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Strange Japanese First Names??
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| oKawa |
Posted on 28-08-2006 10:51
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Posts: 113
Joined: 06.07.06
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I think they are older given names that are no longer used. I have a Yoshikawa Motoemon, and he was born mid 1800's, and Kawaue Sadaemon b. 1890. Looking at the koseki Sadaemon and Motoemon use four kanji.
Edited by oKawa on 28-08-2006 11:05 |
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| awajin |
Posted on 01-11-2007 21:25
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Posts: 7
Joined: 10.10.07
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With the exception of Rinbae, the others are ordinary mens given names. These names were
typical for the time. A lot of these kinds of names came from post titles during the Ritsuryo
Period (Nara - Heian periods). Under the Ritsuryo Code different bureaus were established to
handle the various duties in the Imperial Palace. Some of these bureaus were further divided
into to sub-bureaus, Left and Right.
Example:
Emon-fu (emon bureau) was divided into Uemon-fu (Right) and Saemon-fu. These were the guards of the outer gates of the Imperial Palace and controlled all entry into and exit from the
Imperial Palace.
Hyoe-fu (hyoe bureau) also divided into Uhyoe-fu and Sahyoe-fu. These were the guards of the
inner precints of the Imperial Palace.
Okura-sho (treasury) controlled receipt of taxes from the provinces and expenditures of the
Imperial Court.
So, someone assigned to the Emon-fu would be Genemon, Heizaemon or Kichiemon etc.
Likewise, Genbee, Heibee, Kichibee etc (Hyoue later came to be pronounced -hee or -bee.
Treasury officers were Genzo, Heizo etc.
Originally, they were titles usually preceded by their clan affiliation:
Minamoto - Gen
Taira, Heike - Hei
Tachibana - Kichi
Fujiwara - To
Kiyohara - Sei
etc.
During the Ritsuryo Period these were actual titles but they later came to be honorary titles and then just given names. Eventually, even commoners used names with these endings.
There is nothing really unusual about Rin(s)hichi.
Rinbae is another matter. It could possibly be misread, i.e. the actual pronunciation is something else or it could be a Gago, something like a pen name. Sometimes when an individual retired and let their son take over as head of household he would also give his name to his son as well and take a Gago. This was true of some big merchant families. |
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| oKawa |
Posted on 01-11-2007 22:23
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Posts: 113
Joined: 06.07.06
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I have a note on my ggrandmother as being the third daughter of the late Yoshikawa Gen’emon, but another translation wrote it as Motoemon. I've written it as Motoemon, but kept the note as Gen'emon because I thought the ['] was strange, I guess that is just a translation thing. I'm not sure which one is correct.
awajin, thank you for contributing the detailed information and history.
Edited by oKawa on 01-11-2007 22:29 |
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| awajin |
Posted on 01-11-2007 22:58
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Posts: 7
Joined: 10.10.07
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That is the problem with Japanese. There is no way of really knowing what the proper reading is
since there can be a number of possible readings. In my case my greatgrandfather's name can
be read as Shigezo or Hanzo. Most people would probably read it Hanzo but fortunately I was
told by my father and grandmother before they passed on that it was Shigezo. |
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| SpencerJohnson |
Posted on 04-11-2007 00:46
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Posts: 10
Joined: 01.11.07
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When discussing the origin of a popular anime character's name, Doraemon, I was told that the suffix -emon is a classical form of -kun which is like -san that was added to names. Therefore, the name Doraemon might be translated as Young Lord Dora, or something like that.
Yoroshiku
Spencer |
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