from http://maruchan.sandwich.net/lemon-comment.txt
originally posted at nattocake.blogspot.com Jan 15, 2006.

Lemon: translator's epilogue


Kajii Motojiro, like his protagonist in Lemon, suffered from tuberculosis, and 
much of the work he produced in his short life (1901-1932) seems to explore or 
reflect what he must have been feeling as he became aware of his coming death. 
Though he was able to publish a few stories, he was largely unknown during the 
time he was alive. Today, Lemon is his most famous story. He is known by most 
Japanese, but although his work has been chosen for translation by the Japanese 
Literature Publishing Project, he is unknown in America compared to more 
prolific authors like Soseki and Akutagawa. I myself did not know of Kajii 
until this post appeared in Mari5A's blog, ????.

Her description of the story intrigued me, and the apparent absence of a widely 
available full translation compelled me to try. Though I may not have the skill 
of a professional translator, I hope it was sufficient enough for me to 
successfully convey the quirkiness and lyricism of the original work, while 
developing it into a story that could stand with English works on its own.


The Maruzen department store in Kyoto closed on October 10, 2005. That multiple 
people left lemons in the store in remembrance of Kajii speaks clearly of 
Lemon's impact in its years as a textbook staple.



Mari 5A summarizes the story: 
http://smt.blogs.com/mari_diary/2005/10/a_lemon_on_book.html

Hideo Kojima (creator of the Metal Gear Solid video games) also mentions 
Maruzen's closing: http://www.blog.konami.jp/gs/hideoblog_e/2005/10/000297.html


Information about Kajii Motojiro:
http://www.jlpp.jp/english/list/works08/column.html#lemon
http://www.boheme-magazine.net/php/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=262

Original Japanese text:
http://www.shinchosha.co.jp/meisaku/lemon/html/kazy0101.html
http://www.shinchosha.co.jp/meisaku/lemon/html/kazy0102.html
http://www.shinchosha.co.jp/meisaku/lemon/html/kazy0103.html