Do you find Japanese names comfusing?

I do, I couldn't figure out if they were talking about Tomoya or Tomoyo in Clannad, so things got really confusing at points, also I loose it when they switch the first and last names to call them by, and I went through almost all of Lucky Star without knowing Tsukasa name, European (such as Gunslinger Girl and Last Exile) and Western names are just so much easier for me to catch and remember.

I'm sure that the Japanese think the same about the way Westerners pronounce and write our names. They find their way of doing things easier and Western ways harder. It's all just a regional thing and is mirrored in many places around the world. Watch lots of anime and read lots of manga and eventually you will get the hang of things and how they work.

You'll get used to it. However, when reading official translations of manga I do get confused when a characters name is mentioned in full as sometimes our translators alternate between "Last name First" and "First name First" but you just have to be familiar to the form of Last names.

I've always found it very easy to understand the way Japanese names work. Having been in ROTC for a long time, I've always been very used to calling people by their last name, it certainly helps keep a definitive line between acquaintance and friend. It's far more difficult to do that in the western world though; most people in America and Europe initially introduce themselves with only their first name, and do not include their family name.




I hate when TL's switch names around like that, I think it's a bit insulting to not refer to a character in the way the country of origin intended.

Speaking of which, how exactly does the Japanese "family Name and given name" work?

What do you mean?

It's not that they are switching the names, it's that they're localizing it way too literaly. The japanese have their family name as first name, and their personal name as last. So Okazaki Tomoya would be Tomoya Okazaki according to the way we arrange names. And that's what they end up doing. I personally dislike that as well, as it doesn't feel right to have the character say something that doesn't match the subs.



The family name, the first one, is usually passed down from the father's family name (something very common all around the world). People use the family name in order to refer to eachother in a formal way, as you must've noticed. The use of the given name is something extremely informal and a sign of intimacy. I'm sure you've seen one of those slightly awkward scenes in anime where lovers try to start calling eachother by their first name, and it's usually very strange for them, as it represents a huge leap in intimacy.

The family name, the first one, is usually passed down from the father's family name (something very common all around the world). People use the family name in order to refer to eachother in a formal way, as you must've noticed. The use of the given name is something extremely informal and a sign of intimacy. I'm sure you've seen one of those slightly awkward scenes in anime where lovers try to start calling eachother by their first name, and it's usually very strange for them, as it represents a huge leap in intimacy.[/quote]

Oh, I see, it's just different not knowing their culture very well, but more than glad to learn. Getting their last name makes sense and I suppose calling them that makes sense too, although they don't add mr. or ms., just almost seems out of place, unless thats what -san, -chan, -kun are for, but what do you do if you're speaking to parents, same last name, use the mothers maiden last name?

-San, -Kun, -chan etc etc

are Honorary names added behind the name of the person.

-San = Usually used out of respect of each other, and both are not close enough.

-Kun = Usually used for Younger Boys, or male that you think is close to you

-Chan = Same with Kun, only it's used for girls.

Adding those will show feelings from respect or a close relationship.

About parents in JApan
They strictly use Otou-san and Oka-san/ Chichiue and Hahaue. It's disrespectful for calling them with they're given names, or even maiden names.

Sometimes. I'm more used to it now than I was before.

[size=12]No~ I'm used to it. :)

-edit-

Additional info~

If you call a person by his/her given name alone without any honorifics like -san, -kun, -chan, -sama, it means that you are EXTREMELY close to each other. This is very unusual in Japan because even among people who are romantically involved don't use this. But if you've watched "5 cm per second", you will notice that as Takaki and Akari formed a very strong bond, they started to call each other by their given names alone thus indicating how close they are.

Just thought I'd share that~ XD
[/h]

I'm sort of use to it, but ya I know what you mean , I finished clannad recently and the names Tomoyo and Tomoya threw me off on one ep I was like wait a min......
but then understood later.

You think out of ALL thousands of names in existence they wouldn't choose one that is ONE LETTER AWAY from another,

It's only one letter off for us.

Remember, that's romanized japanese.

I'm very bad at remembering names, but when it is complicated names, I sometimes remember (I do not know why). The one thing that is hard and sometimes confusing is when I make up characters for the manga that I am drawing, It is hard to come up with the names, seeing as I am not from Japan, and sometimes it is hard to remember them.

Ya, I can also see why it's less of an issue for them since of course they are just hearing it as it is, while we are reading it.

ともや Tomoya　ともよ　Tomoyo mehhh o.o , actually shouldn't they still have the same problem we are off by a letter but they are also off by just a character, and we are both off by a syllable. I wouldn't doubt that if a Jap wasn't paying full attention they would have had the same problem we did?

What? No. It's because you're not used to hearing such androginous names that you confuse them. Unlike most romanic languages, a large percentage of japanese names are actually androginous. So they're used to that and don't have that problem. But someone that isn't used to that is probable to face that problem, like it's happened to you.

Had to actually look up androginous think you spelled it wrong though? xP So you mean the names have nothing to do with the gender of the individual? If so that's not actually the issue I was talking about, I wasn't confused on whether he should be called Tomoyo instead of Tomoya, was simply referring to when they introduced Tomoyo into the storyline the name's them-selfs were so similar it threw me off when the characters were talking about each other. So I guess to reinstate my answer to the topic my issue is names are a bit too similar to each at times.

I don't really find them confusing at all, I guess I've just gotten used to it.

Hm, it does seem like I deviated a bit from the point. But the basics still apply. It's probably because you're not used to hearing such similar names that you mistook them when Tomoyo appeared in the show.

inb4 pointing out the obvious. I don't know what else to say lul.