Name stamp for foreign name
Posted by: kirin on 
Oct 22nd, 2009 | 
Filed under: something interesting
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On my way to Europe last month, I found something interesting at Narita airport before I left Japan. There were many kinds of foreign men’s and women’s names (I guess English names) available with Kanji stamps! I took 2 pictures with my mobile phone, which were Eric and Donna.
When you choose Kanji for your name, you can just pick up any Kanji that has a similar sound of the pronunciation of your name, which is as I explained before in my video. However, you have to know that it doen’t always mean that every sound has its Kanji. For example, there’s no exact sound applicable for the name such as “Sean” (ショーン) because there is no Kanji that sounds “－” or “ン” and instead, I would write it as 勝運（ショウウン=means victory and luck）for example, to make it sound similar to “Sean”. “Eric” in this photo is very similar to Amanda’s case. 栄 is usually called “ei (エイ)” but here in the name it’s called “e (エ)”. 里久 can be called “riku” and so, the whole name sounds like “eriku (エリク)” without a small “ッ” which is because we don’t have a proper Kanji that has a sound of “ッ”. Therefore, not all of the foreign names are as easily translated into Kanji as Donna, the other picture I added down to Eric. Yet, I found it very interesting they sell these stamps at Narita airport. Those who enjoyed travelling in Japan finally spend extra yen for such cute souvenires. It was 1000 yen or so, as far as I remember. |
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October 22nd, 2009 at 3:04 pm
<3 that! I'll be sure to pick one up when I land at Narita Airport ( whenever that happens ). It would be handy if I could get those at labels to sew on my towels , handkerchiefs , boots, etcetera.
And then I want one that says " Walter was here !" so I can leave it in public toilets , public buildings, telephone booths. B) Just kidding.
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Hi Kirin. This is a request not related to the post but I didn't know how else to make it on your blog site.
Could you please do a post about pets in Japan? Do you own any pets? What kind of pets are popular?
When I lived in Japan I visited pet stores and saw many pets that you cannot own in Australia (chinchilla, baby wallaby etc.). Do many people own pets in Japan? I owned some hamsters in Japan and my boyfriend owned turtles but we had a large apartment with plenty of space. Now in Brisbane I have two kittens (very cute!) and I have heard of cat cafes in tokyo. Have you visited one?
If you are too busy to write a post about this then I am sorry for intruding!
I am really enjoying reading your blog!
Cheers,
Cat
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Cute! Not something I would buy myself (although my name translates well into Japanese – even one of my students’ mother was called Risako ^^) but it’s definitely a nice idea for a souvenir to take home for someone.
October 24th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Hi Kirin
question to ask you again.
How do i say ” I have a pet cat” in japanese?
Just realized there isnt a has/have in japanese.
Thank you very much
October 25th, 2009 at 12:09 am
We say in the way just the same as "I have a cat." "猫を飼っている" because when we say "kau=飼う" (to keep or to have) that should be domestic animals, which means pet(s). Or you could say, "I have a pet and it's cat." "ペットがいて、猫を飼っています" Does that make sense to you?
October 25th, 2009 at 5:44 am
Kirin
thank you very much
for your help 
October 25th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
My hubby loves things that r chinese, so he wanted a translation of his name in chinese kanji. With the aid of a chinese/english dictionary, he wrote several possibilities n hv it checked out by my elder brother. When we met the stamp maker (with green jade) in SG, he managed to translate the sounds back to english, so I think my hubby had the right kanji
If only we came across these ready-made ones much earlier ! He uses his stamp for internal use, to much amusement of his colleagues. For official documents, he has to sign his given name :-} !
October 26th, 2009 at 8:13 am
He is lucky and he can enjoy Chinese thanks to you.
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