Names

[Eija Margit Niskanen]

I myself am uncomfortable with the recent phenomenon of adding an h at 
the end of the name to point to a long vowel. For ex. Saburo is written 
as Saburoh.

Eya from Tokio

On Oct 7, 2005, at 4:14 AM, Jim Harper wrote:

> I can see your point as far as business practices, but I find 
> 'anglicized' names somewhat uncomfortable; rendering 'Joji' as 
> 'George' (for example) seems to be a reminder of the days of 
> colonialism, if that makes any sense.
> ?
> Jim.
> ?
> mark schilling <schill at gol.com> wrote:
>> The romanization of Japanese names has rules that I certainly try to 
>> follow
>> in my own writings, but in the real world, it may pay to violate 
>> them. If
>> you are doing business with Americans who can't remember "Kazuyoshi" 
>> to save
>> their lives, or even pronounce it for that matter, you may want to 
>> shorten
>> it to "Kaz" so your clients can call you something other than "you."
>>
>> By the same token, "Issey" is more easily remembered by the Western 
>> (or at
>> least Anglo) eye than the more alien-looking "Issei," making it a 
>> better
>> choice for a fashion designer who wants to sell his clothes abroad.
>>
>> For actors, image is another consideration. "Joe Shishido" has a 
>> rugged,
>> "borderless" image that fits Shishido's screen persona. (It also 
>> happens to
>> be the name he uses on his meishi.) "Jo Shishido" is the correct
>> romanization, but "Jo" is a woman's name in English-speaking 
>> countries --
>> creating the sort of confusion a movie tough guy doesn't need.
>>
>> It works the same way for foreigners in Japan, doesn't it? I am 
>> perfectly
>> happy to be called "Maku-san" by strangers I am interviewing or 
>> otherwise
>> doing business with. I want them to remember and feel comfortable 
>> with me --
>> not writhe while I lecture them that the unwieldy "Shiringu" is the
>> "correct" way to address me.
>>
>> Mark Schilling
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Aaron Gerow"
>> To:
>> Sent: Friday, October 07, 2005 4:06 AM
>> Subject: Re: Names
>>
>>
>> >
>> > On 2005.10.6, at 09:43 ????, Jason Gray wrote:
>> >
>> > > I think your last point unfairly places limits on Japanese
>> > > people in the name of film reference perfectionism.
>> >
>> > I don't think so. I just think people who make up such names for
>> > themselves should k! now the consequences. Most don't and I think 
>> they
>> > would think differently if they did. Maybe Markus doesn't mind 
>> having
>> > people refer to him by different names (I imagine he has been called
>> > "Abe"--as in Abe Lincoln--many a time), but I in general don't 
>> (several
>> > American libraries still refer to me as Aron Jero for my Japanese
>> > publications). Maybe it is the librarian in me, but not taking time 
>> to
>> > learn romanization rules when you are, for instance, working in a
>> > company selling Japanese films abroad is simply rude to your
>> > customers--and sometimes to the filmmakers too. I think this is an
>> > issue not of anal-retentive perfectionism, but common courtesy:
>> > speaking to people using the rules that the majority of the world 
>> uses.
>> >
>> > Aaron Gerow
>> > Assistant Professor
>> > Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
>> > Director of Undergraduate Studies, Film Studies Program> Yale 
>> University
>> > 53 Wall Street, Room 316
>> > PO Box 208363
>> > New Haven, CT 06520-8363
>> > USA
>> > Phone: 1-203-432-7082
>> > Fax: 1-203-432-6764
>> > e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu
>> >
>>
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