Japan wants international media to put family names first

You’d think the world would know how to do this by now, but apparently not. This nation is furious because we just can’t say it right.

When it comes to getting a name right, it’s not a hard ask.

But as it turns out, more and more foreigners are getting the name of the Japanese Prime Minister wrong — and it’s a mistake that’s become so widespread, the country’s foreign minister has issued a request to the English-speaking world to get it right going forward.

Basically, instead of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, he should be called Abe Shinzo as is customary in the Japanese language.

The new policy would mark a major shift in the country’s long-running practice for handling Japanese names in foreign languages, meaning the family name would come first followed the first name.

Foreign Minister Taro Kono said now is the right time to make the change.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, or should we say Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. Picture: Martin Bureau/AFP.

“I plan to ask international media organisations to do this,” he said.

“Domestic media outlets that have English services should consider it, too.

“As many news organisations write Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (in the family name, first name order), it is desirable for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s name to be written in a similar manner.”

While the practice of putting the family name first in Japan has been customary in the 19th to early 20th centuries, for over a hundred years, Japanese names have been written in English with the family name last.

While the government is promoting the change, a poll revealed that 34.9 per cent of Japanese preferred surname-first in English, while 30.6 per cent preferred given-name first and another 29.6 per cent were fine either way.

Since the 19th and 20th century, Japanese have written family name first followed by the given name.

When it comes to pronunciation, and even simply getting the spelling right, Australians often have a battle on their hands.

In 2017, Google Trends data revealed various words each state needs the most help to spell correctly.

And while some are understandably tricky — the ACT can’t spell “impenetrable”, WA trips up on “arrogant” and the NT struggles with “abundance” — others are less obvious.

Queenslanders don’t know how to spell “aunty”.

University of Melbourne Professor of Language John Hajek said he was surprised by the variation in misspelled words.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono has called on foreign media to write the names of Japanese people with the family name first, as is customary in the Japanese language. Picture: Yuri Kadobnov/AFP.

“English is a tough language to spell,” Prof Hajek said.

“But Australians are actually pretty good at spelling and our quality has improved over time.

“We have never been more educated.

“These results show that we’re conscious that we might be making mistakes and are googling correct spellings.

“People are obviously concerned about their form so you have to give them credence for that.”

Western travellers struggle to say Japanese names correctly. Picture: iStock.