Why are Japanese surnames so strange? Such as: Murakami..........

The origin of Japanese surnames

It may sound a bit unbelievable that the country ordered everyone across the country to take a surname, but this 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 aristocrats. 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.

At the time 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.

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 read 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, Wutou, 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 names. 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.