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Old 07-22-2010, 05:27 PM   #109
Carl Thompson
 
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Location: Kasama
Join Date: Nov 2006
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Re: Transmission, Inheritance, Emulation 18

You have my apologies for a slightly delayed (and jetlagged) response to this.
Quote:
Peter A Goldsbury wrote: View Post
Actually, your comment that 'many people were asked to check the main text' is quite telling. Why were so many checks necessary, when the judgments and intuitions of one native speaker would have been quite enough?
I mentioned that because I thought it told of how everyone's opinions seemed to be important. Referring back to my earlier point regarding Osensei's posture, I should think the combined effort that went into the wording on the plaque was appropriate to the statue's purpose. The same would go for the English version which we know can be strongly influenced by whoever translated it.
Quote:
Peter A Goldsbury wrote: View Post
Of course, this is no big deal and does not really affect the main thrust of this thread--other than highlighting the major problems involved of making 'official' translations from Japanese of texts like O Sensei's discourses.
This diversion in the thread came about from my suggestion that the link to Osensei in Iwama has not been lost. Isoyama Shihan is just one sensei with twenty years under the founder and regardless of whether or not we think things like erecting statues (whether slapdash or considerately) and demonstrations before the Emperor etc constitute keeping a low profile, we could also argue about the necessity of a high profile to have a link to Osensei. Then we could do the same with the next shihan on the list and so on right down to the unknown yondans and godans with "only" five or so years with the founder.

That is something I think is telling.
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