Liberal Arts alumna combines Penn State passions to build manga career in Japan

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Catherine Delage, who graduated from Penn State in 2018 with degrees in comparative literature and Japanese, currently lives and works in Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan, where she has taken on two life-changing positions.

She is an instructor support manager at an English conversation school called NOVA and is responsible for four schools in the Tokyo and Saitama area. While she loves teaching English and working with students, she said her second job is her true passion.

“I currently work in a freelance position at a media and translation company, MediBang,” she said. “I primarily translate manga from Japanese to English, and I also get many opportunities to edit translations and provide quality control and feedback.”

This position has allowed Delage to take both of her passions from Penn State — comparative literature and Japanese — and combine them into a career that has connected her with important names in Japanese literature.

“The most exciting aspect of my job now is being contracted to Shueisha, a huge publishing company in Japan,” she said. “They publish Weekly Shōnen Jump, one of the biggest manga magazines in Japan, and operate Shōnen Jump+, a massive online manga publishing platform. I am currently the initial translator for two of these Jump+ titles.”

The publications she works on have reached great success. One manga Delage is responsible for, Magilumiere Co. Ltd., recently received third place in the NEXT Manga Awards 2022 Web Manga category. The second manga she is responsible for, titled "You and I are Polar Opposites," recently received second place for the same award.

“I feel a sense of pride that my translations can help these series reach an international audience,” she said. “The act of translation is a fine balance between creative transformation and a responsibility to preserve the source material. Walking that fine line is challenging and exciting, and I appreciate the trust that’s been placed in me and the editorial team.”

Delage, an Ontario native, credits much of her success to her time and experiences at Penn State. Through academics and out-of-classroom experiences, she got the opportunity to explore her passions each day.

“My Penn State experience was a bit of a rollercoaster, in the best possible way,” she said. “I was determined to push myself to try new things and make the absolute most of my time while I was there. There were so many exciting opportunities that I often found myself biting off more than I could chew, but I never had any regrets about participating in the things I chose to do.”

At Penn State, Delage was a videography intern for the comparative literature luncheon series and a member of the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Council, the Kalliope editing team and the Creative Writing Club.

With all of these passions, Delage said it was difficult to narrow down and select a major.

“When I arrived at orientation, I was still undecided about my majors, although I knew I was entering the College of the Liberal Arts,” she said. “As we were going through possible courses, one subject leaped out at me: comparative literature. Here was something that seemed to encompass everything that intrigued me about literature, that was steeped in global culture and study.”

The most exciting opportunity that Delage encountered at Penn State was the chance to participate in an education abroad experience in Japan. For her third year, she attended Ibaraki University where she studied the language, culture and literature of Japan. This opportunity, she explained, directly led her to where she is today.

“The connections I made during this time were life-changing and contributed to my decision to move to Japan after graduation,” she said.

Delage also explained the extensive benefits she received from the College of the Liberal Arts, especially working with Student Services offices like the Career Enrichment Network.

“I admit I was pretty lost about how to go about achieving my goals after university, but the guidance I received there was irreplaceable,” she said. “I couldn’t possibly hold the Career Enrichment Network in higher esteem.”

Overall, Delage credits the foundation for her success to the Department of Comparative Literature and the individuals within it. She said this program not only grew her career but allowed her to grow as an individual.

“There is a great focus on understanding global cultures that is built into the study of literature, and this grants you a unique empathy for people who are incredibly different from you. I learned that empathizing with people is crucial to providing students with the knowledge they need to succeed in a way that they can actually utilize,” she said. “I would not be where I am today without the foundation that my professors and lessons like these helped me build in my time at Penn State.”