultural history. Hanako was involved in Japanese publishing for many years and devoted much of her life to bringing quality literature to as many children as possible. She was well-known and respected in her field and way beyond. It would appear at first glance to be quite a niche biography but it’s much more than that and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's much more than I thought it would be since Muraoka led such a full life and interacted with so many prominent Japanese figures. Due to that, you also get a robust glimpse of the rise of Feminism and Women's Literature in Japan during the pre and post war period. It's also a good look at the impact of Western missionaries on girls and women in Japan and the role of Christianity.
It's very readable and Muraoka led a busy and impressive life, not without personal sacrifice and tragedy. This is a translation so I also give kudos to the translator; it reads very smoothly and naturally which is not always the case with translations. I hope the book will be picked up by many readers.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

[Caroline Woodward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne's Cradle: The Life and Works of Hanako Muraoka, Japanese Translator of Anne of Green Gables

This book about the amazing Japanese woman who translated Anne of Green Gables and many more great books by L.M. Montgomery, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and others was written by Hanako Muraoka's grand-daughter, Eri Muraoka. Then it was translated into English from the Japanese by Cathy Hirano, famous as the translator of The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up. The publisher, Nimbus Publishing, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, is the publisher of "the Anne books" in English and French in Canada. They are a venerable and vital publishing house in Atlantic Canada and I used to work for them as a publisher's sales representative for seven years in British Columbia. Oh, and the sister of Eri Muraoka, Mie Muraoka, is a translator too, following in her grandmother's footsteps. She translated my own book for children, Singing Away the Dark, which was released in Japan this past year! So I simply had to buy this book about Hanako Muraoka.

Hanako was the eldest child in a family of eight children with an idealistic father drawn to various political causes much more than making an adequate living to support such a large family and, of course, a long-suffering wife and mother. But her rather feckless father recognized Hanako's bright mind and in a life-saving turn of events, he enrolled her in a school for girls run by Canadian Methodist missionaries, all women. The little girl flourished in this environment, intellectually, emotionally and nutritionally too, given that some of her brothers and sisters were "adopted out" to other families because her own family simply could not feed them all. Hanako was so lucky to have avoided their fate.

Readers will follow the progress of this special girl and learn a great deal about the historical, political, and social realities of Japan, especially during World War II when English books were being burned in piles on the street and informants were lurking everywhere. It was a dangerous, paranoid era to be a writer and to have ties to Canadian missionaries and any translating done from English to Japanese had to be done in top-secret fashion. Nevertheless, one of the Canadians gave Hanako, a voracious reader of course, her own copy of Anne of Green Gables before leaving on a repatriation ship back to Canada.

To say that Hanako Muraoka was a remarkably hardworking, prolific and brilliant woman is not quite enough. She was an early feminist, an activist for literacy, the founder of Neighbourhood Libraries, a prolific writer of stories for families and children in magazines beginning in her early 20's, a beloved "Radio Auntie" reading stories for children until hostilities during WWII halted that, and then as a nationally renowned translator of books for adults and children. She married later in her life to a very compatible man, a "love" marriage rather than the arrangements made between families which were more common in that era.

Hanako's translation of Anne of Green Gables (published in the US and Canada in 1908) began in 1943 and emerged in 1952, because it was difficult to find a publisher in war-ravaged Japan and especially for the story of a red-headed orphan girl on a small Canadian island. But the right publisher read it and loved it and the rest is literary and economic publishing history. Anne Shirley's "use of her imagination" to transform grim reality resonated with young Japanese readers, and the not so young as well, and became a huge success. And to this day, many thousands of Japanese visitors come every year to Prince Edward Island to see the place where Redheaded Anne (the Japanese title which Hanako initially disliked) grew up and conquered hearts wherever she went, all thanks to a Miss Shaw handing a brilliant student her much-loved copy of a what is now a classic in children's literature around the world.

[Tabby Cat-Paw · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars is not enough for this outstanding achievement of a book!

Thank you to Eri Muraoka for sharing her grandmother's incredible story with us. Sorting through all those manuscripts, diaries, and letters for info, and then organizing all that into a narrative must have been hard work.

Thank you to Cathy Hirano for making this book accessible to English readers. I appreciate the footnotes and explanatory sentences of Japanese history and culture. Translating isn't just a task of matching words perfectly; it must convey so much more than that to its readers. Superbly done.

