Gen Parton-Shin // 辛 源

A member of the esteemed American Translators Association, Gen is a trilingual interpreter with a multicultural upbringing across England, Japan, Korea, and the US, boasting a robust command of vocabulary, particularly in theater and fine arts. Gen is proficient in simultaneous translation between English and Japanese, skilled in diverse settings, including facilitating conferences between Broadway and Japanese production entities, steering dinner meetings, managing tech conferences, and navigating business proposals. Noteworthy expertise extends to lyrical and interpretive translations, with professional accolades for translating lyrics and scripts for official Japanese productions of Broadway musicals, and vice versa. Additional proficiency in theater and TV script consulting and translations. Demonstrates exceptional interpersonal skills and adeptness in providing culturally nuanced interpretations, crucial for fostering effective communication in high-stakes scenarios.

Gen's foray into the field of Lyrical Translation started during the pandemic, when he was out of work as an actor. Gen has translated into Japanese "35MM, A Musical Exhibition" by Ryan Scott Oliver for C.A.T Produce in Tokyo, as well as translating the Japanese lyrics into English for Scoop's Rap from "Poupelle of Chimney Town," written by Nishino Akihiro and composed by Ko Tanaka. Gen was commissionned to translate "October Sky, the musical" by Amuse inc. He also created the Japanese subtitles for the filmed version of the Broadway musical "Allegiance," starring George Takei.
Having experienced working professionally in Japan in numerous Broadway musicals translated into Japanese, Gen had often felt that the essence of a well done lyrical translation embodies not only the direct meaning, but also takes into account context, cultural nuance, the intended emotional impact and function of a line, as well as musicality. It is a tricky task to pack all of that information into a translated lyric, especially when Japanese tends to allow about 70% of the information that is written in English to fit into music when translated. Due to the lack of diphthongs and a one-character-per-note limitation unique to the Japanese language, a compression of information utilizing creative liberties and imagination is essential, and when not possible, a translator is often forced to choose what information is more important within a given line, or to somehow find another way to include it. Not a single note can be wasted.
Given that such restrictions imposed by the differences in language structure is widely understood within the Japanese musical theatre community, the word in Japan regarding the rap musical Hamilton is that the show is impossible to translate into Japanese. Gen took this as a personal challenge and devised his own method of interpretive translating that also makes every lyric rhyme, so as to translate not only the meaning, but translate the rhyme scheme that is a critical essence of what makes Hamilton Hamilton. His dream is to become the official translator for Hamilton in Japanese. Check out his original translation work on the musical Hamilton below!