Aya Okubo is a Japanese translator of nonfiction on language, information technology, society, and economics. In Caleb Everett’s book published as “Musu no Gengo, Musu no Sekai,” she translated a discussion of how linguistic differences interact with culture, environment, and perception. She also translated Safiya Umoja Noble’s “Algorithms of Oppression,” which examines how search engines can reproduce social and racial inequalities. In Sverker Johansson’s account of the origins of language, Okubo translates an inquiry connecting speech with human evolution and cooperation. Her work also includes “The Pay Off,” a book on payment systems, introducing another set of institutions that shape everyday life while often remaining out of view.
