Job Discussion Forums

[fox1]

yeah... I know. crazy..ridiculous..

How would I go down with a Japanese name here?... Hidekazu, Ichibei, Tekkan and so on. Chinese call themselves Ed and Kevin and Nancy and so on all the time.

[ndorfn]

Good idea!

How about Kusotare or Boke? Great for getting into fights, "Hey Kuso, what are you doing?" "Who you calling Kuso, wanna have a go do ya mate?"

[Zzonkmiles]

You'll find that many Chinese, Indian, and Koreans will adopt Western names if they study abroad or come in contact with a lot of native English speakers. Those names tend to be very difficult to pronounce, as they often contain phonemes that are not included in English.

"Srinivasan" and "Xiaoxia" and "Jeong-Bae" do not exactly roll off of a native English speaker's tongue so easily. So to make it easier for native English speakers, they adopt names like "Lilly" or "Barry" or whatever. Some of them also adopt these names because they want to "fit in" with the Western culture--a practice I personally disagree with because I think your name is your identity and you should always be proud of who you are wherever you are. I, for one, am not going to adopt a Japanese name just to help me blend in more in Japan.

As for the Japanese, their names are generally not exceptionally difficult to pronounce because almost all of their phonemes also exist in English. "Hideki" and "Michiko" might not sound like English names, but native English speakers should be able to pronounce them reasonably well. Sometimes a Japanese (particularly a male) will ask you to call him by a nickname ("My name is Takamitsu, but you can call me Taka."), which should make things a bit easier. I think the reason why the Japanese don't adopt Western names is because of this reason as well as a lack of feeling the need to "fit in" so much with a foreign culture to the extent that adopting a Western nickname is necessary.

[fox1]

ahhhh.... yeah BUT:

in China, I had a Chinese name, as do very many "gaijin" there

I get what you say about "your name is your name"... however, on the other side of the coin, it is just something to do.. it doesn't change your essence (: on the +side those factors would be:). One of the reasons to do it would be, similar to let's say, the Chinese overseas (and it's not ALL about fitting in)... more perhaps a "When in Rome..." mentality

[fox1]

[guest of Japan]

The Japanese have a separate alphabet for foreign words so there is no reason to have a Japanese name. I think most Japanese would feel uncomfortable calling someone with a non-Asian looking face by a Japanese name. I've known several Japanese who have given themselves foreign names when abroad. It's usually due to pronunciation problems.

This idea of yours relates very closely to the half Japanese thread in which you lambast others for being obtuse. Quite simply, the Japanese want you as a foreigner, an outsider, an observer, and someone to pull information or a skill from. The Japanese will quite happily adapt to living ouside of Japan, but they do not want someone coming into their circle which is decreed by bloodlines. If you take a Japanese name the Japanese will call you a henna gaijin (strange foreigner) and laugh at you every chance they get. Adapting to Japan as a foreigner is learning not to try to adapt to Japan. Maybe after you've been here 20 years, speak fluent Japanese and are deeply entrenched economically and socially it will be a different situation, but honestly, I doubt it would be.

[lajzar]

I have a kanji hanko. I needed it for some obscure reason, and there was no way to fit all the kana for my name on such a tiny little thing, so kanji was the only way to go.

An unexpected side effect of this is that now, the city office sends all official correspondence address to me using that kanji name.

[abufletcher]

On the topic of adopting a Japanese name, I'd stay it'd go down about the same as you wearing a yukata around town on a daily basis.

Still, I can understand where you're coming from and appreciate the desire to try to "blend in" to a local culture. When I was a wee young expat I tried this out in Kuwait and had a full closet of dishdasha's tailore