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setumeikai de atta honyakusya ha,「dokusya no souzouryoku wo taisetu ni surukoto ga daizi da」 to itte imasita.

説明会せつめいかい　で　会あった　翻訳者ほにゃくしゃ　は、「読者どくしゃ　の　想像力そうぞうりょく　を　大切たいせつ　に　すること　が　大事だいじ　だ」　と　言いって　いました。setumeikai de atta honyakusya ha,「dokusya no souzouryoku wo taisetu ni surukoto ga daizi da」 to itte imasita.
A translator I met at an information session said, “It’s important to value the reader’s imagination.”
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Questions & Answers about setumeikai de atta honyakusya ha,「dokusya no souzouryoku wo taisetu ni surukoto ga daizi da」 to itte imasita.

What exactly does 説明会 mean, and what kind of event is it?

説明会 literally means explanation meeting/session. In natural English it’s usually:

  • an orientation
  • an information session
  • a briefing

It’s some kind of organized meeting where information is explained to participants (about a job, a program, a school, a product, etc.).

What is the role of で in 説明会で会った?

で here is the location/occasion particle, meaning “at / during / in (the context of)”.

  • 説明会で会った翻訳者
    = the translator (whom I) met *at the information session*

So 説明会で answers “where/under what circumstance did you meet?”

How does 会った翻訳者 work grammatically? Why is the verb in front of the noun?

In Japanese, a verb phrase put directly in front of a noun modifies that noun, like a relative clause in English.

  • 会った翻訳者
    literally: the translator [I met]

English needs a relative pronoun (who/that), but Japanese does not. The subject (I) is also omitted because it’s understood from context.

So:
説明会で会った翻訳者
= the translator (whom I) met at the information session

Why is there a は after 翻訳者?

は is the topic marker. It marks 翻訳者 (the translator) as the topic of what follows:

  • 翻訳者は、「…」と言っていました。
    = As for the translator, (he/she) said “…”

So 翻訳者は is roughly “the translator (I met) / that translator, …”

What does the と in 「…」と言っていました do?

と here is the quotation particle. It marks what was said, thought, etc.

  • 「読者の想像力を大切にすることが大事だ」と言っていました。
    = (He/She) was saying *that “valuing the readers’ imagination is important.”*

Any quoted content (exact words, or just the content of what was said) is followed by と, then the verb like 言う, 思う, 聞く, etc.

Why is it 言っていました and not just 言いました?

Both are grammatically possible, but the nuance is different:

  • 言いました
    → simple past: said

  • 言っていました
    → ている form in the past:

    • literally was saying
    • often used when you report what someone said as something you heard/learned
    • can feel a bit softer, like “they were (the kind of person who) said / they had said”

In many everyday contexts, と言っていました is a natural way to report what someone told you.

Inside the quotation, why is it 大事だ and not 大事です?

Inside 「…」, the translator’s words are given in plain form:

  • 大事だ = plain / dictionary style
  • 大事です = polite です style

Even if the outer sentence is polite (言っていました), it’s normal to quote speech in plain form, especially when stating a general principle or idea.

So the structure is:

  • Outer sentence (polite): …と言っていました。
  • Quoted content (plain): 読者の想像力を大切にすることが大事だ。
Why are both 大切 and 大事 in the same sentence? Aren’t they the same?

They’re similar in meaning, but here they play different grammatical roles:

  • 大切にする = to value / to cherish / to treat as important

    • 読者の想像力を大切にする
      = to value the readers’ imagination

  • 大事だ = is important

    • ～することが大事だ
      = it is important to do ～

So:

  • 読者の想像力を大切にすることが大事だ
    = It is important to value the readers’ imagination.

Not redundant; it’s basically:
“Valuing the readers’ imagination is important.”

What does 読者の想像力を大切にする mean literally? Why を and に there?

Breakdown:

  • 読者の想像力
    = the readers’ imagination (読者の = readers’)

  • N を 大切にする
    is a common pattern meaning “to value / treasure / take good care of N”.

So:

  • 想像力を大切にする
    = to value the imagination

Here:

  • を marks 想像力 as the direct object of 大切にする.
  • に is built into the expression 大切に (adverb form of 大切), not a separate particle.

Altogether:
読者の想像力を大切にする
= to value the readers’ imagination

What is することが大事だ doing? Why is こと there?

こと is a nominalizer: it turns a verb phrase into a noun-like thing.

  • 読者の想像力を大切にする
    = to value the readers’ imagination

  • 読者の想像力を大切にすること
    = the act of valuing the readers’ imagination / valuing the readers’ imagination (as a thing)

Then:

  • ～ことが大事だ = Doing ～ is important.

So:

  • 読者の想像力を大切にすることが大事だ
    = Valuing the readers’ imagination is important.

Without こと, 大事だ would have nothing noun-like to attach to.

Could we use の instead of こと, like するのが大事だ? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

  • 読者の想像力を大切にするのが大事だ。

In this kind of structure, こと and の are often interchangeable. Differences:

  • こと
    • feels a bit more formal / abstract / written
  • の
    • feels a bit more casual / concrete / spoken

Here both sound natural. The original することが大事だ is slightly more neutral/formal.

Why is 読者の used and not 読者を? What does の express here?

読者の想像力 literally means “the readers’ imagination”:

  • 読者の = of the readers / the readers’ (possessive)
  • 想像力 = imagination

If you used 読者を, it would mean “readers” as direct object, not possession, and wouldn’t fit with 想像力 (imagination).

So:

  • 読者の想像力 = the readers’ imagination
  • 読者を想像する would be something like to imagine the readers (completely different structure).
Who is the subject of 会った and of 大切にすることが大事だ? There is no 私 or 彼…

Japanese often omits subjects when they’re clear from context.

  1. 会った翻訳者

    • implied subject: I
    • meaning: the translator *I met at the information session*

  2. 読者の想像力を大切にすることが大事だ

    • implied subject/doer of 大切にする: (we / a writer / a translator / one)
    • in English we might say “It is important to value the readers’ imagination.”
      or “For a writer/translator, valuing the readers’ imagination is important.”

Japanese doesn’t need to state these pronouns if they’re understood from context.

Can I say the sentence more simply? For example, is this okay:
説明会で会った翻訳者は、読者の想像力を大切にすることが大事だと言っていました。

Yes, that is perfectly fine and very natural.

You just moved the 「」 quotation marks away and left only と, which is enough to mark the quote. Both are correct:

  • With brackets:
    …翻訳者は、「読者の想像力を大切にすることが大事だ」と言っていました。

  • Without brackets:
    …翻訳者は、読者の想像力を大切にすることが大事だと言っていました。

In writing, 「」 can make the quoted part clearer, but grammatically と alone is sufficient.