"Le Petit Prince" or "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is one of the books I often use as a reading material when studying a new language. It is a wonderful story, written in a simple and beautiful manner. It is also quite popular in my native country (Russia), thanks to an excellent translation by Nora Gal.
I have found a Japanese translation as well, but I'd like to ask native Japanese speakers - is this story well-known in Japan? What do you think of its translation? Would you recommend reading it?
Hello
This story is well known and I think it is a great story which tells us what is important for our lives.
this book, only one translation was in Japan for decades because one book store hold the right to translate, and
actually it was great. Recently that right expired so there are some other translations now which I have never read yet.
I'm sorry . I completely misunderstood. I mentioned "A Little Princess", not "The little prince."
I apologize for my carelessness.
Hi Marina,
The title is 小公女（しょうこうじょ) in Japanese. I'm not sure you can buy the Japanese translated book in your place.
Maybe, you can buy it online shopping site like Amazon.
The story was developed to Japanese anime "小公女セーラ（しょうこうじょセーラ）” The anime's story is a little different from the original one. You can also find "A Little Princess Sara" on youtube.
I've read and learned a lot from "Anne of Green Gables" written by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I think "Anne of Green Gables" or "赤毛のアン（あかげのアン）is (or used to be) the most popular among Japanese people. You can also find this anime on youtube.
Enjoy reading Japanese books.
