Japanese Persona Development Assistance Needed

[kladivo]

Greetings,

I was directed to this site through someone whom I had been discussing a persona with and, though I am not exactly sure where to post this, I felt that this was the best place. This is my first post and, while I have read some other posts, I have not had a chance to read everything. So, forgive me if I ask anything that has already been posted.

I have a friend who wants to use a Japanese persona in the SCA, but I have had some road blocks while looking for documentation. I do not have access to a physical library with the specific information I believe I need and, therefore, am at a loss for what to look for to make this work.

Anyway, the name that my friend has been using for a while is "Akakawa Namigin" which she believes means "red river silver wave" and I would like to find a way to get as close to this name as possible for her. Her concept for the persona is from the Heian Era and is a survivor of a family feud that turned bloody which is how she describes the meaning behind the chosen name.

I have sent emails to a few people and have gotten some information, but so far it has not been anything that could be used as real documentation. It is my understanding that I can submit without documentation and request the assistance of the college, but I would prefer not to put anyone through this and hope that I can find some "documentable" information that would be acceptable in a submission.

If anyone out there can assist me with this task, I would be greatly appreciative.

Thank you,

Viktor

[Saionji Shonagon]

Have a look at www.sengokudaimyo.com/miscellany/names.html for starters. It'll give you a better idea on how Japanese names are put together and has a decent list of actual period surnames.

According to my copy of Name Construction in Medieval Japan, Akakawa is not a documentable surname. Akamatsu , Akashi, Akimatsu, Akiyama, Akizuki all are.

Namime is a documentable female name from the Nara period (just before the Heian). It does not, however, mean wave, it has to do with a view or vista.
Hakome (old wave), Hatame ( eldest wave) are two Nara period feminine names.

Ishikawa is a "river" surname which dates to the Heian period. Aikawa is from the Kamakura period. And I did find an Akagawa samurai from the 16th century by Googling.... (The whole bloody feud thing might be worth tying into the Genpei War of 1180-1185 between the Taira and Minamoto families at the very end of the Heian period.)

If she likes any of these, shoot me a note and I'll give you the page numbers - the heralds should accept those from this edition without page copies.

[AJBryant]

Adding:
There is a mutation of consonants in Japanese when kanji are pared. Kawa becomes -gawa, and as the good and noble Shônagon has said, "Akagawa" is a functional surname that means, yes, "red river."

"Namigin," however, would never work as a given name -- random nouns are not as a rule names. (At any rate, as "akagawa" would suggest, to make something "silver wave" it would be "gin (no) nami", not "nami (no) gin" -- "Namigin" is "wave silver".)

Is there something else we could work with?

[kladivo]

AJBryant, we are currently in discussions over the information provided by Saionji and may be able to work within that. I will see what we can come up with and post an update when I have more to go with and we will see what we can do.

Thank you to both of you for responding and helping with the information. With any luck, we will be able to come up with something that will work.