The Phantom Doctor by Ranpo Edogawa: Interview with the Translator, Language

Kate: Akechi and the Fiend often use "kun" to refer to each other. The reference seems to be half-condescending/half-affectionate.

On the other hand, the Fiend uses “san” with Inspector Nakamura yet Akechi uses “kun” with the same man.

For Westerners like myself, I can't help but think, "How does one keep it straight?”

Are there ever issues where, say, a superior loses a job or co-workers who were once in a higher position descend to a lower position? Do those addressing them change the honorifics overnight? Or do they stick to what they are used to? Do they mess up and get embarrassed? Or is the issue so culturally ingrained, nobody has to think about it too closely?  

Eugene: The emperor aside (and I don't doubt you could identify exceptions there too), pretty much all honorifics are relative to the person speaking and the person being addressed. Honorifics most often reflect an objective relationship (such as the year in school or your position in the corporate hierarchy), but also the subjective relationships between individuals, and even your personal feelings about a person.

For example, yobisute (dropping the honorific) can indicate the point at which a romance moves onto the next level. It can also signal contempt for an authority figure. In Hills of Silver Ruins, you can often tell whether a character is in Gyousou's camp or Asen's camp by the honorifics they use. Gyousou's retainers never use Asen's name with an honorific (yobisute), indicating their contempt for him.

The Machiavellian Rousan always refers to Gyousou as Gyousou-sama but not Asen, which indicates how complex her allegiances are. She respects Gyousou but not Asen and yet allied herself with Asen.

The Fiend considers himself a "gentleman thief," and so pays Chief Inspector Nakamura the respect due his office and position by addressing him as Nakamura-san. As no personal relationship exists, he has no reason not to. But Akechi isn't a member of the police force and so is not part of that hierarchy. Since he considers Nakamura a friend and an equal, he uses the more familial Nakamura-kun.

Note that kun is used with a social equal or someone below you in the social hierarchy, never with a social superior. Yes, it gets confusing. It means you always have to be aware of the operating frame of reference. Senpai-kouhai relationships established in school may persist throughout a person's life. That is, unless something upsets the frame of reference, like joining the same company at different times.

Exchanging business cards creates a kind of virtual organizational chart on the fly. This is also why a student's year in school almost always accompanies any official description, as in news reports. Social class definitely plays a role and the safest thing to do is use a job title as the honorific or just the job title without the surname. With any kind of skilled professional, you can always fall back on sensei.

Especially with lifetime employment on the wane, some companies have tried to simplify things and smooth the playing field by having everybody use san regardless of their organizational position. 

Kate: I know American institutions that have tried similar approaches--get rid of those titles! It never really seems to take hold. 

Many idioms and other phrases show up such as "between a rock and a hard place" (or “sandwiched between a rock and a hard place”) though here it is used quite literally!

Eugene: The idiom I translated as "between a rock and a hard place" (a bit of a pun, what with them being in a cave and all) is zettai zetsumei (lit. "desperate end of life"). The closest English equivalent might be "desperate straits." Like "two birds with one stone," it is a four-character idiom. "Fall into [caught in] a dilemma [jirenma]" and "itabasami," which literally means "caught between two boards." 

Kate: What about other idioms/sayings, such as "where angels fear to tread" and "heart in his mouth"? Do you have a favorite that you've translated? 

Eugene: There are a few famous expressions like "Two birds with one stone" (the same in Japanese and Chinese) and "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down" (a literal translation of the Japanese proverb) that are identical. Many others are close but not quite.

It's always a pleasant surprise when a translation does come close enough to count, though even there, an exact translation is not necessarily the best one.

For example, the entry for the expression I translated as "his heart in his mouth" also suggests the phrases "be beside oneself with fear," "be in mortal fear of," and "(so frightened that one) feels more dead than alive." That last one is the most literal.

On the other hand, if a translation is close enough that it rings a bell, I won't avoid making the allusion as I do here and here and here.

I've always liked the proverb "The god you don't touch won't curse (haunt) you," which translates as "Let sleeping dogs lie." In Japanese, it uses old school grammar that sounds like something a Buddhist sage would tell you in a deep voice. Sawaranu kami ni tatari nashi.

 And, of course, "Hana yori dango." The manga title in English, Boys Over Flowers, is a clever pun on the original proverb. The literal translation is "Dumplings over Flowers."

Kate: A few marvelous phrases--"greedy and grasping ends"-- as well as the Fiend's monologues reminded me of "that announcer guy from the movies." Years ago, you recommended channeling that guy for certain types of writing. Did you do so for this book? 

Eugene: This time around, the voice in my head addressing the Gentle Reader is probably closer to a wry and dry BBC guy, like the narrator for How to be Likable in a Crisis on NHK World. 

Kate: Does the Fiend make an appearance in every book? 

Eugene: So far, the Fiend has made an appearance in every book. No jail can hold him! I've started on Big Gold Bullion, which immediately follows The Phantom Doctor, so an explanation [of the book's ending] should be in the offing at some point.  

Congratulations on the the publication of The Phantom Doctor! Here's to Big Gold Bullion coming at some as-yet undetermined future date!