Mari Koch Murray

Thesis title: A translation with commentary of Saito Chiho’s manga series 'Torikae baya'

Biography

Background

I began studying Japanese on the MA Hons programme at Edinburgh, which also took me to Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto for one year. After graduating, I went to the Kyoto area again to live and work. I spent over four years in Japan, where I taught English and studied audiovisual translation, before returning to Edinburgh to begin postgraduate study. For my MScR research, I investigated a project in which members of an international fan community for the anime series 'Revolutionary Girl Utena' were involved in translation decisions for a new North American release of the series.

Interviewing fans about their experiences and motivations inspired the direction of my current PhD project, which revolves around translating Saito Chiho's 2012-2017 manga series 'Torikae baya'. During my time on the PhD programme, I have taken part in summer schools for translation with the British Centre for Literary Translation and for classical Japanese language with the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies.

I am also a freelance translator of subtitles, manga and light novels, and I work as a tutor for undergraduate courses in Asian Studies.

Qualifications

MA Hons Japanese, University of Edinburgh, 2015

MScR Japanese, University of Edinburgh, 2021

Classical Japanese summer programme, Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies (Columbia University and Doshisha University), 2025

Undergraduate teaching

Current: Japanese Language Pre-intermediate (Translation); Translation from Japanese to English (Marking)

Past: Society and Culture in Pre-modern East Asia (Tutorials); Introduction to Japanese Literature (Tutorials)

Research summary

The aim of my project is to write an English translation of Saito Chiho's 2012-2017 manga series 'Torikae baya', with a commentary comprising an introduction that contextualises the source material, an explanation of my process, and a discussion of the themes and significance of the text. This manga is one of several adaptations of the Heian period tale 'Torikaebaya monogatari', but only the original tale has ever been formally translated into English. In translating this series, I will explore how adapting this tale into a new medium for a new audience in modern Japanese reflects attitudes towards the time period of the original tale and the topics it addresses. In the summer of 2025, I received funding from the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and the Japan Foundation Endowment Committee for a research trip to Japan, where I participated in a six-week summer programme on classical Japanese language at Doshisha University through the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies and conducted an in-person interview with Saito Chiho.

I currently receive funding for this research project from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation Studentship Programme.

Current research interests

Professional and amateur translation, anime and manga fan culture, premodern Japanese culture

Papers delivered

'PhD project: A translation with commentary of Saito Chiho's manga series "Torikae baya"', Japan Foundation/British Association for Japanese Studies PhD Workshop 2025, Edinburgh

'"If only I could change it!": Picturing the past through manga adaptation in Saito Chiho's "Torikae baya"', British Association for Japanese Studies 50th Anniversary Conference 2025, Cardiff

'Adaptation as Opportunity: Formal considerations in adapting "Torikaebaya monogatari" to manga' for the panel 'Monogatari, Tanka and Nō Reimagined: Intersemiotic translation from/to manga', InTO Manga: Critical Paths in Manga Studies International Symposium 2026, Torino

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