The implications of translator celebrity: Investigating the commercial impact of Haruki Murakami’s fame as a translator

Abstract

In Japan, there exists a rather unusual phenomenon that can be defined as “translator celebrity,” in which translators are treated in much the same way as celebrities in other domains (Akashi 2018a). As in the case of celebrity chefs, writers and artists, translators’ celebrity status generates commercial value for the works they produce. For instance, Japanese publishers routinely capitalize on translators’ fame rather than that of the source authors when promoting translations produced by celebrity translators (Hadley and Akashi 2015, 459). Thus, translators’ celebrity status effectively influences the way foreign literature is promoted and presented in the target culture, which can impact the reception of the works they translate. Among the most prominent examples of this phenomenon is Haruki Murakami, inarguably the most famous translator in contemporary Japan.