AustLit

Tetsu Yano was a Japanese science fiction translator and writer. He began to introduce Japanese readers to the works of US science fiction writers in the late 1940s. He was the first Japanese writer of the genre to visit the United States, in 1953. He took part in founding Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan (SFWJ, 日本SF作家クラブ) in 1963, and served as its president from 1978 to 1979.

After World War II he made a living collecting trash on a US military base, where he became fascinated with the colorfully-illustrated science fiction works thrown away by the soldiers. He learned to read English and eventually began translating science fiction.

The works of Robert A. Heinlein, Berterik Pohl, Desmond Bagley, and Frank Herbert were among the some 360 translations by him. He also wrote stories of his own, including 'The Legend of the Paper Spaceship', which first appeared in English translation in 1984 and has appeared in several collections. Some of his stories have been adapted into anime.