Chinese & Japanese rendering of foreign names

A very interesting article flyingzone, However, the first line in the article it says:

I think it might mislead the reader to think that Katakana development and use was just to express foreign words and names. The techniqual precise truth is that Katakana is an old writing system (developed maybe during 8th to the 12th century AD) as the other 3 writing systems in Japan.
In fact, old Japanese names were written usually in Katakana.  It just happened that it is the simplest, so it is the easiest to use with foriegn names and words. However, the use of Katakana has changed and continue to change and many Japanese till today mix one or two writing systems while writing in Katakana. I got  my name once written in all forms of Japanese writing systems, the closest was Katakana. I present this from Wikipedia in details about the use of Katakana:

Usage (source)

In modern Japanese, katakana are most often used for transcription of words from foreign languages (called gairaigo). For example, "television" is written terebi (�ƥ��, terebi^?). Similarly, katakana is usually used for country names and foreign place and personal names. For example United States is written ����ꥫ Amerika and John is written ����� (Jon).

Katakana are also used for onomatopoeia, letters used to represent sounds, for example chin (����, chin^?), meaning "Ding" would usually be written in katakana.

Technical and scientific terms, such as the names of animal and plant species and minerals are also commonly written in katakana.

Katakana are also often used for transcription of Japanese company names (not always). For example Suzuki is written �����­, and Toyota is written �ȥ西. Katakana are also used for emphasis, especially on signs, advertisements, and hoardings. For example, it is common to see ���� koko (here), ���� gomi (trash) or �ᥬ�� megane (glasses), and words to be emphasized in a sentence are also sometimes written in katakana.

Pre-World War II official documents mix katakana and kanji in the same way that hiragana and kanji are mixed in modern Japanese texts, that is, katakana were used for okurigana and particles such as wa or o.

Katakana were also used for telegrams in Japan before 1988 and before the introduction of multibyte characters in computer systems in the 1980s. Most computers used Katakana instead of Kanji and/or Hiragana for output.

Although words borrowed from ancient Chinese are usually written in kanji, loanwords from modern Chinese which are borrowed directly rather than using the Sino-Japanese on'yomi readings, are often written in katakana. Examples include

• �ީ`����� (��ȸ), m��jan (mahjong)
• ���`����� (������), ��roncha (Oolong tea)
• ����`�ϥ� (���), ch��han, (fried rice)
• ����`����`(�柆), ch��sh��, from Chinese (Cantonese) cha siu, roast pork
• ����`�ޥ� (����), sh��mai, from Chinese (Cantonese) siu maai, a kind of dim sum.

These are usually written in katakana when not written in kanji. The very common Chinese loanword ��`��� (r��men) is rarely written with its kanji �­�M.

Katakana are sometimes used instead of hiragana as furigana to give the pronunciation of a word written in roman characters, or for a foreign word, which is written as kanji for the meaning, but intended to be pronounced as the original.

Katakana are also sometimes used to indicate words being spoken in a foreign or otherwise unusual accent, by foreign characters, robots etc. For example, in a manga, the speech of a foreign character or a robot may be represented by ����˥��� (konnichiwa) instead of the more usual hiragana ����ˤ��� (konnichi wa).

Katakana are also used to indicate the on'yomi (Chinese-derived) readings of a kanji in a kanji dictionary.

Some Japanese personal names are written in katakana. This was more common in the past, hence elderly women often have katakana names.

It is very common to write words with difficult to read kanji in katakana. This phenomenon is often seen with medical terminology. For example, in the word "dermatology", Ƥ�w��, hifuka, the second kanji, �w, is considered difficult, and thus the word hifuka is commonly written as Ƥ�տ� or �ҥտ� in katakana. Similarly, difficult kanji such as �� gan, "cancer", are often written in katakana or hiragana.

Katakana is also used for traditional musical notations, as in the Tozan ryu of shakuhachi, and in sankyoku ensembles with koto, shamisen and shakuhachi.

Originally posted by Maju I wonder if it's not very significative that we have not a single Japanese member in this so international forum, despite Japan having all conditions to be strongly represented: strong population, mostly English speakers (as second language), with more internet connections than bathrooms... yet not a single Japanese has come around... Have you ever met a Japanese in the Net? Not me.

