Monday, December 5, 2011
さくぶん３：にじゅうねんごのわたし
こんいちは、わたしはアニドルです。わたしはにほんのちばにいます。しんいちブルーイングではたらきます。わたしのしごとはとてもたのしいです。そして、にほんのせいかつがすくです。まいあさろくじにおきます。げつようびからきんようびまでしちじはんからごじまではたらきます。わたしのうちからかいしゃまでちかてつでにじゅっぷんかかります。どようびからにちようびまではたらきません。わたしはきれいなかぞくとあそびます。わたしのかぞくはとてもおおきいですから、せいかつはおもしろいです。じゅうにんです。つまとわたしたちのこどもです。ごにんのおんなのことよにんのおとこのこです。そして、わたしのきょうだいはアメリカからいちねんにいっかいきます。そして、みんなはおまつりにいきます。とてもたのしいです。わたしのせいかつはすてきです。
Katakana Literary Work Final Draft
So, for this project, I thought it would be fun to mash up one of the classic cartoon strips from my childhood with the expressionistic katakana of Japanese manga. I also threw in a couple of Japanese proverbs for fun. Enjoy!
Guide #1: カルビントホッブスでワッターサン- Calvin and Hobbes by Watterson
ジリリ - beep beep (alarm, watch)
ワク - happy excitement, anticipation
ヒュン - woosh (fast movement)
ソロリソロリ - sneaking movement
スパー - dashing movement
ドチャ - charging movement
ただいま - "I'm back", "I'm home"
オリャア - cry of attack, warcry
ギャア - agghhh!! (panicked, fearful cry)
おかえりなさい - "Welcome home"
アグー - grunt
どおも - "thanks"
guide#2:
プクー - blowing up a balloon (exhaling air)
ピイ - sudden awareness
ギラ - evil grin ("like the deadly shine of a blade")
シャ - whoosh (running water)
ヒュン - whoosh (fast movement)
ソロリソロリ - sneaking movement
ウトウト - light sleeping / dozing off
ばかわしななきゃなおらない - "Only death will cure a fool."
ビタ - hesitation, stopping an action because of realization
Guide #3:
ウニ - "yawn", waking up
べべ - putt putt putt (mechanical motor sound)
グー - "zzz" (sleeping)
ポリポリ - scratch scratch
スヤスヤ - sleeping peacefully, "zzzzzz"
グリ - rub rub (rubbing)
スカー - feeling of refreshment, good feeling
クチュ - stroke (petting)
ウキウキ - happy floating feeling, buoyant
プハー - sigh (happy sigh)
ンゴーンガー - sleepy muttering
ワーーー - "yeaaaahhhh", cheerful exclamation, contented happiness
げんきくばり、えがおくばり - "Be generous with your energy, be generous with your smiles."
Source
Watterson, Bill. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, 1st edition. Kansas City, Mo. : Andrews McMeel Pub., c2005.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Katakana Analysis Final Draft
As with many of my classmates, I was interested in why Japanese companies would use katakana to represent their brands. This is done by many brands across a wide variety of industries. It seemed odd to me that the companies of a country that is famous for its national pride and traditional business acumen would use a spelling widely known to be used for foreign words. As I looked closer, I found many reasons why katakana is used (and that my ignorance was a bit anglocentric.)
Katakana is used by many companies to brand their products. This can be done for a variety of reasons. The most obvious is to grab attention. Examples of this can be film titles, food products, and, of course, company names. Many seem to think katakana stands out and will be noticed by potential consumers better than hirigana or kanji. Another reason, at least for certain companies, would be katakana's ties to the technical and scientific industries. Many advances and introductions to the world of science and technology at first came from outside Japan. Since they were foreign words they were translated into katakana. Since then, the trend was set and many things related to those industries use katakana. One other reason, among many, for the use of Katakana may be the desire for a global market position. Many Japanese companies, while still using the three traditional Japanese scripts, use romaji translations of their company names to create a world-recognized branding. To look further into this, I decided to look at the history of Japan's largest company - Toyota.
The offshoot of a successful automated loom company, Toyota traveled a long road to become the global automotive giant we know today. The company was founded by Sakichi Toyoda in the early 1930's (using the kanji representation) and as it became a global player it held a contest to rename the company to be suitable for Japanese as well as American markets. A majority of votes were put forth for a simple change, トヨタ or Toyota. There are many reasons why this change is thought to be so popular, but the most prevalent is the reduction from 10 strokes to 8. The number eight in Japanese culture is thought, by some, to hold significant meaning and luck. But this did not mean they would stop using the highly honorific kanji. For their first production model, the Toyota AA, the company emblazoned the hood with an emblem that stated the company name with both highly-stylized kanji characters and the katakana spelling underneath (see picture below.) As neat as that all sounds, the road to Toyota was a little more complex and underscores the importance of a global view when developing a successful brand.
