Are there any Japanese surnames that sound nice?

1 Japanese surnames

It may sound a bit unbelievable that the country ordered everyone across the country to choose a surname, but such a thing has indeed happened in Japan.

In the third year of Meiji (AD 1870), the Japanese government made the decision that "all citizens can have a surname." However, not many people responded, so the government had to promulgate the mandatory "Miao Characters Must Be Named Ordinance" in the eighth year of Meiji (1875), which stipulated that "all citizens must have a surname." This is indeed the case. Before 1875, the vast majority of people in Japan, which is just a stone's throw away from us, did not have surnames. It can be said that it is only more than a hundred years ago that Japanese people had surnames.

In ancient times, only nobles in Japan had surnames and given names. Their so-called surnames were different from the surnames we understand.

At the end of the fourth century AD, Japan's Yamato court unified many small countries in the southern part of the Japanese archipelago into one country. The basis of its political rule was the surname system. Headed by the great king of the Yamato court (later the emperor), a blood-related group was established between the nobles who controlled the central power and the kings of small countries affiliated with the court. These groups were called "family", and a "family" was established. That is, a noble family.

Some of the names of surnames come from official positions, some come from the names of places where they live and rule, some come from the names of gods, and some come from skills. For example, those who live in Izumo country are called "Izumo clan", and those who perform sacrificial work are called "Kibbe clan". The Daiou family, which held the highest power in the Yamato court, was the most powerful clan at the time.

Later, the royal family gave "surnames" to many clans affiliated to the imperial court according to their closeness, blood relationship, merit and influence. This "surname" cannot be regarded as a real surname. It is just a title indicating status, family lineage, and position, similar to a title. There were about 30 surnames at that time, among which "Xianchen", "Jun", "Zhi", etc. were given to the royal family and prominent nobles, and were the most powerful surnames.

Due to population proliferation, a large clan has many branches. These branches gave themselves the name "Miao". The word "Miao" means shoots and branches, that is, branches branching off from the family. For example, Fujiwara is a large clan. After the separation, the Fujiwara clan living in Omi Kingdom took the first names of "Omi" and "Fujiwara" and called them "Kondo". The Fujiwara clan who lived in Ise, Toe, and Kaga were called Ito, Endo, and Kato. By the 8th year of Meiji, people who had never had a surname also wanted to get some glory from the word "Fuji" when choosing their own surname, so "Fujita", "Fujimoto", "Fujii", "Fujiyama", "Fujikawa", "Cane" and other surnames were born.

It can be seen that at this time, the surname can express part of the family blood relationship, but the surname only indicates the status of the family, and the character Miao represents a new branch. However, at this time, the characters surname, surname, and Miao were only used by nobles. have.

In the middle of the seventh century, during the Dahua Reform period, hereditary titles were abolished, and surnames indicating family status lost their meaning. Family names and surnames were mixed into one, and some of them became the surnames that have been passed down to the present. At this time, surnames were still the exclusive preserve of the nobility. By the 19th century, surnames were limited to warriors, wealthy businessmen, and powerful people in the village. These people apply to the authorities and obtain special permission to have a surname. It is a great honor to be able to "carry a sword in your name". The so-called "carrying a sword" means having a surname. Ordinary civilians only have a first name but no surname.

During the reign of Emperor Meiji, the government felt that it was very inconvenient to have no surname, fabricate household registration, tax and levy, so it called on everyone to take a surname. However, due to people's long-term habits, no one wanted to use it. What surname is it? At this point, the government had to issue an order that "all citizens must have a surname." At this time, people hurriedly found surnames, and a craze for surnames arose across the country. Those who live in Aoki Village are named Aoki, those who live by the bridge are named Daqiao, those who have a pine tree in front of their house are named Matsushita, and those who have a mountain in front of their door are named Yamaguchi. So Tanaka, Miki, Yamada, Nikko, Beifeng, Qianbu, Shangfang, Guanyin, these surnames that Chinese people find strange suddenly came out.

Surnames based on place names include "Ueno", "Tanaka", "Kawachi", "Uehara", "Ichihara", "Rikuzen", "Omiya", "Yoshiokaya", " "Mikawaya", "Feihouya", and those with occupation as their surnames include "Mixiang", "Weimei", "Na prostitute", "Zhufan", "Hattori", "Forging", and "Furui Maru". Some people use the names of ancient warriors as surnames, such as "Sakai", "Honda", and "Uesugi", which are all the names of ancient warriors.

There are also some who are afraid of official punishment and "have no choice but to choose a surname", choosing fish, vegetables, temples or occupations as their surnames. Suzuki was originally a symbol held by the priest, and it also became a surname. Those who are literate can choose good-sounding words such as Fushou, Longevity, Thousand Years, Songzhu, and Asahi as surnames. Symbols of longevity such as pine, crane, and turtle also became surnames, as did hundreds, thousands, and ten thousand. Some people really can't think of a good way, so they have to deal with one at random, such as "My grandson", "Pig hand", "Inuyang", "Ghost head", and "Eggplant River", and some let the officials come up with one at random. .

In 1898, the government enacted the Household Registration Law, and the surname of each household was fixed and could not be changed at will. Because Japanese surnames come suddenly and in a special way, their connotations are also unique. Most surnames in various countries around the world express blood relationships, but Japanese surnames rarely have this meaning. People with the same surname may not necessarily be related by blood, and people with different surnames may be uncles or grandfathers.

