Footnotes and endnotes always carry a hidden burden: They interrupt the reading flow and direct the mind of the reader away from the characters and the plot and towards linguistics. If the translator follows a philosophy that prioritizes the subjective experience of the reader over a deeper understanding of the material, this "mode switch" is something he will try to avoid.
Personally, I tend to agree that a need to explain a translation represents a failure to come up with a satisfying equivalent in the target language.
Personally, I tend to agree that a need to explain a translation represents a failure to come up with a satisfying equivalent in the target language.