When I came to Japan, I was given a hanko (personal seal) that was printed 久鈴. I turns out that kurei (Clay) is one possible reading of this name. I usually just go with katakana when I write my name, but sometimes I wonder if I might have opportunities to switch to my Japanese name on occasion. One hurdle is most Japanese people don't know how to read this combo. Another is I can't decide if "long-ringing bell/bell of the old story"* is cool or not. So I think 久嶺 (ridges of the old story/long-lasting peaks) might be better.
What's your Japanese name? I remember long ago I did a plug-in memeish thing to get a name and shared it here on the blog. After I got to Japan I learned it was a girl's name.
*:A couple approximations of meaning one could conceivable make up; ultimately there is no meaning.
I almost died of laughter when my friend told me that she was rushed to the 100yen store by her manager to buy a hanko so she could open a bank account. She had been in Japan for one day. She randomly picked one that she liked the look of, and to this day, that is her hanko! It has nothing to do with her real name. She's lost it a few times, and had to go back to the 100yen store to look for the same name again.
ReplyDeleteMy German maiden name is = ハイルマン in Katakana. So, when I arrived to live in Beppu, Oita at the base of the Aso mountain range in the Spring and needed to pick a Japanese name I chose: 春山（はるやま） - Spring Mountain. Sounded pretty close & made sense to me.
ReplyDeleteMy hanko is just my last name in katakana... フルドゥイ. They managed to fit that into the tiny circle and it's readable. I had nothing to do with the picking of it, so that's why I couldn't choose some pretty kanji for it...
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