I have been asked last minute to create an article for the school's year book. With no topic restriction, I was at a loss as to what to write. The following is one article I was considering, but have decided to go in another direction. I'll share the final piece once finished.
"In Western cultures, everyone desires to be more and more unique. It is like a continual battle for an original idea, a creative new word or even a distinctive name.
I recently came across a news article in Australia. It was reporting the most popular and unique baby names for 2014. At the top of the most unique were ‘Pikachu’ and ‘Batman’, for a daughter and son respectively.
I stared at these names for some time trying to comprehend who would name their child ‘Pikachu’ or ‘Batman’. While I am sure both names would receive quite some smiles and would be a great conversation-starter, I wonder how these names would ultimately affect these children in their future lives. How would it shape their personality? Would it change who they are and what they become?
During my short time in Japan, I have discovered wonderful cultural aspects that I did not know previously. One such aspect is the significance of not only a child’s name, but also the kanji characters used. I first realized this when meeting Ōtomo (大友) kun, a senior high school student. As he explained, his name was made of two kanji characters – ‘Ō’ (大) meaning ‘big’, and ‘tomo’ (友) meaning ‘friend’. In English, this directly translates to ‘big friend’ or ‘very friendly’.
I reflected on this for a moment. This student’s name appeared to match perfectly to his personality. Each week, Ōtomo-kun will be the first to greet me with a big smile and a ‘hello’. He always wants to know how I am and share with me how his English study is progressing. Ōtomo-kun was truly a ‘very friendly’ high school student.
I soon discovered that this was not just a ‘one-off’ coincidence. Most often Japanese parents will spend a considerable amount of time on their child’s name and kanji characters, as it will ultimately influence their child’s personality. As this child grows, they will constantly be reminded of their kanji name and be strongly inclined to uphold it’s meaning. How will children such as ‘Pikachu’ or ‘Batman’ be able to live up to their name’s meaning?
I truly believe this is a beautiful aspect of Japanese culture. I only wish that parents in Westernised cultures would take such delicate consideration into the naming of their own children. While I realise many parents do not want their child to share the same name as seven others in their child’s school class (Jessica for example, was a rather popular name when I was a child), I often wonder whether names like ‘Pikachu’ or ‘Batman’ will soon lose their novelty and instead become immature in the eyes of future employers or business clients. Do I really want ‘Pikachu’ to give me financial advice? I think I’d rather have Ōtomo-kun help me with my finances instead!
Japan seems to be full of wonderful cultural gems and I wish to discover even more. I only hope that Japan never becomes a truly Westernised society and forever loses it’s unique qualities."
