We’re back for our 3rd season (!) and we’re kicking it off with Monika Uchiyama, an artist, interpreter, and translator based in Tokyo and NYC. Monika is a fascinating person and we’re so grateful we got to speak with her when she was in New York to work as an interpreter for Japan Cuts 2026. We discuss the craft of interpreting and how it differs from text translation, the necessity of presence and assertiveness required for live interpretation, and the feeling of flow state that comes with that. We get into her history as well, discussing her move back to Japan from California as a high-schooler; the hyper-visibility she felt being mixed race in Japan; and how she coped with everything by getting into music and the punk scene– doing some of her first translations for music-related projects. We also discuss one of her films, a new use, in which she documents the production process of her Japanese family’s multigenerational business.
If you happen to be in the LA area and want to catch Monika as an interpreter, she will be there this November for a Sho Miyake retrospective at the Japan Foundation.
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Guest Bio
Monika Uchiyama (b. Tokyo, Japan) is an artist, interpreter, and translator based in Tokyo and NYC.
Show Notes
Monika’s film work:
- a new use (2018), single-channel video, 24min.
- Interview on Vdrome about the film
More about Monika:
- Interpreting Japanese Cinema: Monika Uchiyama by Blake Simons for Desperately Seeking Subtitles
- Translating ‘Farewell to the Highland Station’: An interview with Monika Uchiyama by Mako Fukata for Ultra Dogme
Documentation of Monika interpreting:
- KAJI MEIKO Q&A Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (2026)
- Sho Miyake on Two Seasons, Two Strangers | New Directors/New Films 2026
Other references:
- Film about survivors of sexual and physical abuse: In Their Traces 『魂のきせき』(2025) Directed by Shigeru Kobayashi, with Morinaga Miyako, Saori Ninomiya, Kazue Takahashi.
- The Shrouds (2024) Directed by David Cronenberg
- Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto
Credits
- Theme music by The Necklace, a project by Taylor Shields and Morgan Võ.
