The return of a paradise lost in translation

Twelve years ago, when scholar Zhu Jiarong was asked to translate A Lost Paradise, by Japanese writer Junichi Watanabe, into Chinese, she refused unless the publisher would agree to her terms: delete its explicit sexual content.

"This was my first translation of a novel. As a college teacher, translating a novel full of erotic content would be my last choice. I would feel so embarrassed to see my students in class," Zhu told METRO.

Thanks to the prevailing attitude in China then, the publisher agreed, and Zhu, a scholar and translator of Japanese literature with the University of International Relations, worked to "purify" the novel.