Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Japan asked the international media to change
how we write their names. No one listened
It was about a century and a half ago when
Japan transformed itself from a samurai-ruled closed country to a modern
imperial state and opened the doors to the world. In order not to be treated
like other colonized Asian neighbors, Japanese leaders decided to introduce
their individual names in an opposite way from their traditions, the given name first
instead of the family name. Since then, the Japanese government and people and international
media communities have been using the given-name-first order. Now, the new emperor was
enthroned last year and the Olympic Games are going to be held, though the when
to be held is TBD, Japan wants to reverse the name order to the way people are using
in the country and asked the international media to comply with. Well, the name
of the country or city is changed from time to time, like Peking to Beijing, Bombay
to Mumbai, and Burma to Myanmar only to name a few. But such changes are easier
to adopt than the names of the entire citizens of over 120 million even though
not all of them need to be called or mentioned by foreign media or contacts.
Also, the amount of data that is stored in cyberspace and archives need to be
either modified or adjusted to be referred. For example, prime minister Shinzo
Abe needs to be referred to also as Abe Shinzo. And if you think of business
contacts, associates, and friends, how and when the naming order would be
changed if ever?
Enjoy reading the article and count how many
Japanese names you may need to rename.
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