Japaneeyamu by Sriram Veerabrahmam

Japaneeyamu (Story about Japan), the Telugu play penned in 1910 by Sriram Veerabrahmam (1885-1970) has been translated into English by Gopalakrishna Kambhammettu and this introductory note that precedes the translation is written by Divya Rayala and Arun Shyam. Part of the Sundarayya Vignana Kendram Collection, the original in Telugu can be accessed online. The third author (Arun Shyam) chanced upon a copy of this play in 2018 as part of his search for travelogues of Japan written in the various South Indian languages in the early 20th century. The language of the play, i.e. the literary Telugu is inaccessible to most native Telugu speakers, and this is the major reason that this English translation took almost six years to see the light of day. The translation presented here has seven sections: Prologue, five acts and the Epilogue. Readers should note that due to page constraints, indexing information, cover page and three sections that are there in the original are not included here. Further, while the play employs prose and poetry, this translation is entirely in prose. However, sections that are in verse have been indicated with a line break and the meter of the original is given in brackets at the end of these sections.