Japan’s foreign minister has asked international media organizations to use the family name first when writing Japanese names — as is customary in the Japanese language — in an attempt to reverse a century of linguistic convention.
Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono — or perhaps that should be Kono Taro — said that foreign media should follow the same practice that they use when reporting on other Asian countries where the family name traditionally comes first, followed by their given name.
As an example, Kono said that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s name should be written as Abe Shinzo.
Some see the request as part of a movement, led by the conservative Abe, to demonstrate a growing confidence in Japan’s culture and history as it prepares for more than a year in the international spotlight, first with the G20 summit, followed by the Rugby World Cup in the autumn and then next year’s Olympic Games.
Kono suggested that the change should be introduced in time for the G20 — being held in Osaka in late next month — when visiting leaders would include Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, whose names are written in English in the order that they appear in their native languages — surname first.
“I plan to ask international media organizations to do this,” Kono told reporters, adding that local media with English-language services should also consider adopting the change.
The practice of putting given names first gained wide acceptance during the late 19th century and early 20th century, when Japan looked to Europe as it sought to modernize its economy and military.
Historically, the public appears divided on the proposal. In a 2000 poll by the Japanese Cultural Affairs Agency, 34.9 percent of respondents preferred the Japanese order, while 30.6 percent liked the Western order better and 29.6 percent had no preference.
Kono, a fluent English speaker who was educated in the US, has made no secret of his desire to promote the change, saying that earlier this year the foreign ministry was considering applying the name reversal to official documents.
His business card introduces him as “KONO Taro.”
Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Masahiko Shibayama is among those who support the change, saying that this week his ministry would recommend a reversion to the Japanese system among public bodies, educational institutions and the media.
Shibayama cited a 2000 report by the education ministry’s
National Language Council recommending the switch, saying that it reflected “respect for cultural diversity” among different countries, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the change might be problematic.
“We have to consider a lot of factors, including convention,” he said.
While the surname-first approach has become commonly used in English-language textbooks for middle-school students, Kono’s proposal could encounter resistance among Japanese companies with a strong global presence.
Uniqlo, Honda and Rakuten have all adopted the Western name order for company literature.
Last month for the first time, experts drew on Japanese classical literature for inspiration when deciding a name for the new imperial era: Reiwa (“beautiful harmony”), breaking with the tradition of drawing on characters from classical Chinese literature.
The era name “symbolizes our nation’s profound public culture and long tradition,” Abe said at the time, adding that Japanese values should not be allowed to “fade away.”
ROCKY RELATIONS: The figures on residents come as Chinese tourist numbers drop following Beijing’s warnings to avoid traveling to Japan The number of Chinese residents in Japan has continued to rise, even as ties between the two countries have become increasingly fractious, data released on Friday showed. As of the end of December last year, the number of Chinese residents had increased by 6.5 percent from the previous year to 930,428. Chinese people accounted for 22.6 percent of all foreign residents in Japan, making them by far the largest group, Japanese Ministry of Justice data showed. Beijing has criticized Tokyo in increasingly strident terms since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last year suggested that a military conflict around Taiwan could
A pro-Iran hacking group claimed to breach FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal e-mail inbox and posted some of the contents online. The e-mails provided by the hacking group include travel details, correspondence with leasing agents in Washington and global entry, and loyalty account numbers. The e-mail address the hackers claim to have compromised has been previously tied to Patel’s personal details, and the leaked e-mails contain photos of Patel and others, in addition to correspondence with family members and colleagues. “The FBI is aware of malicious actors targeting Director Patel’s personal email information,” the agency said in a statement on
RIVALRY: ‘We know that these are merely symbolic investigations initiated by China, which is in fact the world’s most profligate disrupter of supply chains,’ a US official said China has started a pair of investigations into US trade practices, retaliating against similar probes by US President Donald Trump’s administration as the superpowers stake out positions before an expected presidential summit in May. The move, announced by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Friday, is a direct mirror of steps Trump took to revive his tariff agenda after the US Supreme Court last month struck down some of his duties. “China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to these actions,” a ministry spokesperson said in a statement, referring to the so-called Section 301 investigations initiated on March 11.
When a hiker fell from a 55m waterfall in wild New Zealand bush, rescuers were forced to evacuate the badly hurt woman without her dog, which could not be found. After strangers raised thousands of dollars for a search, border collie Molly was flown to safety by a helicopter pilot who was determined to reunite the pet and the owner. A week earlier, an emergency rescue helicopter found the woman with bruises and lacerations after a fall at a rocky spot at the waterfall on the South Island’s West Coast. She was airlifted on March 24, but they were forced to
RSS