Why do Japanese people have such weird surnames?

When it comes to Japanese surnames, it’s a complete collection of jokes! Pig's mouth, nose hair, my wife, my grandson... there are all kinds of weird surnames. So, why are Japanese surnames so weird? This starts with the "Meiji Restoration" in modern Japan.

Before the "Meiji Restoration" in modern Japan, Japanese civilians did not have surnames. Only nobles and samurai had surnames. Moreover, this kind of surname has been artificially divided into Shi and Miao characters. The so-called clan is awarded to the great nobles by the emperor in ancient Japan, and is mainly named after position, territory, etc.; while the Miao character is the name of a family branch separated from the original clan. The ancient Japanese surnames and Miao characters are roughly similar to our Chinese surnames and surnames before the Qin Dynasty. The surname is the root and the surname is the branch, which are all related to the enfeoffed territory, position, etc.

Civilians have neither positions nor territories, so naturally they do not have the characters "Shi" and "Miao". Before the "Meiji Restoration" in modern Japan, common people only had first names and no surnames! After birth, it is enough to give the child a name such as Gou Sheng or Gou Dan. It does not require much attention...

In the late 1860s, Tokugawa, the last great general who conquered barbarians Qingxi was forced to "return power" to the emperor, and Japan began the "Meiji Restoration". After the "Meiji Restoration", Japan began to implement Western-style conscription, taxation and other systems on a large scale. But problems also arise. If you call him Goudan, he will also be called Goudan. There can be hundreds of Goudan and hundreds of leftover dogs in an army... The tax collectors are also extremely distressed - they just collected the dogs. The taxes from the Dan family were collected next, and then the taxes from the Gou Dan family were collected; after just collecting the taxes from the three Gou Sheng families, there were still five more Gou Sheng families to collect... In the end, it was not clear who Goudan's family was. Which Goudan and Gou Sheng are the Gou Sheng!

In order to change this dilemma, the Japanese official issued the "Order on Permitting Miao Characters for Common People", officially allowing civilians to have Miao characters. But at that time, the Japanese people were not very active - "Our ancestors have been calling dog eggs for hundreds or thousands of years. It's good to have dog leftovers! Why do we need to add a surname? Isn't this just taking off your pants and farting, messing around?" Well..." All in all, not many people give themselves a new surname.

At this time, the Japanese officials were anxious - "How can this be done! If you don't do it voluntarily, then we will force you!" So, not long after, another document with a mandatory nature was issued A government decree was promulgated, called the "Order on Common People's Miao Characters Must Be Called". The general idea is: "Whether you were originally called Goudan, Gou Sheng or Eryatou, you are required to give yourself a new surname within the specified time and register it with the relevant department, otherwise you will be severely punished!"

Don’t tell me, this trick really works! It didn’t take long for Japan to start a nationwide craze for new surnames. But what surname should we choose? Our ancestors had no precedents and no one to guide them... Therefore, the Japanese people at that time began to use their "imagination" unlimitedly. Those who lived by the ferry were named Watanabe, and those who lived at the foot of the mountain were named Yamashita... and even what My wife, my grandson, the pig’s mouth and nose hair all came out. All of a sudden, there are all kinds of weird and weird surnames, "you sing and I will appear on the stage", only you can't think of it, nothing is impossible. According to incomplete statistics, there are as many as hundreds of thousands of surnames in Japan! Why is China's "Hundred Family Surnames" so embarrassed?

The main reason why Japanese surnames are so weird is because of the "Order of Miao Characters for Common People". With no precedent, no relevant guidance or alternatives, the Japanese people were forced to take a new surname within a time limit. At that time, the Japanese people could only "take it for granted" and use whatever they thought of and liked as their own. It’s a new last name! What's even worse is that most Japanese people at that time had little education and the illiteracy rate was alarmingly high! If you let a group of illiterate people choose their own surnames, you can imagine the outcome. I'm afraid they can only end up with the surname Yamashita who lives at the foot of the mountain, and the surname Watanabe who lives next to the ferry...