Introduction

I was attracted by the Japanese language as early as in my childhood. I was fascinated by the beautiful sound of the handful of Japanese words circulating in my family ambience. In middle school, I was notorious for this penchant of mine, eating with chopsticks in the school canteen. In the final year, I got at a textbook of Japanese and started studying it right away. I also vigorously applied my freshly gained knowledge at my schoolmates in an after-school circle. Some of them conceded to take part.

In the final year of grammar school, it was necessary to choose one´s future college. The Comenius University in Bratislava launched, for the first time in its history, a Japanese program. It seemed as if it was being opened specially for me! The study was hard, but to experience Japan after graduation, to be able to talk with Japanese people in their own tongue, it all was a fabulous reward for the hard work. Apart from the nearly perfectly functioning country where life is as pleasant as possible, I was allured by the richness of old traditions, especially in the sphere of literature, flower arrangement and tea ceremony. Since my study at Comenius had included translation studies, I delved into Classical Japanese and started to translate classical poetry into my mother tongue Slovak, formulating a specific translatory method.

Translations

I have been lucky enough, during my career as Japanese scholar, that all my translations were published as books, encompassing all the main genres (poetry, prose, drama) and the whole historical scale of Japanese – from the earliest work of prose, written in classical Japanese in around 900 AD, to an author living at present.

Research and publications

Besides translation, I engage in research as well. This includes linguistics (prehistory and formation of the Japanese language) and literary. You can find some of my scientific articles on the IS website, and my translation books in the Central Library of the Faculty. Apart from that, I have my blog where I address current language and societal issues. I also have a channel on YouTube where I contribute as much as my free time allows me.