Japanese names for Americans

[Ken Allgeier]

I found this webpage

http://brassdragonkarate.com/kyoto.htm


The indivdual in question( an American) who owns the school,calls himself " Kyoto Umihashi".Is this a normal practice for an American to give himself a Japanese name?





ken allgeier

[Adam DArcy]

Hello Ken,

I think in recent times we see this less and less. Many foreigners in Japan assign "Ateji" to their names basically sounding out their names in Kanji, but totally changing one's name to a native Japanese one is almost unheard of lately anyway.

One of the more famous persons to do this was Lafcadio Hearn (sp?) author of many Japnaese tales including "Kaidan". His Japanese name was Koizumi Yakumo. I'm sure there are many others.

Hope this helps a little.

Adam

[Earl Hartman]

One of the reasons that Lafcadio Hearn changed his name is probably because he took Japanese citizenship, something that is quite unusual today (unless you happen to be a high-ranking foreign-born sumo wrestler). I also heard that as soon as Hearn became a Japanese citizen, his salary (I think he was an English teacher at a university) was substantially reduced to bring it into line with what other Japanese were being paid.

How's that for irony, huh?

Earl

[JS3]

Here is the first line from the website:

Q: Where did I get my training?

A: My initial training/roots are with Goshin Jutsu Kyo Jujo. The head of Goshin was Grand Master "Sosho" Gerald Durant.

Go figure

[MarkF]

It may say brass dragon, but I can think of other things made of brass which this guy has. They are almost as big as his head.


Mark