People's Literature adds Japanese to its multilingual editions

[Photo provided to China Daily]

Even for those who are interested in Chinese literature, their knowledge is quite limited - they mostly know about ancient Chinese classics, she says.

She hopes the magazine will lead to a new path in Sino-Japanese understanding.

The magazine started in 2015 after long discussions between professionals from both countries. The teams of translators are led by Yutori Yizuka, an award-winning translator from Japan.

The selection of Chinese stories include those by established authors, such as Su Tong and Li Jingze, and also voices from younger writers like Xu Zechen.

Among China's most influential literary journals, People's Literature is resourceful in offering key works from contemporary writers, and is also published in English, Italian, German and Russian.

Its editor-in-chief, Shi Zhanjun, knows how tough the task of multilingual publishing is, but the magazine also aspires to create works of high literary value in the targeted languages.

Miyazaki says the Japanese edition lives up to expectations, and she is enjoying reading the selected poems in it, like Chinese poet Da Jie's Mother, which is dedicated to the "speechless" love the elderly have for their children.

According to Shi, there was a following in Japan of the Chinese version of People's Literature before the Japanese edition was launched.

Hu Kaimin, an editor with the magazine's overseas publisher, Foreign Language Press, says: "As close neighbors, the two countries have a history of cultural exchanges since the fifth century. I believe literature will be one of the most direct and powerful ways to enhance mutual understanding."