Flipping out

Japanese debate how foreigners should refer to them

A chrysanthemum by any other name would smell as sweet

 

The world calls the leader of China Xi Jinping. His North Korean counterpart is known as Kim Jong Un. The man who led North Vietnam to independence is almost always dubbed Ho Chi Minh. In all three instances, the surname comes first, and then the given names, as is customary in China, Korea and Vietnam. That is the custom in Japan, too. Yet English-speakers refer to the Japanese prime minister as Shinzo Abe, rather than Abe Shinzo. Why the inconsistency, asks Japan’s foreign minister, Taro Kono—or rather Kono Taro, as he would like to be known. He says he plans to ask foreign media to start conforming to Japanese practice.

The oddity that upsets Mr Kono does not stem from the West attempting to impose its norms on Japan. When Matthew Perry, an American naval officer, forced Japan to end its self-imposed isolation in 1854, he had no qualms about referring to the Japanese officials he was threatening as they referred to themselves. Instead it was local elites who, after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when Japan was rapidly modernising by imitating Western institutions and mores, took it upon themselves to reverse the order of their names for foreign consumption. The intention was to disassociate Japan from the rest of Asia and signal its advanced status to Westerners.

Mr Kono is no nationalist firebrand. He speaks fluent English and is hearteningly open-minded. Indeed, the cause is not really a nationalist one: even at the height of Japanese expansionism during the second world war, Japanese stuck to the convention he is now challenging. The cabinet and the wider population are split on the issue. Some organisations, such as Japan’s national football team, already put family names first in English.

The debate is an illustration of Japanese culture’s unique, and sometimes awkward, blend of east and west, which stems not only from the Meiji era but also from the American occupation after the second world war. The Japanese love both baseball and shogi (Japanese chess); sushi and doughnuts. Mr Kono argues that the switch to indigenous practice should occur in time for an impending series of showcase events including the Olympics, which Tokyo is hosting next year. But others would argue that Japan’s relaxed and largely unselfconscious blending of foreign and local customs should be the main exhibit.

【六月份】经济学人

Casting light on the Moon

Improving robots’ grasp requires a new way to measure it in humans

Donald Trump vows to use tariffs to punish Mexico

Why managers should listen to shareholders

Advertising may make people miserable

Using sponges to census the ocean

Electric-scooter startups are becoming more cautious

Climate change will be a big issue

Drone deliveries are advancing in health care

The benefits of pre-schooling may extend for generations

Global carbon emissions hit another record

【五月份】经济学人

Caster Semenya’s case sets a big precedent for women’s sport

一篮子无形资产

Shanahan is likely to be America’s next defence secretary

How creepy is your smart speaker?

Why women’s art sells at a discount

Brewers at AB InBev need to rethink its strategy

Amazon’s boss reckons that humanity needs an HQ2

Climate change strikes the Venice Biennale

Two books explore the evolutionary origins of morality

“Furious Hours” is an ingenious double mystery

Incumbency ain’t what it used to be

The global battle over high drug prices

The world is about to get a new way to measure itself

3D printing makes it easier

British politics after Theresa May

Keeping children safe on the internet

Facebook’s planned new currency based on a blockchain

In “The Farm”, immigrants carry the super-rich’s babies

Ghost workers of the world, form a guild

推荐阅读：

【历年张璐口译】2019总理记者会，张璐翻译的这些话真给力！

公众号后台回复：

"政府工作报告"|"资料"|"外交部金句"|"卢敏".......

更多英汉注释政府报告：

十九大完结

19大词组及句子整理（百度网盘）

2019政府工作报告完结@备考CATTI个人注释

2018政府工作报告完结@备考CATTI个人注释

2017政府工作报告完结@备考CATTI个人注释

【中英对照全文】2019政府工作报告

---

如果您感觉本文还不错或者对您有帮助，那请分享给您的朋友