At this time is World E-book and Copyright Day. And Laos has its personal story to mark it.
“The e-book reminds us that we aren’t alone on this world.”
That’s how Phonepasert ‘Mee’ Xaymonty talked about “Comfort Retailer Lady”, a Japanese novel he spent greater than 300 hours translating into Lao.
Mee grew up within the southern Salavanh Province, with an early obsession with Japan he couldn’t fairly clarify.
In 2017, a Japanese authorities scholarship took him to Kyoto College to review training.
Six years later, a query was nonetheless lingering in his thoughts: Why have been so many Japanese books accessible in Thai, however nearly none in Lao?
“I wished Lao readers to have entry to those works in our personal language,” he mentioned.
After graduating in 2023, Phonepasert returned to Laos and commenced working as a Japanese-Lao interpreter and translator. He then based Chiaranai Publishing and took on work as a managing editor overseeing translations from Japanese into Thai and Lao.
A Japanese Novel Finds Its Lao Voice
In 2025, he translated the internationally acclaimed novel “Comfort Retailer Lady” into Lao from Japanese. That decide turned out to be one of the vital celebrated Japanese novels of the previous decade and the primary time the work is on the market to Lao readers.
Written by Sayaka Murata and first printed in 2016, “Comfort Retailer Lady” gained Japan’s prestigious Akutagawa Prize and has bought over 2.5 million copies worldwide, with translation rights in additional than 40 international locations.
The Lao version, printed by Dokked Publishing below the title ມະນຸດຄົມບິນິ (Manout Khombini), went on sale at bookshops in Vientiane and nationwide in March, formally launching on the 2026 Vientiane E-book Pageant.
On the heart of the novel is Keiko Furukura, a 36-year-old lady who has labored on the similar comfort retailer for 18 years. She is content material, exact, and deeply in sync with the rhythms of her office. Society, nonetheless, sees her in a different way. Her household and pals stress her to marry, to discover a “correct” job, to be regular.
Mee discovered the story unexpectedly resonant.
“It’s each humorous and unhappy,” he mentioned. “It displays the stress folks face for not becoming into society’s expectations. I spotted it additionally pertains to life in Laos, particularly amongst younger folks.”
Bridging the Language Hole
The interpretation took Mee nearly a whole yr of labor, with the linguistic problem of the interpretation being essentially the most important a part of it.
“Translating straight from Japanese into Lao remains to be uncommon,” he defined. “Many Lao readers are extra conversant in Thai variations, however Thai will not be Lao.”
Regardless of the 2 languages sharing similarities, he was cautious to not let Thai creep in.
“It’s not straightforward to seek out the correct Lao phrases. I attempted to make use of language that feels pure and trendy, particularly for youthful readers, quite than one thing too formal or outdated.”
Duangdeuan Bounyavong, a SEA Write Award winner and Nationwide Artist, edited the interpretation, whereas the quilt was illustrated by a Lao artist, designed particularly to attract in youthful readers.
For Phonpaseuth, the work carries that means past language. “I need Lao readers to discover overseas cultures via books, particularly Japanese writing,” he mentioned.
On 23 April, UNESCO marks World E-book and Copyright Day, a worldwide celebration of the ability of books to attach folks throughout cultures and generations.
In Laos, the day finds slightly however significant house in Mee’s work and his fellow translator and author colleagues.
He’s already engaged on his subsequent translation.
