Founding Members
Collaborating translators
Support Staff
日本語
Alexander O. Smith is a cofounder of Bento Books and the founder of Kajiya Productions. He has been translating video games, novels, manga, and lyrics from Japanese to English professionally since graduating from Harvard University with a M.A. in classical Japanese literature... More>>
Tony Gonzalez is a Bento Books cofounder and has been translating video games, technical material, and academic papers from Japanese to English since 1992. He has also worked in a variety of fields, including software development and localization, technical management, and Japanese and mathematics education. In addition to.... More>>
Joseph Reeder is a Bento Books cofounder and has been translating video games and novels from Japanese to English since 2003. He worked at Square Enix’s Tokyo offices for over five years before returning to the United States. He now serves as vice president of Kajiya Productions in Austin, Texas. More>>
Hisako Miyazaki is CEO of Office Miyazaki, Inc., a Japanese company with over twenty years experience in managing translation and publishing of fiction and nonfiction works. She works as Japanese agent and interface between Bento Books and Japanese authors and publishers that we work with. More>>
Kevin Frane has been working in Japanese to English translation and localization since 2004. He worked as a localization producer at Sega of America for six years before going freelance, focusing on video games and other Japanese popular media. He is also a novelist and an editor of short and long fiction, with his original work having been up for several small press awards. He works out of his home near San Francisco, and travels to serve on writing panels at science fiction conventions across the country. Kevin is currently translating Avatar Tuner for Bento Books.
Ian M. MacDonald is an award-winning translator of Japanese fiction and nonfiction. He holds a doctorate in Japanese literature from Stanford. His first book, The Curious Casebook of Inspector Hanshichi was serialized in The Japan Times. His recent works include the Edogawa Rampo Prize–winning novel The Case of the Sharaku Murders by Katsuhiko Takahashi and Tales of the Ghost Sword by Hideyuki Kikuchi. He divides his time between Singapore, Japan, Sri Lanka, and the UK. Ian is currently translating The Black Cat Takes a Stroll for Bento Books.
Giles Murray is well known in the world of Japanese studies for Breaking into Japanese Literature and 13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese. He has translated books in genres from literary fiction to business, art history, and biography. Giles translated The Eight Secrets of Powerful Package Design and Cage on the Sea for Bento Books, and is currently translating a yet-unannounced mystery novel for us.
Matt Treyvaud is an Australian translator, writer and linguist based in Japan's Shonan area. In his spare time he plays the shakuhachi and studies Pali and Old English. He blogs at no-sword.jp and neojaponisme.com. Matt is currently translating Silver Wings of the Campanula for Bento Books.
Elye J. Alexander is a freelance writer and editor who has worked professionally with translators and localizers for more than a decade. Recent work for Bento Books includes contributions to Avatar Tuner and Silver Wings of the Campanula. His independent projects range from original poetry and lyrics to editing historical novels and classical Japanese tales. He is also a miniature sculptor and founder of Griffin Tamer Studio. He is infamous for his Welsh rendition of “Jabberwocky.” Elye graduated from Harvard University in 1994.
Kasia Bytnerowicz is the very talented graphic designer who created the covers for many of our books, including Cage on the Sea, The Case of the Curious Cadaver, Math Girls Manga, and the Math Girls Talk About... series. You can see more of her work at kasiabytnerowicz.com.