Takagi points out that contemporary written Japanese was not fully embraced until after World War II, and that "writing in the contemporary style with grace and dignity would have been a difficult task even in the 1950s." It wasn't until the third edition of the Japanese Book of Mormon, published in 1995, that a "full colloquial style translation" was made available.
A second translation, published in 1957, was made by Tatsui Sato, whose family was the first to be baptized in the country following the 1924 closure of the Japanese mission.
Sources: "Proclaiming the Way in Japanese," Shinji Takagi, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture, Maxwell Institute; "Alma O. Taylor," Jeffrey S. Hardy, Mormon Missionary Diaries, BYU Harold B. Lee Library; "A Priceless Pearl: Alma O. Taylor's Mission to Japan," Reid L. Neilson, Ensign, June 2002; "Boyd K. Packer: A Watchman on the Tower," Lucile C. Tate, Bookcraft
Aaron Shill is the editor of Features and Mormon Times at the Deseret News.
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Aaron Shill is the editor of Features and Mormon Times at the Deseret News. Since joining the staff in 2003, he has worked as assistant Sports editor, interim Sports editor and assistant editor for Mormon Times. Aaron more ..
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Fascinating on the tradeoff between elegance and understandability. Having some translation experience, I have long felt that the "clunky" passages in the Book of Mormon read exactly like a painstakingly translated document where the More..