A Handshake

2022/07/05

As a translator, I get to become someone else through texts. It gets more exciting when the person seems interesting and very different from myself. Most of these times are fun, and other times it becomes nightmare.

A few years ago, I had an occasion to become one of the sexiest men on this planet. Actually, it was my second time to become “one of the sexiest men on this planet”, and I don’t know exactly how many are called with this title, but this person was famously and inarguably that type.

I know his name but I didn’t know much about him. I quickly checked how he talks and behaves to complete the work and it was okay, but deep down I was feeling “I don’t think I can fully be him, there’s nothing I can relate to”.

But the work related to this man had kept popping up since then, so I decided to delve a bit deeper into himself. I read his books and articles to get to know him better, and while I was watching one of his documentaries, I saw one subtle face expression of him. And that was our handshake moment.

After this, it got so much easier to translate his texts and I got more confidence to become his Japanese persona. I don’t see his texts so often these days, but I still high fiving in my heart each time I see him on media.

I think a lot of translators have this type of secret bond. With someone you could never imagine.