Sam Bett ’09, an award-winning literary translator and alumnus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has received the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs Award from the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs, one of Japan’s most prestigious honors for contributions to the arts.
The award is presented to individuals who have made significant achievements in cultural activities or who have helped to promote Japanese culture abroad. Bett was recognized for his role in raising global awareness of Japanese literature through English translation and for fostering literary exchange between Japan and the United States through workshops, public readings, and other cultural initiatives.
Bett graduated from UMass Amherst in 2009 as an honors student, double majoring in Japanese and English, and earned the highest academic distinction of summa cum laude. His academic training at UMass laid the foundation for a career that has since placed him at the forefront of contemporary literary translation.
Sam’s first major achievement in Japanese translation came in 2016, when he won Grand Prize in the 2nd JLPP International Translation Competition. In 2019, Bett’s translation of Star by Yukio Mishima won him the Japan–U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature, an award that recognizes exceptional translators who strengthen cultural ties between the two countries. Over the years, he has translated a wide range of Japanese fiction, introducing English-language readers to diverse literary voices and styles.
Working with fellow translator David Boyd, Bett has also co-translated three highly acclaimed contemporary novels by Mieko Kawakami: Heaven, which was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize; All the Lovers in the Night, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction; and Breasts and Eggs. These works have received international recognition and contributed to the growing global readership for Japanese literature.
Most recently, Bett’s translation of The Night of Baba Yaga by Otani Akira won a Dagger Award in July 2025, marking the first time a Japanese novel has received the honor. The award sparked renewed attention to the original novel in Japan, where it quickly became a national bestseller, an especially remarkable achievement given the book’s bold and unconventional style.
Reflecting on his work, Bett emphasized the importance of capturing an author’s distinctive voice. “It’s an honor to be part of this,” he said. “Otani is a really good stylist, and I’ve tried to remain conscious of what makes her writing strong and recreate those qualities in my own language.”
Bett also mentioned the limits of artificial intelligence in literary translation, noting how striking the right tone requires a nuanced attention to context, and how personal experience plays a major role in interpreting the voice of a text. According to Bett, thoughtful translation does more than convey meaning—it elevates the artistic quality of a work while making it accessible to new audiences.
Sam Bett’s achievements reflect the strength of UMass Amherst’s language and humanities programs and underscore the lasting impact of cross-cultural education. Through his work, Bett continues to build bridges between Japan and the English-speaking world, demonstrating how literature can connect cultures and expand global understanding.