Japanese or English names?

[roankun]

I was wondering whether I was going to use Japanese or English names for my characters... There was a thread before in the completed section (I forget which) that said the creator had initially used English names but then switched to Japanese later on.

I, myself, actually prefer Japanese names, since I'm an otaku at heart, but I'd like to hear other people's opinions. Also, I've asked a few friends of mine, and one of them answered "It depends on the setting." If you're the same, under which setting would you prefer Japanese and under which would you prefer English?

[Samu-kun]

Sounds like a pretty silly question, doesn't it? If it's set in Japan, then obviously the characters would have Japanese names and if it's set any where else, then the characters would have whatever names that people have in that country!

[roankun]

I see. I didn't think of that. XD.

But then, I guess, what makes people put them in a Japanese setting anyway? For example, if it's just a high school setting (as is common), then wouldn't any other country do?

[EternalDream]

I guess it's just because that most mangas, games, etc are set in a japanese high school, so people start to think that it's only natural that if something's in a high school setting, it has to be in Japan.

[HigurashiKira]

I find it odd how a lot of people instantly jump for japanese names when a lot of stories are clearly not taking place in Japan. Although this is for any kind of story to use names of any language (Which makes me ask, what's limiting us from using names from other languages, why Japanese only?).

To answer your question, the best time to use a japanese name would be if:
a)The story is in Japan
b)The character in question is of Japanese descent.

Though that second point is arguable depending on the country in which the person was born in (ex. Some Japanese families in the U.S will use common American names for their child's given name)

[Pyonkotchi]

depends of the setting and character naturally a japanese character will have a japanese naem

i prefer american names myself o3o

[EternalDream]

(Which makes me ask, what's limiting us from using names from other languages, why Japanese only?)

Maybe because we see so much characters with japanese names that any other names sounds awkward or doesn't hit the spot. =w=

I usually just go with whatever name "suits" the character. Then I decide on the setting. Because I'm very good at making the setting non existent and in the middle of nowhere.

[Auro-Cyanide]

If they are Japanese, sure, a japanese name is great. Anyone else is very unlikely to have a japanese name though.

I think people try to emulate their favourite works by copying them. Personally I disagree with this, but people can do whatever they want in their own games and I respect that.

[Sapphi]

Setting, like everyone else said, is key. Even Japanese stories with Western settings will usually use Western names, or at least names that aren't recognizably Japanese. Of course, there are Japanese stories that don't have culturally defined settings, like space stories, and many of the characters have Japanese names just because that's the default for Japanese-speakers.

I mean, how weird would it be if you wrote a story in English, about characters with purposely nondescript ethnicities, and then named them Chico, Sofia, Juan, and Conchita? Everyone reading it would go "Wait, none of these characters are Hispanic!" It just doesn't make sense. I mean, you can do it for stylistic purposes if you REALLY want to, but I would personally shy away from randomly using Japanese names for no reason.

[MaiMai]

That's why I started using more western names when I considered my settings and character types. I have Vietnamese characters so I gave them Vietnamese names.

But if I'm going to write about a second-gen Vietnamese person living in the United States, most likely the West Coast, they might also have a Western name with a Vietnamese last name.

So yeah, character names are closely tied with geography if you're going for some realism. Odd how we don't think about that sometimes.

[redcat]

@roankun--> Perhaps you should change the question to :
"If I can make a story with either Japanese or US settings, which one will you choose?"

[curry nochi rice]

depends on the nationality, really.. and essentially the story and the settings... but if you'd ask me for real.. my answer would be Russian

[roankun]

@roankun--> Perhaps you should change the question to :
"If I can make a story with either Japanese or US settings, which one will you choose?"

I'd do that, but I have no idea how. XD

Thanks for all the replies. I was initially going to use English names for my new game, but none seemed right. Then I tried using Japanese names and it was so easy to find one that fit. But now that I think about it, my setting isn't really in Japan, but rather, in England(? I'm not sure yet), so I'm hesitating as to whether I should keep the Japanese names that seemed right, or find English names that would fit. XD (I'm leaning towards English now)

[rinrin]

If your setting and characters are Japanese, it only makes sense to give them Japanese names. In that case, make sure the names sound natural! One of the best ways to do this is to take a newspaper or magazine (Nihon Keizai Shimbun if your characters are working adults, or something like CanCam or non-no if they are fashionable young women... you get the picture - something that reflects the world / social circle your characters would live in) or, even better, several copies of such publications and flip through the pages. See the names that appear inside - contributors, people mentioned in articles, readers sending opinions and asking questions etc. Some names will pop up more often than others - I'm not saying you have to give all your characters generic names that are super common in their particular demographic, but it does give the setting lots of realism if at least most NPCs have names that sound normal for someone of that age and social status (of course you could just look up the 100 most common names for a given year but statistics can be misleading - they tell you nothing about what kind of people are actually likely to be using a particular name).

The idea is not mine, of course - I read this advice (but it applied to native English writers writing about Americans in American setting I think) years ago and can't remember the author so I can't give credit ^^;

In any case, if you can't do this for whatever reason (can't read Japanese, don't have access to regular Japanese media (as opposed to anime) etc), you might want to rethink the whole idea of having a Japanese setting in the first place.

I know many people will disagree - one could argue that most people here are producing a Japanese-flavored fantasy for a non-Japanese audience, so the work itself is no more "Japanese" (even if it's set in Japan, the characters are Japnanese etc) than an apple-flavored lollipop is an "apple" and there's nothing wrong with people eating apple-flavored lollipops if they like. I even subscribe to this theory myself to some extent - I tried hard not to make Happy Memories too realistic and keep our (mostly Western, with some South East Asian countries thrown in) audience firmly in mind when it comes to story and character traits. But I think most people would agree that there are good ways to part from realism (story will benefit from it and readers / players will have more fun and better immersion, since reality is unrealistic) and bad ways. I would say choosing the wrong names is a bad way, kind of like getting the perspective of a chair wrong in an otherwise realistic drawing (just because there's an elf sitting on the chair doesn't mean the perspective should be wrong!)

Just my opinion.

[Mirage]

^ I second that opinion. The problem I have with Japanese setting is most people don't really know Japan and its culture all that well. Emulating it based on anime/manga is just not going to work. Just as how we can laugh at Japanese poor attempt of English (Engrish), a real Japanese is going to laugh at us if we produced works based off poor understanding of their culture.

I think it's best to work with what you are most familiar with, otherwise do some research.