YIDFF is about to begin! (Re: Romanising names)

[M Arnold]

While editing the current issue of Documentary Box (#26, available today!), 
we ran into a similar problem. One of the artists mentioned in an essay 
apparently likes to spell his name a way that isn't accurate according to 
standard romanization rules--he adds a "u" to indicate a long vowel in his 
name. The YIDFF checked with him and chose to respect his spelling for other 
publications, but for Doc Box we vetoed that and used a romajically more 
accurate version. We did this for two main reasons: First, Documentary Box 
had mentioned him several times in past issues, all in the 'correct' romaji, 
and we wanted to be consistent. Second, if someone read our English 
translated article and wanted to look this person up in databases or 
catalogs, they wouldn't be able to find him in most English resources using 
his preferred spelling. We actually did searches in a few U.S. university 
libraries and so forth, with both the artist's spelling and the 'correct' 
romaji, and every time the 'correct' romaji got hits, and the artist's 
spelling turned up zilch. (The U Michigan library site now has a way to 
display long vowels with a bar [or macron] over the top. When we searched 
for the long o as just "o" there, we did get the o with the bar in the 
results, but searches with "ou" did not give us any results.)

Incidentally, zainchi is the theme of the main program at Yamagata this 
year, and while working on the official catalog and the zainichi program 
catalog (as well as Doc Box, which has a long interview with the director of 
the film "Zainichi," Oh Deok-soo) we had to balance different Japanese and 
English versions of Korean names and try to iron several inconsistencies in 
the English. Some of my colleagues kept telling me that Korean names are all 
romanized according to the individual's wishes, and that there are no Korean 
romanization 'rules' per se . . . I'm not so sure about that.

Back to Ogata, I don't think the romaji is really intended to replace the 
Japanese name or transform the person's name into the English language, but 
to approximate how the person's Japanese name is pronounced for reference in 
English contexts. It's likely that most people unfamiliar with Japanese 
names won't really know how to pronounce Ogata's name whether it's spelled 
Issei or Issey anyway, but when it comes to the 'official' name, as long as 
there's some consistency in the system it should be a little easier to know 
who we're talking about. Personally, I sometimes get the feeling that 
English-ish Japanese spellings like Joe, Issey, Kaz, Norico, Casio and so 
forth are 'nicknames' primarily intended for use within Japanese language 
contexts, aren't taken very seriously, and aren't necessarily intended as 
official English spellings for use in English language contexts, but that's 
obviously debatable. At least we can say that movie stars aren't necessarily 
translators, and may or may not be picking nicknames conscious of the rules 
and standards of romaji.

On the other hand, to be honest, in Japan there are times when I play around 
with my own name as well. "Michael Arnold" can be more confusing than it 
looks. To avoid the questions of Mike vs. Michael and whether Arnold is a 
first name or a last name, and, as Jason says, in the spirit of "free will 
of someone to call themselves whatever they like," I tell people to 
pronounce my name as "Tomu Kuruzu," but for some reason they usually call me 
"Furedi Makyuri" instead . . .

By the way, the opening ceremony of the Yamagata International Documentary 
Film Festival starts momentarily. I'm here and I'll try to post a short 
report or two about the festival if I have time over the next week, but it's 
likely I'll be locked up with the staff, translating during most of the 
events . . . If any list members are present and want to give me an excuse 
to take a break, come on over to the Daily News Office and ask for "Tom 
Cruise."

Freddie