Justin’s Japan: VAMPS, ‘Monkey Business,’ AKB48 at Japan Day @ Central Park

By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his Japanese culture page here for related stories.As spring continues and the weather continues to warm, New Yorkers can enjoy activities all over the city both indoors and out.This month’s highlights include:Friday, May 1, 8:00 p.m.VAMPSBest Buy Theater, 1515 Broadway$35Japan’s most daring rock band, VAMPS is fronted by vocalist hyde of L’arc~en~Ciel and guitarist K.A.Z of Oblivion Dust. Now touring in support of their latest album, Bloodsuckers (available on iTunes), VAMPS returns to take another bite out of the Big Apple for their first area performance since 2013.Monday, May 4, 6:30 p.m.Monkey Business: Japan/America Writers' Dialogue in Words and PicturesAsia Society, 725 Park Avenue$15, $10 Asia Society members, $12 students/seniorsJoin this annual conversation between contemporary Japanese and American authors in which Asia Society hosts an international dialogue, curated and moderated by the co-founders and editors of the Tokyo-based literary journal Monkey Business with writers who are featured in the latest edition of Monkey Business (#5), a unique, cutting-edge annual literary journal which showcases newly-translated Japanese as well as contributions from contemporary American and British writers.Thursday, May 7, 6:30 p.m.The Magical Art of Translation: From Haruki Murakami to Japan's Latest StorytellersJapan Society, 333 East 47th Street$12, $8 Japan Society members, students/seniorsSince 1989, Jay Rubin has translated many of Haruki Murakami's most successful and prize-winning novels, including The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Norwegian Wood and 1Q84. In this program, he is joined by Ted Goossen, translator of Murakami's most recent U.S. publications, The Strange Library and Wind/Pinball: Two Early Novels, and co-editor of Monkey Business literary magazine, which showcases the best of contemporary Japanese literature for an international audience. They will discuss the unique challenges of translating modern Japanese literary works into American English, and vice versa. Rubin will also talk about his transition from translator to novelist vis-à-vis his debut novel The Sun Gods. Joining the discussion from Tokyo will be authors Aoko Matsuda and Satoshi Kitamura, and Motoyuki Shibata, friend and translating partner of Murakami. Author Roland Kelts, co-editor of Monkey Business, moderates the discussion. Followed by a reception.For the complete story, click here.