Japanese Literature discussion

Hi everyone! This is a question that's been on my mind lately. Now and then I'll be looking through an author's bibliography and find an interesting (but untranslated) sounding novel.

I am not a translator - but if theoretically I *were* an independent translator, what kind of hurdles would I face in trying to translate and publish a hard-to-market, Japanese novel 'past its prime'? (Copyright, author agreements? Legal problems, marketing problems?)

(One book that led to this question was Kenzaburo Oe's 1990 治療塔 https://www.complete-review.com/revie... - a novel that, while sounding like it is dated to some extent, also has an interesting premise. I don't expect it will be translated any time soon.)

Melos, I am not a translator, and defer to any of our members who are and want to weigh in on your question.

I found this link from UMass Amherst that might be a good place to start.

https://guides.library.umass.edu/c.ph...