Many years ago, I encountered the translation of Shinshu texts made by the late Professor Kosho Yamamoto. His work was sponsored by the Hawaii Kyodan in 1955. The volume was given to me by Mr. Albert Matano, also from Hawaii and studying at Harvard University. It pointed me in the direction of Shinran and provided an indispensable guide for my initial research and Ph. D. thesis.
Translations are very significant and important.
They open the doors, not only into foreign resources, but into the minds and spirits of ancient, as well as contemporary, thinkers otherwise inaccessible to us. Translations are interpretations and open the way to stimulate new thought and insight in readers. The spread of Buddhism through Asia from India to China, Korea, Japan and Tibet enabled it to flower in a veritable garden of varied spiritual insight, because of the interaction of the translations, native tradition and teachers who transmitted the teachings to the new culture and followers. However, translations, though containing the teaching, do not become vital until people read, study, interpret discuss, and apply the insights to their lives. Scholars develop their interpretations and analyses of the texts, and their writings give guidance to followers on how the text may be used and understood.