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Write Your Name in Kanji (Paperback)

by Nobuo Sato (Author) "Before getting started, we should note a few points about the Japanese language..." (more)
Key Phrases: elegant nun, practices elegance, clever beauty, Charles Phonetic (more...)
3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Frequently Bought Together

Write Your Name in Kanji + Designing with Kanji: Japanese Character Motifs for Surface, Skin & Spirit + Essential Kanji: 2,000 Basic Japanese Characters Systematically Arranged For Learning And Reference
Price For All Three: $39.14

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A very useful book to have if you are studying Japan and want to know what people's names mean or how to write your name in Japanese, especially if you are an American. Softcover.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 196 pages
  • Publisher: Tuttle Publishing; Revised edition (March 15, 1996)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0804833346
  • ISBN-13: 978-0804833349
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #862,496 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Write Your Name in Kanji
74% buy the item featured on this page:
Write Your Name in Kanji 3.9 out of 5 stars (8)
$11.01
Designing with Kanji: Japanese Character Motifs for Surface, Skin & Spirit
26% buy
Designing with Kanji: Japanese Character Motifs for Surface, Skin & Spirit 4.9 out of 5 stars (9)
$11.66

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Don't try it at home, November 7, 2005
This is a fun book filled with funny kanji names. It is useless, and even dangerous, for a non-Japanese-speaking person to attempt to use this book as a tool for coming up with personal names in kanji.

Readers need to know that most of the "names" in the book are not suitable for use as personal names, even though on the surface many seem to have good meanings. Naming is serious business in Japan. The Japanese government publishes a list of characters acceptable for names. Japanese national law restricts all personal names to those that can be formed with the approved characters. When one tries to get creative with his or her kanji name without a good knowledge of the cultural and historical connotations of the characters beyond basic dictionary definitions, the result is more often offensive than creative.

Also, many names explained in the book are incomplete or misleading. For example, the phonetic and denotative transcription for Christina on page 44 says the name means "a solemn Christian beauty" or "a follower of Christ." A native speaker's interpretation is more likely to be "Christ is afraid of women or a woman name Na."

Overall, a fun book but not a serious naming reference for professionals. A word of warning for martial artists: Do your students a favor by hiring a professional to create a good Japanese name. Your and your students' credibility for mastering the art will suffer if an unauthentic kanji name is stamped on your certificate.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars A misguided process., November 9, 2007
This book takes a very misguided process towards rendering Japanese names. Western names cannot be rendered in Japanese kanji like names would be in native Chinese. The resulting combinations are quite odd and possibly nonsensical to a Japanese reader. The better way would be to find out the meaning of your name and then find the corresponding Japanese name.

The sample page for "Aaron" (my own name) was very odd and certainly not useful. Aaron has many possible meanings. One meaning is "shining light" which can be rendered "Kosho" or "Hikaru". Both of which are actual names. This book is an interesting look at how kanji are used but have absolutely no use for actual naming.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A unique, fun look at Japanese, June 14, 2001
By A Customer
I'm trying to teach myself Japanese, got this book as a present, and love it. It exposes the reader to written Japanese while doing so in a non-threatening way.

I keep it aside for days when I need to practice Japanese but I can't stand to look at another kanji textbook... I'll pick it up, flip through, and have fun laughing at some of the (purposefully) sillier name-translations while still seeing Japanese characters. My name, Christina, came out to 'serene Christian beauty' for the 'serious'-meaning name, but there are lots of other less elegant ones. ;)

Overall, it's a great supplement that can make Japanese seem more fun and personal while still exposing the reader to the actual written language.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars I Must Have Missed Something ...
I agree with Chuang-san and Mr. Boone. This book is a fun quick kanji study, but it's also a powder-keg. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Jenna West

5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful
Kanji is complicated, especially for Americans. As a martial arts instructor I'm supposed to know this stuff and have found this book an excellent resource. Read more
Published on November 4, 2004 by L. A. Kane

4.0 out of 5 stars Very useful
If you're studying Japanese, this is a great book to have. It helps with learning kanji. For example, if you're trying to memorize the kanji for "pearl", look at its... Read more
Published on January 31, 2004 by John Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars great!
a very useful book to have if you are studying japan and want to know what peoples names mean or how to write your name in japanese, especially if your an american manga artist... Read more
Published on August 8, 2001 by Jamie Davenport

5.0 out of 5 stars This is sooo cool!
This book really shows you how to write your name in kanji.This really helped me and my friend so we could write our names inanother language besides English! END
Published on April 6, 2000

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