Most Japanese surnames consist of two Chinese characters, some have one character, and most have nine characters. Such as: Kita, Pond, Bank, Tanaka, Suzuki, Utsunomiya, Saionji Temple, Chisho Kawara, Exploration and Interpretation of Xiaolu, etc. Therefore, in order to distinguish which are surnames and which are first names, in formal signature situations, one character should be left between the surname and the given name. For example, Inoue Kiyoshi should be written as "Inoue Kiyoshi", and Sankaidōjin should be written as "Inoue Kiyoshi". "Sankaido Jin", Yagi Shita Hiro, should be written as "Yagi Shita Hiro".

It is said that Japanese people have hundreds of thousands of surnames. Japan has a population of just over 100 million, and on average there are only a few hundred people with one surname. There are more than 40 most common ones, among which Suzuki, Sato, Tanaka, Yamamoto, Watanabe, Takahashi, Kobayashi, Nakamura, Ito and Saito account for 10% of the total population and more than 10 million people.

There are so many surnames in Japan, but the emperor has no surname. No one can pronounce Emperor Akihito or Emperor Hirohito by their last names. The Japanese believe that the emperor is not a human being, but a god, and gods have no surnames. The emperor has no surname, and the prince, grandson, daughter, brother and aunt naturally also have no surname. Generally, a woman has to change her husband's surname after getting married, but when a commoner marries into the royal family, she still uses her maiden name. Prince Fumihito’s wife Kawashima Noriko’s surname is Kawashima, which is her maiden name.

Japanese people have strange surnames and first names. Japanese men’s names often end with the characters such as lang, husband, male, and male to express might, handsomeness, and loyalty. And there are many signs indicating ranking. The eldest son is called Tailang, the second son is called Jiro and Erlang, and the 11th one is called Yuichiro. Some also remove "lang", directly referring to Tai, Yi, Ci, Er, using Zhi to represent two, Xuan and Zang to represent three, and Zhu to represent the youngest son. The eldest daughter is called the eldest son, the second daughter is called the middle son, and the third daughter is called the third son. Kobayashi Koichi must be the eldest son, and Torajiro must be the second son. In the past, Japanese men's names often added "Heibei", "Zaemon", and "Youemon". These were names changed from military positions, and some were used to show the martial spirit.

Japanese women’s names mostly end with “子”, “江”, “代”, and “ Branch ”, such as Kawashima Yoshiko, Ozeki Yukie, Uno Chiyo, and Ohara Tomie, which sound elegant and soft. . Nowadays, about 90% of young women are named after "子". It is customary for a woman to take her husband's surname after getting married. After Nakano Ryoko married Kawasaki Yoshihiro, she changed her name to Kawasaki Ryoko; Matsuzaki Kimiyo changed her name to Kurimoto Kimiyo after her marriage. Nowadays, more and more women are opposed to husbands and wives having the same surname, and they have also established an "Association Against Husbands and Wifes Having the Same Surname", advocating that they should continue to use their own surnames after marriage.

Using numbers in names is another characteristic of Japanese names. There are those with the surnames of Itdan, Futai, Miki, and Shishima Ichikawa; there are those with the surnames of Rokkaku, Nanijiao, Hachima, Kuuki, and Shiseki; there are also those with the surnames of Forty-Five, Isuzu, Hyakugen, Rokubaida, Senke, and even There are people named Baidai and Long live. It is more common to use numbers in first names to express ranking, but some also express birth time. For example, Yamamoto Isoroku was born because his father was 56 years old.

Japan is a country that pays attention to etiquette. In the past, a naming ceremony was held when a child was born, and it was stipulated that it should be held within the 14th day after the child was born, usually on the seventh day. The Japanese called this day "Yu Qiye" is an auspicious day for naming. On the night of naming, a banquet will be held at home to celebrate.

Japanese children can directly call their parents by their first names in front of outsiders, which is not allowed in most countries.

When it comes to Japanese names, there are many. Japanese names are usually written with surname first and then given name. When translated into Western languages, it is often changed to first name followed by surname, and they are spelled in Romaji according to the original Japanese pronunciation.

Since the Japanese government proposed to restrict the use of uncommon Chinese characters in names in 1951, more and more people in Japan have the same surname and name, so some people advocate not using Chinese characters for names, but using "kana" instead.

Japanese people not only have a large number of surnames, but their pronunciation and writing of Chinese characters are also quite complicated. Surnames with the same pronunciation can be written in several or even more than a dozen ways, and the same Chinese characters are also There are several pronunciations. For example: ささき can be pronounced as the following surnames - Sasaki, Sazen, Sasaki, Sasaki, Sasaki, Ling, Que, etc. Japanese people with the surname ことぅ can be written in the following Chinese characters: Goto, Gotou, Wuto, Wudou, Wutong, Eto, Udo, Goto, Goshima, etc.

Japanese surnames are so complicated that even the Japanese themselves don’t know how to pronounce them, and they can’t figure out how to write the Chinese characters when they hear the name. A survey shows that as many as 4 million business cards are exchanged a day across Japan, which means that 231 groups of people are exchanging business cards every second. But in Japan, it is very rude to call someone by the wrong name. In order to avoid mistakes, most Japanese people use kana to indicate the Japanese pronunciation next to the name written in Chinese characters.

Japanese people are also accustomed to calling people by their surname instead of their given name. If someone goes to find someone named "Sato", there will probably be several "Sato" who will agree together. There is a joke that if you throw a grenade into a crowded crowd during rush hour in Japan and kill 10 people, 9 of them will be named Sato.