The report refers to the issue of translation as a way of interacting between civilizations through the transfer from one language into another for the purpose of achieving scientific and cultural objectives. The report complains that Arab countries have not learned from the lessons of the past and "the field of translation remains chaotic." The number of translations remains small; in the first half of the 1980s the average number of books translated per 1 million people in the Arab world during a 5-year period was 4.4 while in Hungary it was 519 and in Spain 920. The number for Israel is approximately 380.

“We don't publish nearly enough translated works in this country. We talk about joining Europe as a political entity yet more often than not we don't know what they're reading or what they're writing so we don't know what they're thinking.”

Vertical Inc. in New York hopes to find an audience in the United States for literary entertainment from Japan beyond Banana Yoshimoto and Haruki Murakami. Founded by Hiroki Sakai, a former book editor at Nikkei Shimbun who has, according to Publishers Weekly (April 7), secured funding from the Nihon Keizai Shimbun and Itochu International, Vertical published its first four books this spring, has eight more scheduled to print in fall and 20 to 24 more set for next year.

The four titles already published are "Ring" by Koji Suzuki, the basis for the horror film recently remade in Hollywood; "Twinkle Twinkle," an urban love story by Kaori Ekuni; "Ashes," a hard-boiled mystery by Kenzo Kitakata; and book one of the heroic fantasy "Guin Saga" -- comprising 100 volumes in all! -- by Kaoru Kurimoto.