Messages from HIF Fellow
Raisa Porrasmaa
Translator
Researcher at the University of Helsinki
Hōsei university was familiar to me since I had spent there more than three years as a research student. I participated in Prof. Dan Koakimoto’s seminar courses, had a presentation in a symposium at the National Institute of Japanese Literature and in EAJS conference in Europe, and received personal guidance from Prof. Koakimoto for my PhD.
During the HIF fellowship I was able to use freely the library’s collections, which contain materials that I could access only in Japan. My research topic is parody and humor in literature during the Heian and Kamakura periods.
I was also preparing a book about the history of women in Japan, and I was able to complete this work during my stay. This was my third book about Japan.
Furthermore, I was able to meet and interview the Japanese authors Hiromi Kawakami, Sayaka Murata and Prof. Kei Nakazawa from Hōsei University. These interviews were great material for the book I am currently working on. I have also translated Kawakami’s and Murata’s works into Finnish.
During the past few years, I have mainly focused on translation work and have translated 15 novels from Japanese (and one from French), including for instance works of Haruki Murakami and Keigo Higashino, into Finnish. I have also lectured at the University of Helsinki and the University of Eastern Finland about Japanese literature, history, and translation, and taught Japanese at the Helsinki Summer University.
