Language | BILINGUAL Sep 3, 2018
Getting to know Japan on a first-name basis
by Peter Backhaus
What's in a first name? In Japan, you'll find insights into societal change.
NEWSWORTHY
Business / Corporate May 15, 2015
Most common name for company chiefs in Japan is Makoto Sato: survey
by Tomohiro Osaki
If your name happens to be Makoto Sato, the chances of you rising through the corporate ranks all the way to the top are probably higher than others. That's according to results from a survey on the most prevalent names for company presidents among 2.6 ...
World / Offbeat Feb 27, 2015
A linguistic storm is brewing in Luderitz, where some residents of the remote Namibian town are protesting plans to change its name to !Nami#nus. Those are not typographical errors. The name, proposed by some government officials and tribal authorities, incorporates clicklike sounds in the language spoken ...
National Oct 11, 2013
East Japan Railway Co. and West Japan Railway Co. have named four bullet trains that will run on the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line, which will connect Tokyo and Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, via Nagano, from spring 2015. The names — Kagayaki, Hakutaka, Tsurugi and Asama — were ...
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT Jul 29, 2013
Prove you're Japanese: when being bicultural can be a burden
by Louise George Kittaka
Japanese are Japanese and foreigners are foreigners, and never the twain shall meet? In many aspects of daily life in this country, there is one way for the Japanese and another for the rest of us. Like it or not, that's just how it ...
General | BASEBALL BULLET-IN Mar 3, 2013
Many stories behind names for foreign players in Japan
by Wayne Graczyk
While Japan and the rest of the baseball universe are deep in the World Baseball Classic fever, the conventional major league and Japanese teams are going about their business getting ready for their respective April 1 and March 29 opening days. In the U.S., "QJ" ...