I think it has more to do with the level of English spoken in Japan. It is really not high, even though English is widely learned as a second language there.

I have a feeling that this observation may be a little biased. Since I assume that you, Johannes, are quite young, it's natural for you to congregate or have more contact with people of your age when you were studying in Japan. And let's face it, most young people, regardless of their nationality, care more about trends and fashion than "boring things" like international affairs. When I look at my students, I am always amazed by how little they know about the outside world.

You also have to understand that, as a foreign student studying in Japan, you must be quite bright and more mature than those of the same age around you. So you can't really compare what you know to what they know.

I don't know for sure, though, how "internationally-oriented" the Japanese people are compared to, say, other Asian nations. I have a feeling that they may actually be MORE aware of and keen to know about the world outside their country than people from other Asian countries, not because they are intrinsically more intellectually curious, but simply because they travel abroad so much and also because of the advanced level of information technologies there.   

if they are not here they are elsewhere, whether thats they the Japanese, or the stereotypical comments regarding them.

Yes, i think i'm still quite young.  i am in my late 20s.  i studied in Japan almost 10 years ago...   oh my, time flies.

As Maju has stated, they travel in packs, hoarded by the tourguides.  Get off the tourbus, snap a picture, go eat at a touristy restaurant catered to Japanese tastes, go to shops catered to Japanese taste & use their credit cards, take more pictures, back to hotel.  That's touring, not TRAVELLING.

Of course then there are the rebellious backpacking loner who is yearning to find his or her own place outside of their islands to escape Japan's oppressive society.

Most of the Japanese i have known in my student & professional life outside of Japan always congregate with other Japanese.  They speak/eat/live Japanese 24/7, never really bothering to learn much about the country they are at, be it America or HK. 

Japan has never been internationally-oriented.   They've always had their island mentality (No, i'm not being dismissive of their culture) & their peculiar insecurities that cause them to go out, wholesale copy foreign cultures to the most minute detail, Japanize & then perfect said cultures.  Before it was China & Korea, then it was the Portuguese, the Dutch, then British & French, now it's American & global trends, but it's all only a superficial veneer.  Only the form is needed.  Contact & communication is not desired, in fact, it'd be better off cutting communications, because foreign thought taint the Japanese way. 

Of course, in this global age, it all has to change.  It will be very interesting to see how Japan will adapt to more foreign influence whether they like it or not, & how Japan will reinvent itself again.

Japanese written in pure Hiragana, without scholarly Kanji & punchy Katakana, gives a very childish, kindergarten feel. 

You're not as young as I thought

True. But honestly, when I look at other Asian tourists, I don't think they are doing any better than the Japanese. And at least the Japanese tourists are usually well-behaved, are extremely respectful of local cultures, and they tip well. 

Proportionately speaking, I think there are more Japanese people who TRAVEL (not tour) than other Asian people. That, ironically, may also be an indication of the fact that Japan is economically speaking wealthier than its Asian neighbors - the more affluent a country is, the more its people seek "alternative" lifestyles or ways of doing things. That's the reason why you may find more rebellious backpackers that are Japanese than those from other Asian countries.   

But, again, is that a Japanese exceptionalism or is that pretty much applicable to expatriates of other nationalities? Do Americans, Canadians, Chinese, etc. do any better? Can we simply attribute the behaviors of those Japanese expatriates to their "island mentality"? I doubt it.

VERY interesting observation. But while you're putting this Japanese way of "cultural borrowing/readaptation" almost like a weakness, one could equally argue that it may be the reason why the Japanese are so "successful" - first in emulating the Chinese, then in transforming itself from a backward and weak country into a world military and economic power. The "Japanese miracle" was not just an accident. The Japanese must have done something "right".  

I am not too pessimistic about the Japanese not being able to "survive" the age of globalization. After all, cultural borrowing and readaptation is their forte. However, in the long run, I think thanks to Japan's (what I call) "historical complexes" or (what you call) the Japanese' "island mentality", they may not be able to achieve the kind of global cultural and political dominance that China can potentially achieve. In other words, ancient China's "Middle Kingdom" world view may ironically be able to give modern China a much more solid foundation - psychological and philosophical - for global dominance.