Obituary: Edward Seidensticker

As mentioned in the Complete Review, translator from the Japanese Edward Seidensticker passed away at the age of 86.

From the obit in The Asahi Shimbun:

The professor emeritus at Columbia University in New York translated dozens of Japanese works, but he is perhaps best known for completing a full-length English translation of “Genji Monogatari” (The Tale of Genji) in 1975. It took him about 15 years to finish the classic written by Murasaki Shikibu in the Heian Period (794-1185).

Seidensticker also translated more than 100 contemporary literary works, such as “Yukiguni” (Snow Country) and “Senbazuru” (Thousand Cranes) by Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata, and “Sasame Yuki” (The Makioka Sisters) and “Tade Kuu Mushi” (Some Prefer Nettles) by Junichiro Tanizaki.