Kanji for my name?

[arashi]

I know next to nothing about japanese calligraphy, and I was just wanting to make sure this is the proper kanji for my name Arashi?

Thanks in advance

Arashi

Attachments:

[solveig]

Noble Cousin!

Greetings from Solveig! I unintentionally modified my old posting instead of creating a new one. My original posting posited that "Arashi" sounded more like a nickname than proper name. Regardless, here is an expanded note.

嵐 is indeed the kanji for "arashi" meaning "storm". However, my impression is that 荒 is more likely to show up in names and is slightly easier to write. wwwjdic gives the following meaning for 荒　

(n) (1) leftovers (after filleting a fish); (2) rice chaff; (3) flaw (esp. of a person); (pref) (4) rough; roughly; (5) crude; raw; natural; wild

Both kanji show up in compounds, however 荒 is more likely to be read as "ara" and 嵐 to be read as "arashi".

[arashi]

With my persona, Arashi would indeed be closer to a nickname.

My persona is a dutch sailor/trader living in Japan at the end of the 16th century. I am looking for a kanji that would be appropriate for me to use for instances like signing my name to paperwork and such instead of using my western name.

A single character kanji would be preferable, so I can actually learn to draw it myself and actually remember it (linguistics and calligraphy are not my strong suit)

Thanks
Arashi

[Yamanouchi Eidou]

Dutch don't care about stupid heathen languages. Especially not on official documents! It doesn't matter anyway since Nagasaki belongs to the Jesuits.

Write your name in Portuguese! The power of Christ compels you!

Senhor Tempestade

[AJBryant]

If you're a Dutchman, you first need to come up with the original Dutch name. Come on, be reasonable.

Japanese didn't randomly assign words or names to foreigners. They either used their titles or their actual names -- butchered in the appropriate Japanese way. examples of people with nicknames would be William Adams, who was called "Pilot" (okay, it was a title), and Fr. Joaõ Rodriguez, who was called "the Translator" for his linguistic skills.

A classic example of how things happened can be seen in a place name in Tokyo -- specifically, Yaesu. Sounds perfectly Japanese. In fact, it's a corruption of Yayôsu, which itself was a corruption -- a Japanese name -- coined for Dutch sailor Jan Joosten, a shipmate of William Adams.

[arashi]

Well, my personas dutch name is Ignaas Vanderzee, but I've been using Arashi for about 5 years when people ask for my name, it is also what is on my SCA membership card and fighter authorization paperwork.

I chose Arashi based on a language search turning Arashi up as the japanese word for storm, then seeing a few references to modern people named Arashi in Japan. I personally have an affinity for storms, and figured I could tie that into my name somehow.

At this point, changing the name is out, its what people know me by and how I am documented in the society. Would it have been wholly unheard of for a foreigner nicknamed Storm to have asked the japanese word for his nickname, then asked people to refer to him by that?

Pfft...the Portugese...from what I have read, the power of Christ was a contributing factor to the dutch taking over trade from them in the 1600s.

Thanks
Arashi

[Please Delete]

Arashi-dono,

I'm going to address this from what I know of historical Japanese onomastics. This is not a criticism of you--if you wish to be known as "Arashi" and don't wish to/aren't going to change, we can look at that. However, from the historical side of things:

1) First, you would need to find an example of someone (preferrably a Dutch sailor or someone who sailed with the Dutch) taking the nickname "Storm".

2) Next, we need to look at what Japanese did with foreign names.

3) We need to look at what the practices are for nicknames in Japan.

As a note: there are many names used in modern Japan that would very odd to a pre-1600 Japanese ear, much as many names in modern English would seem out of place in Elizabethan England. Unfortunately, we cannot assume that because someone uses it now it would have been used then.

I can't pull any accounts out of my head of Japanese giving (or translating) nicknames of foreigners in Japan. I'm not saying that it hasn't happened, but I would be surprised if people are able to pull quick resources out to prove that it happened. Even today, most people I know that go to Japan and spend enough time to actually get to know the culture don't take a Japanese name in Japan; if they do, it is usually an actual Japanese name (e.g. many people may take their spouse's Japanese name so that they won't be obviously identified as a foreigner). In the latter case, having a Japanese translation of your English nickname would be right out because it identifies you as different.

That said, there is a swordsmith in the US who uses "Oomimi" as a name on his swords. He isn't trying to be Japanese, though.

All this is to say that I really would be surprised to find a foreigner in Japan going by the name "Arashi" in pre-1600 Japan. Sorry.


On the other hand, "Arashi" occurs in place names, and could probably be used as a locative in combination with other characters, so if you wanted it as part of a name you might be able to use something like "Arashiyama"; and it may be a name in and of itself, but it would strike me as odd (although, since things like "East" are names, it wouldn't be too far fetched). If you are dead set on registering the name with the College, then that's the approach I would probably take.

I hope that helps, some.

-Ii

[arashi]

Well, a quick search turned up a dutch man by the name of "Storm Vanderzee" Born on the ship that was carrying his family to America in the 1630s, which is relatively close in time period.

Documentation on nicknames is virtually impossible to locate, they tend to be personal and situational, and often not documented. I am not planning to register the name Arashi as it would be a nickname, I was mostly just looking for a proper kanji for writing out my chosen nickname.

The most likely places I will use this kanji would be as an identifying mark on some of my SCA armor bits, or as a mark indicating that I made something.

Arashi

[Please Delete]

In that case, you have the kanji I'd probably recommend for that purpose. It has the meaning that you want.

-Ii

[arashi]

Thank you, not only for your help with the kanji, but also for your knowledge of japanese names. It's given me something to think about if I do decide to register a japanese name with the SCA.

Arashi