[Heather Macinnis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my, what a lovely surprise to discover this book! I am thoroughly taken with the inspirational character of Hanako Muraoka. There is just so much to love about this book: the influence of Atlantic Canadian missionary women, the power of words and literature, the importance of libraries for children, strength in turmoil, facing life with grace and dignity …

[二六 侯 · Rating 4 out of 5]

小時候讀的《清秀佳人》其實是從村岡譯本譯過來的二手翻譯。她除了英文甚佳，也頗有漢字的素養，「爐邊莊」「柳風莊」等漢字詞想必為中譯者減輕不少麻煩。

雖然遇到空襲也要抱著譯稿一起逃的《清秀佳人》在村岡生命中很重要，不過她和她朋友們的人生，還真是遠比蒙哥馬利的小村莊甚或多倫多波濤洶湧。她那個「沒用的理想主義老爸」、一票需要幫助的兄弟姊妹，以及支持女權的立場，與其說像安妮或蒙哥馬利，不如說像《小婦人》作者奧爾科特。

[Macy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this book here on Goodreads and immediately added it to my Christmas list. It's not often that I'm interested in reading biographies or even just nonfiction books. But Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite books ever, so much so that I've read two biographies on L. M. Montgomery. So I was immediately sold on reading Anne's Cradle.

This biography is about Hanako Muraoka, the Japanese translator of Anne of Green Gables. If you're an Anne fan and have wondered why the book is so popular in Japan, it's all because of this woman. Anne's Cradle unsurprisingly delves deep into Hanako's life. Hanako had actually left behind a lot of personal papers, from which the author (Hanako's own granddaughter Eri) extensively uses anecdotes. As Hanako's own thoughts, opinions, and feelings are conveyed, it sometimes feel like you're reading a novel instead of a work of non-fiction, which I personally really appreciated.

The author also provides a lot of details on the history of Japan and the important figures Hanako was involved with. Coming away from the book, I had learned a lot about Christians and mission schools in Japan, the Great Kanto Earthquake among other things.

[Alex Townley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a stunning look at this prominent Japanese literary figure by her own daughter and translated really beautifully. It showed glimpses of Japanese life in that specific period, which gave a lot more backstory and depth to the subject. I think this would be really interesting to anyone with a keen knowledge of Japanese and translated literature, and for anyone who wants to know more about life and some of the main famous figures in Japan in that day. I hope lots of people read this gentle, insightful story and grow their own understanding of this great woman.

[Merenwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was absolutely lovely. I kind of want to read Hanako's translation of Anne of Green Gables now, even though my Japanese knowledge is minimal!

[S. Shigemitsu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written book about Hanako Muraoka － the original Japanese translator for "Anne of Green Gables." A very influential person who inspired many Japanese women to be ambitious like Anne Shirley.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book about the translator of Anne of Green Gables. The book follows the life of Hanako and also was filled with the history of Japan. I didn't really know much about Japan before reading this so this was a great bonus. A very interesting lady who not only translated Anne of Green Gables but also many other books written by English-speaking authors. She also acted as an interpreter of Helen Keller on a visit to Japan she made.
Hanako's father was a Christian which was very unusual in Japan. He sent her to a Christian girls' school and she received an education that was also unusual for her class. Hanako had to hide the fact that she was translating Anne of Green Gables as it was at the time of WWII and the author was considered an enemy author. Nevertheless, she did it believing that the people of Japan needed to read it and feel hope in the midst of adversity. The book covers the years 1893-1968. She wrote books as well as poetry, which I found beautiful. I highly recommend this book.

[Miriel68 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a very interesting book that gives an insight into the cultural and social context of women's lives in early twentieth-century Japan and explains the reception of Western literature there. I didn't care for the style, but it could be the cultural gap problem. I don't like it when the author of a biography "knows" what his/her protagonist felt, what did they think at a given moment of their life. Even if the book was written by Hanako Muraoka's nephew, she was just one year old when her grandmother died, so she never knew her personally. I appreciated the quotations from the letters and poetries because they are authentic documents.

[Tanya Pesklevy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s an interesting look into the process of translation. I think what made Hanako Muraoka so popular is the attention to the nuances of the English and Japanese languages. She tried to be as faithful to the original as possible while capturing the spirit of the work she was translating.

As to why Anne of Green Gables is so popular I think is similar to why Harry Potter is so popular with people today. The bottom of page 254 has the author’s answer to that question which in part was the timing of the publication of the translation and the cultural transition Japan was going through at the time.

[Evelyn Croft · Rating 4 out of 5]

there's just a lot of interesting layers to ponder here; consider her dad was a socialist, she went to a chstian all girls missionary school; mostly run by canadian nuns, she had relationships with/rubbed elbows with women who basically set the groundwork for shoujo or spearheaded the suffragist movements, etc. it's not fantastically written or anything, but it's like a big readable wikipedia article. also works as an introductory and cursory look at early 20th century Japanese history.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by Muraoka's granddaughter, this biography reveals a history of Japan during my lifetime with which I was not familiar. My understanding of the great love of the Japanese for the works of L.M. Montgomery is enhanced by this delightful life story.

[JennLynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched, but dry.