Note:
(a) Shiraishi Island (岡山県笠岡市) 白石島
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiraishi_Island
(b) Sunao AMANO
(i) BBC Translates the name as “天野 直男.” There is no proof for that.
(ii)
(A) There is no question the Japanese surname is 天野. The problem is with the given name: suna is Japanese pronunciation for kanji characters 砂 or 沙. Naturally the given name can be, instead of suna-o, su-na-o, which may have any combination of kanji.
(B) When Mr Sunao Amano joined discussion in a Japanese-language blog, he used his English name rather than Japanese name--even though the blogger had a Japanese screen name: “（4-タ）.”
1. Posted by Sunao amano 2006年10月25日 18:12
失礼いたします。
この切符は販売しました、天野と言います。
平成18年10月25日現在、この福山行きの切符は64番まで販売しました。
残念なことではございますが、今月末をもちまして、JRの連絡券の販売を終了いたします。
御愛顧いただきましてありがとうございました。”
(C) His Japanese-language twitter is under the English name: Sunao Amano (in that order),
twitter.com/hashtag/amano?src=hash&mode=users
(iii) The above twitter, however, kindly supplies the URL for his website.
岡山県笠岡市白石島 天野 直さん; 新聞配達から牛乳配達まで.
(A) The subtitle “新聞配達から牛乳配達まで” says: from home delivery of newspaper(s) to home delivery of milk.
(B) The left upper corner of the Web page, indicating Mr Amano’s affiliation, states “岡山野菜カタログ [:] 岡山野菜カタログは岡山県の農家の野菜を通販でお届けしています。”
* カタログ (pronounced “katalogu”) is katakana for the English noun “catalog(ue).”
* tsūhan 通販 【つうはん】 (n,v) (abbr[eviation]): "(See 通信販売) mail order"
* todoke 届; 届け 【とどけ】 (n) “report; notification; registration <盗難の届をだしたいのですけど。 I would like to report a theft>”
* translation for 岡山野菜カタログは岡山県の農家の野菜を通販でお届けしています: Okayama Vegetable Catalog is a registration of farmhouse vegetables [whose sales are] through mail order.
(iv) Japanese given names, it appears to me, are like American ones (especially among African Americans) can be anything.
(A) For example, former Japanese prime minister (2010-2011) Naoto KAN 菅 直人, where “nao” is from
na-o-ru 治る(P); 直る(P) 【なおる】 (v) (1): “(esp. 治る) to be cured; to get well; to be healed; (2) (esp. 直る) to get mended [or corrected]; to be repaired; to be fixed”
(B) The “to” comes from 人 (a split that I have never seen elsewhere), whose Japanese and Chinese pronunciations are “hito” and “jin,” respectively.
(vi) Then the “su” in “Sunao AMANO” is unaccounted for. 作者: choi 时间: 7-23-2014 08:44
(continued)
(c) “Amano is not a regular teacher. He's a local farmer who grows snow peas and squashes for a living.”
(i) BBC translates: 天野并不是正式教师。他是当地一名农夫，靠种植荷兰豆和南瓜为生。
(ii) In Cantonese, my first language, snow pea is 荷兰豆, too. But in Taiwan it is 碗豆.
荷蘭豆為什麼叫荷蘭豆? 奇摩知識+, Dec 9, 2005
tw.knowledge.yahoo.com/question/question;_ylt=A2oKmJSUhs5TsjAA.89r1gt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByZWY0N3NuBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDNQRjb2xvA3NnMwR2dGlkAw--?qid=1405120907112
("荷蘭豆(碗豆)叫做荷蘭豆(碗豆)的原因很簡單,因為荷蘭豆就是荷西時代的荷蘭人引進來的[.] 荷蘭人除了引進荷蘭豆之外,還有引進荷蘭椒(辣椒) 蕃茄等蔬菜[.] 荷蘭人除了引進蔬菜外,還引進耕牛(黃牛),比水牛還會耕種")
(iii) snow pea
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_pea
(Pisum sativum var. saccharatum [vs Pisum sativum for “pea”]; Snow peas, along with sugar snap peas and unlike field and garden peas, are notable for having edible pods that lack inedible fiber)
(d) “Amano's talk is a red-letter day for the school”
(i) BBC translation: “天野登门，可是学校的一件大事。”
(ii) red-letter day www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/red-letter-day.html
(iii) Sarah Kemble Knight
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Kemble_Knight(1666-1727)
(e) Describing Shiraishi-jima: “Its granite spine is a switchback range of steep forested hills crowned with rock formations sculpted by wind and rain. From the top there are spectacular views over the island spangled Inland Sea.”
(i) BBC translation: 花岗岩的“脊梁”是森林覆盖的陡峭山丘。山顶上覆盖着常年经风吹雨打的岩石。由此鸟瞰内海小岛，景色十分壮观。
Specifically, the translation glosses over “switchback” and “spangled.”
(ii) switchback (n):
“1. A road, trail, or railroad track that follows a zigzag course on a steep incline
* * *
3. Chiefly British A roller coaster”
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language. 4th Ed. Houghton Mifflin, 2009. www.thefreedictionary.com/switchback
(f) “In fact there are some people on the island who seem incredibly old. Gnarled and wizened with weather-beaten faces, the colour of teak [timber], they look like ancient trees from a Japanese garden.”
(i) teak
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teak
(Tectona grandis; native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries in Africa and the Caribbean)
(ii) teak = 柚木
(g) “A comparative youngster is 68-year-old Taiko Amano. All of her 11 children have upped sticks and left the island, and Taiko is a widow.”
(h) “Fishing is the main occupation. A handful of fishing smacks sail out from the harbour - sea bream and Japanese Spanish mackerel are regular catches.”
(i) smack (ship)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smack_(ship)
(ii) smack (n; Dutch smak or Low German smack): "a sailing ship (as a sloop or cutter) used chiefly in coasting and fishing" www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smack
(i) “To a drumbeat which has echoed here down the centuries, the villagers are practising a dance called the Shiraishi Odori. It commemorates a sea battle fought 800 years ago between rival clans in which it's said the Inland Sea turned crimson with the blood of the dead. No other island in the Seto Sea has the dance for each island is unique.”
(i) BBC translation: 伴随着流传几百年的鼓乐声，村民跳起了白石传统舞。舞蹈的主题是纪念800年前岛上部族间的一场海战。据说，那场战役中死伤惨重，内海变成一片血海。濑户内海其他小岛没有这样的传统舞，每一个小岛都是独一无二的。
(ii) The translation adds superfluous “传统” to “白石舞” (what the English original says) to create”白石传统舞.”
(A) English: “Shiraishi Odori”
(B) odori 踊り 【おどり】 (n): “dance”
(C) The translation is wrong again, with “岛上部族间.”
It is “部族间” all right--but definitely NOT “岛上.” The English original refers to
Battle of Dan-no-ura
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dan-no-ura
(Mar 24, 1185)
, which was the finale of Genpei War 源平合戦.
(j) A photo of a mother with her two boys, with a caption: “Kiyomi Herada, born in China, has now settled in Shiraishi”
(i) BBC translation: 原田清美（Kiyomi Herada）生在中国，现在在白石定居
(ii) There is no surname Herada. So it must be a typo, the correct form being “Harada 原田.”