If you see a name written in kanji...

[Crispy]

[AssKissinger]

You have to ask the person. My wife still receives mail under her maiden name and the mailman always gets it wrong. It's the most fucked language writing system in the world. Even the Japanese can't read it or write it.

[Crispy]

Well, fuck. The only thing I know how to do now if I, for instance, see a name on the internet, is to put it in the dictionary and enter all the possible romanizations into google and see if I find a page that connects that name with the person I am thinking of.

Why the hell did I pick this crazy language to study? Oh yeah, because I wanted a challenge...

[cstaylor]

[Steve Bildermann]

Yes I agree asking them is just about the only way which of course is their intention in the first place.

There is a certain status in having an obscure reading to a Kanji used in your name. That's why there are so many 'name-kanji' consultants doing such a brisk business.

Trouble is having a FG ask them how they pronounce their name is no fun at all because we are expected not to know how to read Kanji names.

I wouldn't agree Japanese is the most difficult; at least they only have one name. Most Chinese have a family name, a business name, a good luck name, a company name and a religious name. The fact that at least one of them will be Wu or Li and you can see how much fun Chinese parties can be.

'Mr. Wu meet Mr. Li who is also Mr. Wu but only today when he's Mr. Li"

And there's the Philippines where everybody has a nick name like 'bang bong, choo choo or jump jack'

Can be very confusing if you travel in Asia alot

[Big Booger]

Isn't this why ever single farking time you go to a kaiten sushi joint, and there is a line, they ask you to sign your name in kana rather than kanji?
Be like asking Americans to write their names phonetically.. so that we can pronounce it properly.. (there are some screwy names that have strange pronunciations).. you always gotta flip the coin to see the other side.

[Steve Bildermann]

Forget names - Let's be like Tokyo subways.... I'm A1

[cliffy]

Steve is that from Dangerman, or am I barking up the wrong TV programme?

[Taro Toporific]

[cliffy]

Same guy, McGoohan isn't it? I was sort of close

[Taro Toporific]

Same guy, McGoohan isn't it? I was sort of close

Yep. Type casting.....and hey, both programs came before from your parents'/grandparents' time.

[tidbits]

[devicenull]

[tidbits]

but where is the fun in each character being monosyllabic and only having one reading that never changes?

never mind if it doesn't sound fun to have one character one reading, memorising all the strokes was already enough 'fun' for me..

[AssKissinger]

Related Story in the news.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mymod/hdln/usnapwasia/sty/*http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=516&e=6&u=/ap/20040612/ap_on_re_as/japan_name_game

Japan Decides List for Children's Names

Sat Jun 12, 2:47 AM ET

By KENJI HALL, Associated Press Writer

TOKYO - Ever considered naming a baby Beetle or Sardine? How about Cancer or Dung, or even Who? Those were a few of the 578 additional Japanese characters the Justice Ministry said Friday it might allow parents to use in names for children.



Parents in Japan like others around the world agonize over the naming of a child. But with tens of thousands of Japanese characters to choose from, the possibilities would seem limitless.


That's exactly what the government wants to avoid.


"The average person can only read and write between 2,000 to 3,000 characters. The government made the law because it would be too inconvenient not to be able to read people's names," Justice Ministry official Yoshikazu Nemura said.


Tokyo first imposed name restrictions just after World War II ended. Periodically, the list has been revised to reflect changes in the lexicon.


Japanese law now confines names to a list of 2,232 characters. A child whose name contains a banned character can't be entered in the family register, an official document required for all Japanese nationals.


Most names connote certain traits: fortitude and strength for men; grace and beauty for women. But unusual names have been on the rise in recent years, as parents opt for originality over tradition.


Nemura said recent revisions have sought to lengthen the list, with the most recent changes, in 1990, adding 118 characters.


Characters that mean evil or death often get nixed, he said. But because the ministry considers characters that most commonly appear in print, the list of proposals can range from the cute to the bizarre.


Among those proposed this year at the public's request were the characters for "turnip," "strawberry," "beetle," "frog," "sardine" and "spider."


Some that might confuse included the word for "me" used by men and the character for "who." Among the more shocking were "agony," "cancer" and "dung."


Public feedback and a government-appointed panel of scholars will vote for a final list in September.


Masachi Osawa, a professor of comparative sociology at Kyoto University, thinks the longer the list, the better.


"People should be free to choose. I am in favor of a broader range of options," said Osawa.

Gee, I wonder if the kanji for AssKissinger Junior is on the list? Well, if it's not al least I could name my kid Unko or Gan.

[Caustic Saint]

Related Story in the news.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mymod/hdln/usnapwasia/sty/*http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=516&e=6&u=/ap/20040612/ap_on_re_as/japan_name_game

Some that might confuse included the word for "me" used by men and the character for "who." Among the more shocking were "agony," "cancer" and "dung."

Korea could actually use this kind of system. Some of my adult students told me some parents used to give their kids really horrid names, in the belief that if a person has a bad name, their life will be easier. Something about a bad name being a source of bad fortune, so the rest of their life will be very good to balance things out.

One of my students told me he had a friend in elementary school named Kim Gae Ddong.

Kim Dog Shit