Name Differences

   It's a little thing, but sometimes the little things are the ones that make me realize I'm really in a different place. People's names are really different up here!

   Back at Azuma, there were a lot of names that took a while to get used to, but then I realized that I saw them around a lot in anime, manga, the news, and film. So they weren't that alien or odd. On the other hand, up here in the mountains, there are a lot of names I've never ever imagined, much less seen somewhere.

   Not just family names, but personal names!

   For example, Kabasawa is an incredibly popular family name in this area; I don't know if they're all related or what, but there are a ton of Kabasawas at this school. At Azuma, there were a lot of Kobayashis and Nakazawas, but by "a lot," I mean "five or six." When I say that there are "a ton" of Kabasawas here, I mean "thirty or forty." There are a TON.

   It blows my mind, especially since I've never seen or heard of that name before I came here... but apparently the name itself isn't that rare. Certainly not as rare as, say, Rothrock.

   Another interesting name I've found is from a girl in the kendo club; her family name is Wanajou. Taken literally from the kanji, it means "peaceful southern castle." It's one of those names that actually works out. I asked a few Japanese people outside of the area about it and they pretty much agree that it sounds like a bushi name, or a name from someone outside the common class.

   As I understand it, a long time ago, there was a division between the common class and the upper classes; only the upper class families actually had names. When the class distinctions broke down, common families found names, usually by petitioning a local priest or dignitary.

   "Oh, hey! Look, a red feather! I guess you'll be Mr. Akabane (red feather)."

   Yeah, no. I'm not kidding.

   "Hmm, you live in the middle of a field, I guess you'll be Mr. Tanaka (field middle)."

   Or in another region of Japan, they might decide on a different order, and you end up with Mr. Nakada (middle field). Or Yamaguchi (mountain cave), or Kanai (metal well), or any number of names based on natural or manmade features. Takahashi is a pretty common name -- I guess there were a lot of high bridges in old Japan.

   The retainers for the nobles, especially the retainers for the Fujiwara clan, were rewarded by being granted names that contained the first kanji for Fujiwara: 藤. Satou is an example of a common name that was derived in this fashion: 佐藤. The pronunciation of the kanji itself changes, but it's in the name, which means something like "Loyal to the Fuji."

   Yeah...

   In any case, Fujimi has a lot of neat and strange names I've never seen before. They're like pokemon for me -- gotta catch 'em all!