Two volumes of Etty Hillesum's writings have been published in Japanese translation. Who has read these books, and what they have made of them? To find an answer, I have looked at book reviews in Japanese newspapers and periodicals, and examined references to Etty Hillesum in Japanese publications and on websites. I have also sought to interview a number of Japanese who have engaged with Etty Hillesum's writings in one way or another. This article presents my findings. My goal is to provide a definitive analysis of Etty Hillesum's reception in Japan.

Etty Hillesum in Japanese Translation

In 1986, Professor Ōkoso Yoshiko saw her Japanese translation of Etty Hillesum's diary published as Eros to kami to shūyōjo, and in 1989 Ōkoso's translation of Etty Hillesum's letters came out as Ikiru koto no imi wo motomete. Both of these volumes used as their source text Arnold J. Pomerans's English translations from the original Dutch, respectively, Etty: A Diary, 1941-43 and Etty Hillesum: Letters from Westerbork. Her editor chose the titles for Ōkoso's work, which, when translated into English, are Eros, God, and Concentration Camp, and Searching for the Meaning of Life.