Cathy Hirano

Cathy Hirano (平野 キャシー, Hirano Kyashii) is a translator of Japanese fiction for young adults. She is the translator for the English editions of Dragon Sword and Wind Child and Mirror Sword and Shadow Prince. Hirano currently resides in Shikoku, Japan.

Originally born and raised in Canada, Hirano moved to Kyoto, Japan in 1978 as an English teacher. After graduating from the International Christian University of Cultural Anthropology in 1983, she became a freelance translator in 1987.

When Dragon Sword and Wind Child was to be re-issued by Viz Media in 2007, Viz approached Hirano, who edited the original translation of the work. The success of the novel's reissuing encouraged Viz to release the second book of the Magatama series, as Mirror Sword and Shadow Prince in 2011, with Hirano as the translator again.

Hirano's other translations include the the English editions of the Moribito novels, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit and Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness. In 1997, Hirano's translation of The Friends by Kazumi Yumoto won the Batchelder Award for literature in translation and the Boston Globe-Horn Book award for fiction. In 2009, Her translation of Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit was also awarded the Batchelder Award.

Translations

 * Dragon Sword and Wind Child (Noriko Ogiwara) - Farrar, Straus and Giroux (first edition, 1988); Viz Media (second edition, 2007)
 * The Fox's Egg (Ikuyo Isami) - Carolrhoda Books (1989)
 * A Calf is Born (Kiyonori Kaizuki) - Orchard Books (first edition, 1990)
 * The Friends (Kazumi Yumoto) - Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1996)
 * The Spring Tone (Kazumi Yumoto) - Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1999)
 * Mr. Beetle (Satoshi Toda) - Carolrhoda Books (2001)
 * The Letters (Kazumi Yumoto) - Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2002)
 * Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (Nahoko Uehashi) - Arthur A. Levine (Scholastic, 2008)
 * Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness (Nahoko Uehashi) - Arthur A. Levine (Scholastic, 2009)
 * Mirror Sword and Shadow Prince (Noriko Ogiwara) - Viz Media (2011)
 * The Bear and the Wildcat (Kazumi Yumoto, illustrated by Komako Sakai) - Gecko Press (2011)