Write Your Name in Kanji

By Nobuo Sato and Nabuo Sato

Book Overview

This book is intended to help you easily determine your Japanese name and learn the most suitable way to write it with Japanese Kanji.

Japan more than most countries, places emphasis on harmoniously blending in with others. In fact, it has not one, but two proverbs similar to the Western, "When in Rome..." Go ni itte wa, go ni shigagae, or "Obey the customs of the village you enter;" and Deru kugi wa utareru, or "The nail that sticks up will be hammered." This suggests, then that the Westerner who manages to leap across the cultural chasm and adapt his or her name to the vernacular is taking the first step toward a happy and productive stay among the Japanese. Even though an English name might not have an equivalent Japanese name, Write Your Name in Kanji will help you understand what goes into selecting a name, and will present a number of choices so that you can pick the most appropriate characters to represent your own name in the Japanese language. In doing so, this book may even help give you a better understanding of your original English (or other) name.

As you will see with this Kanji book, you may consider several different Japanese equivalents for your name and select the most appropriate to your tastes and character. If you are not satisfied with the meaning carried by your original English name, chances are that you can find a name approximating it phonetically but containing a fabulous meaning that your English name lacks. You may decide to use one of the "attention-getting transcriptions" to amuse your friends or deliver such an unforgettable first impression that new business associates will never forget you. If you stick to the original meaning of your English name, you may also find a corresponding one in fascinating kanji. If you prefer a simple phonetic transcription, you can simply elect to render your name in its katakana or hiragana equivalent.

Once you've selected a name that appeals to you, you might even have it engraved into a hanko (a seal or stamp always required in lieu of a handwritten signature for official or business-related documents) and officially register it in Japan. You will be issued a certificate legitimizing your seal, and the characters it bears, as legally valid and binding on any official document you affix it to in Japan. This would certainly make an impression on your Japanese friends or associates!

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804847754
• ISBN13: 9780804847759
• Release Date: November 2016
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
• Length: 196 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Very useful

Kanji is complicated, especially for Americans. As a martial arts instructor I'm supposed to know this stuff and have found this book an excellent resource. Different kanji can have the same sound; hence each name can have a variety of possible character combinations. This easy to follow text helps you pick out the best characters for first or last names. It explains the root and meaning of each word. Among other things I have used this information to make a hanko (chop or seal) to stamp important documents with in Japanese style (like a signature). The only caveat is that it is about the characters and meaning rather than on the calligraphy. Lawrence Kane Author of Surviving Armed Assaults, The Way of Kata, and Martial Arts Instruction

Very useful

If you're studying Japanese, this is a great book to have. It helps with learning kanji. For example, if you're trying to memorize the kanji for "pearl", look at its readings (let's pick "SHU", the onyomi) and think of someone you know whose name has that syllable when pronounced the Japanese way. Let's say your friend's name is Ashley (not one of the 300 names already done for you). The Japanese pronounce it "A-shu-ri-i." So what you do is find the kanji for these syllables. (There's an index at the end.) I found "beauty-pearl-village-good". From looking at the way the kanji in other names are arranged, you can deduce that this would be read "A good, beautiful pearl of the village," because this book also shows how kanji are arraged in Japanese words and names.However, I must warn you: The author takes a lot of liberties with mispronouncing American names. He freely lengthens vowels ("Megan" can be pronounced "Mei-gan" or "Me-ga-an" in addition to "Me-gan," which is how the Japanese pronounce the name), and he changes sounds ("Alice" can be "A-re-su", "A-rei-su", "A-a-rei-su", etc., in addition to "Arisu"). DO NOT buy this book unless you have a book with information on at least the 1,945 general-use kanji, or better yet, a kanji dictionary.Despite its faults, however, the book is a very useful tool for learning kanji, which, as you probably know, is very important when you're learning Japanese, because if you don't, you won't be able to read anything in Japanese except children's books. Therefore, you will need all the help you can get. I recommend this book to anyone studying Japanese.

great!

a very useful book to have if you are studying japan and want to know what peoples names mean or how to write your name in japanese, especially if your an american manga artist like me.

A unique, fun look at Japanese

I'm trying to teach myself Japanese, got this book as a present, and love it. It exposes the reader to written Japanese while doing so in a non-threatening way. I keep it aside for days when I need to practice Japanese but I can't stand to look at another kanji textbook... I'll pick it up, flip through, and have fun laughing at some of the (purposefully) sillier name-translations while still seeing Japanese characters. My name, Christina, came out to 'serene Christian beauty' for the 'serious'-meaning name, but there are lots of other less elegant ones. ;)Overall, it's a great supplement that can make Japanese seem more fun and personal while still exposing the reader to the actual written language.

This is sooo cool!

This book really shows you how to write your name in kanji.This really helped me and my friend so we could write our names inanother language besides English! END