Comparing the translations of Japan's Prime Minister Koizumi's official apology in April 2005

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  • Mok Jeffrey
    Faculty of Social and Environmental Studies, Fukuoka Institute of Technology | School of International Liberal Studies, Miyazaki International College
  • Tokunaga Mitsuhiro
    Faculty of Social and Environmental Studies, Fukuoka Institute of Technology | School of International Liberal Studies, Miyazaki International College

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Abstract

In the lowest point in the China-Japan relationship, China called for Japan "to face up with its history of invasion". In response, the then, Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, issued a public apology at the Asian-African Summit on 22 April 2005. His words, "deep remorse" and "heartfelt apology", created controversy. What do the translations say? Was there lexical avoidance? Were there discourse differences compared to previous apologies? This paper examines these questions and these words in Japanese, "痛切なる反省" and "心からのお詫び", and in Chinese, "深深的反省" and "由衷約歉意".

Journal

  • Comparatio

    Comparatio 11 5-24, 2007-11-20

    Society of Comparative Culｔural Studies, Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies, Kyushu University

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