According to [this Quanta article](https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-path-less-taken-to-the-peak-of-the-math-world-20170627/) about June Huh, there exists a memoir by Heisuke Hironaka called The Joy of Learning.


It seems to be this short article:


* Heisuke Hironaka, *The joy of learning*, SEIBUTSU BUTSURI KAGAKU **44** Issue 2 (2000) pp. 53-57, doi:[10.2198/sbk.44.53](https://doi.org/10.2198/sbk.44.53)


which is in Japanese.


On the other hand, [this page](https://math.korea.edu/math_en/reference/book.do) refers to an English translation by Bang Seung-yang. Does anyone know where this translation can be found?


Supposedly some generations of Japanese and Korean children have been greatly inspired by it, so it could be very interesting to read.



Translation of "The joy of learning" by Hironaka
It seems like that there is no such translation. Moreover, the essay you linked and the book you linked are *different* material, although they have the same title.


I searched the book whose author is Heisuke Hironaka, but I cannot find any essays written by Heisuke Hironaka, except for those in Japanese. Does it mean the book referred by June Huh and the linked catalogue does not exist? No.


It is common to change the title of a book, movie, etc., during translation. An example would be *[Castle in the Sky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_in_the_Sky)*, whose original title is *Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta* (天空の城ラピュタ, whose meaning is *Laputa: a castle in the sky*.) We may guess that the same happens for Hironaka's autobiography, but neither June Huh nor the translator of the catalog has not double-checked the original title of the book.


The above scenario is in part supported by your linked catagolue on Korea University. It mentioned the translator is Bang Seung-Yang. I can find that 방승양 (Bang Seung-Yang) is the translator of Hironaka's book [*Hakmun ui Jeulgeoum* (학문의 즐거움, *The joy of Learning*.)](https://www.aladin.co.kr/shop/wproduct.aspx?ItemId=308905) Korea University is, as the name suggests, a university in Korea. Hence we may guess the catalogue is originally written in Korean, then translated into English later. But the translater was likely not doing any double-check the title of the books.


Then what is the original title of Hironaka's autobiography? After a quick search, I found that [a thread on Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/6lcna1/the_joy_of_learning_hironaka/) suggested [*Gakumon no Hakken* (学問の発見, *The discovery of academics*.)](https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%AD%A6%E5%95%8F%E3%81%AE%E7%99%BA%E8%A6%8B-%E6%95%B0%E5%AD%A6%E8%80%85%E3%81%8C%E8%AA%9E%E3%82%8B%E3%80%8C%E8%80%83%E3%81%88%E3%82%8B%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8%E3%83%BB%E5%AD%A6%E3%81%B6%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8%E3%80%8D-%E3%83%96%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%83%90%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9-%E5%BA%83%E4%B8%AD%E5%B9%B3%E7%A5%90-ebook/dp/B07FMXJ4DT/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1612439948&s=books&sr=1-1&text=%E5%BA%83%E4%B8%AD%20%E5%B9%B3%E7%A5%90) Hironaka wrote other books for non-mathematicians, like


* [*Ikiru koto Manabu Koto* (生きること学ぶこと, *About Living, about learning*)](https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E7%94%9F%E3%81%8D%E3%82%8B%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8%E5%AD%A6%E3%81%B6%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8-%E9%9B%86%E8%8B%B1%E7%A4%BE%E6%96%87%E5%BA%AB-%E5%BA%83%E4%B8%AD-%E5%B9%B3%E7%A5%90/dp/4087467023/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&qid=1612439948&s=books&sr=1-2&text=%E5%BA%83%E4%B8%AD%20%E5%B9%B3%E7%A5%90), and
* [*Hironaka Heisuke no Sūgaku Kyōshitsu - Dare demo Sūgaku ga Suki ni nareru* (広中平祐の数学教室―誰でも数学が好きになれる, *Heisuke Hironaka's Mathematics class - Everyone can love mathematics*.)](https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%BA%83%E4%B8%AD%E5%B9%B3%E7%A5%90%E3%81%AE%E6%95%B0%E5%AD%A6%E6%95%99%E5%AE%A4%E2%80%95%E8%AA%B0%E3%81%A7%E3%82%82%E6%95%B0%E5%AD%A6%E3%81%8C%E5%A5%BD%E3%81%8D%E3%81%AB%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B-1980%E5%B9%B4-%E5%BA%83%E4%B8%AD-%E5%B9%B3%E7%A5%90/dp/B000J8865O/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&qid=1612439948&s=books&sr=1-5&text=%E5%BA%83%E4%B8%AD%20%E5%B9%B3%E7%A5%90)


I compared the contents of the books with the Korean one, and I can see that Reddit's suggestion was correct: the original title of *The Joy of Learning* should be *The discovery of academics*.


