News Cultural agency considering romanization of Japanese words

thomas · 3 Oct 2022

Japan's Council for Cultural Affairs is considering the romanisation of Japanese words to reduce the confusion over two different transcription systems for a language deemed to be one of the world's most difficult to master. A 1954 Cabinet notification called for using the "kunrei" romanisation for Japanese words in English. However, the notification also allowed exceptions with the Hepburn transcription when circumstances made it difficult to change established writing habits.

The poll conducted in January and February asked 3,579 individuals aged 16 and older around Japan to indicate which romanization style they preferred for various Japanese words. While the Hepburn style had much larger support for romanizing such place names as Aichi, Gifu, Uji and Akashi, Goshogawara only was used by 43.9 percent of respondents while the kunrei version of Gosyogawara was preferred by 54.8 percent. And while 61 percent of respondents chose Atsugi, 37.6 percent said they preferred the kunrei version of Atugi. The kunrei style is mainly learned during Japanese language classes in elementary school. But the Hepburn style is more often used in the romanization of Japanese names in passports as well as on road signs. "People use the kunrei style unconsciously and there are various opinions about which style is better," said an official with the Cultural Affairs Agency. "We plan to hold discussions about how romanization should be approached after further studies about what works best."

Cultural agency now weighing romanization of Japanese words | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

I can't stand the kunrei system.

Tokyo Guy · 3 Oct 2022

thomas said:
Japan's Council for Cultural Affairs is considering the romanisation of Japanese words to reduce the confusion over two different transcription systems for a language deemed to be one of the world's most difficult to master. A 1954 Cabinet notification called for using the "kunrei" romanisation for Japanese words in English. However, the notification also allowed exceptions with the Hepburn transcription when circumstances made it difficult to change establi

Cultural agency now weighing romanization of Japanese words | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

I can't stand the kunrei system.

This is wholly unnecessary. Take South Korea for example, up until recent years, most of the street signs in Seoul were written in Japanese. They changed this to protect their national identity and pride, and for the obvious historical reasons. Japanese still have no concept on how to protect their vital cultural assets; language being one of them. Kunrei is better.

Majestic · 3 Oct 2022

I saw this article too... maybe on Twitter. It seems ridiculous to me. I mean, the poll that showed 54.8% of people preferring kunrei system for "Gosyogawara" seems like nonsense. How often is that location name used compared to Aichi or Gifu? It seems an awfully localized word on which to base a policy concerning romanized spellings.
Plus, the idea of the poll itself feels unusual. The romanization should be for the benefit of people who cannot read Japanese: i.e. foreigners. So the approximation of the Japanese sound represented by the roman letters should be the driving criterion.

(But I just googled Goshogawara, and even that city uses the Hepburn system when writing its name in roman characters).

It's like a poll that was engineered to generate controversy where none exists.

nice gaijin · 3 Oct 2022

I've only known Japanese people to use kunrei, probably just the standard in school. Makes sense that a less famous location would lean toward kunrei, so that explains the numbers we're seeing; you can also use it when you type, the IME can handle either input and kunrei does save you a keystroke... but I do prefer hepburn if I must romanize.

mdchachi · 3 Oct 2022

Long live Hepburn!

News Cultural agency considering romanization of Japanese words

thomas

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