In a break from the long tradition of adopting the Western name order in Roman script, the government Friday decided to put surnames first when writing Japanese names in official documents.
“In a globalized world, it has become increasingly important to be aware of the diversity of languages that humans possess. It’s better to follow the Japanese tradition when writing Japanese names in the Roman alphabet,” education minister Masahiko Shibayama said at a news conference.
Unable to view this article?
This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software.
Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites.
If this does not resolve the issue or you are unable to add the domains to your allowlist, please see out this support page.
We humbly apologize for the inconvenience.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.