In 1957, Toyota began a real push into the American market with a car that had been very successful in Japan. The Crown 2-door sedan was wildly popular in Japan and earned the nickname "Toyopet" due to its small size and tiny motor. The name and car were so popular that Japan decided to launch the American debut under the actual brand name of Toyopet or トヨペット。But, at this time especially, Americans were obsessed with gigantic cars and gas-guzzling, powerful engines and the cute little Crown didn't stand a chance. Never a culture to accept defeat lightly, Japan's Toyota reworked their international strategy until they developed the larger, faster Crown model for the American market. In 1965, they would drop the トヨペット name (which in America was too connotative of "toys" and "pets" which reminded people of the tiny cars previously available) altogether and began using トヨタ。
So all of this history of a single brand name would speak to the various explanations given by so many sources on the topic of Katakana usage. In the case of Toyota we have such aspects as: marketing, science and technology, and foreign influence (or, maybe more apt, the desire for global positioning.) All of which have been successfully harnessed to create such an influential global corporation. Toyota showed great finesse, as well as a sort of humble resilience, in analyzing and handling reactions to its brand name and products. I have no doubt this directly influenced what we see now as a company that can not only produce top-notch vehicles sold around the world, but survive (incredibly well) the rare occasion when its products show signs of technical defects and the storm of negative media that follows, especially in the US. The recent events involving product failure and recalls appears to be only a minor note in the story of Toyota.
Katakana is used by many companies to brand their products. This can be done for a variety of reasons. The most obvious is to grab attention. Examples of this can be film titles, food products, and, of course, company names. Many seem to think katakana stands out and will be noticed by potential consumers better than hirigana or kanji. Another reason, at least for certain companies, would be katakana's ties to the technical and scientific industries. Many advances and introductions to the world of science and technology at first came from outside Japan. Since they were foreign words they were translated into katakana. Since then, the trend was set and many things related to those industries use katakana. One other reason, among many, for the use of Katakana may be the desire for a global market position. Many Japanese companies, while still using the three traditional Japanese scripts, use romaji translations of their company names to create a world-recognized branding. To look further into this, I decided to look at the history of Japan's largest company - Toyota.
The offshoot of a successful automated loom company, Toyota traveled a long road to become the global automotive giant we know today. The company was founded by Sakichi Toyoda in the early 1930's (using the kanji representation) and as it became a global player it held a contest to rename the company to be suitable for Japanese as well as American markets. A majority of votes were put forth for a simple change, トヨタ or Toyota. There are many reasons why this change is thought to be so popular, but the most prevalent is the reduction from 10 strokes to 8. The number eight in Japanese culture is thought, by some, to hold significant meaning and luck. But this did not mean they would stop using the highly honorific kanji. For their first production model, the Toyota AA, the company emblazoned the hood with an emblem that stated the company name with both highly-stylized kanji characters and the katakana spelling underneath (see picture below.) As neat as that all sounds, the road to Toyota was a little more complex and underscores the importance of a global view when developing a successful brand.
In 1957, Toyota began a real push into the American market with a car that had been very successful in Japan. The Crown 2-door sedan was wildly popular in Japan and earned the nickname "Toyopet" due to its small size and tiny motor. The name and car were so popular that Japan decided to launch the American debut under the actual brand name of Toyopet or トヨペット。But, at this time especially, Americans were obsessed with gigantic cars and gas-guzzling, powerful engines and the cute little Crown didn't stand a chance. Never a culture to accept defeat lightly, Japan's Toyota reworked their international strategy until they developed the larger, faster Crown model for the American market. In 1965, they would drop the トヨペット name (which in America was too connotative of "toys" and "pets" which reminded people of the tiny cars previously available) altogether and began using トヨタ。
So all of this history of a single brand name would speak to the various explanations given by so many sources on the topic of Katakana usage. In the case of Toyota we have such aspects as: marketing, science and technology, and foreign influence (or, maybe more apt, the desire for global positioning.) All of which have been successfully harnessed to create such an influential global corporation. Toyota showed great finesse, as well as a sort of humble resilience, in analyzing and handling reactions to its brand name and products. I have no doubt this directly influenced what we see now as a company that can not only produce top-notch vehicles sold around the world, but survive (incredibly well) the rare occasion when its products show signs of technical defects and the storm of negative media that follows, especially in the US. The recent events involving product failure and recalls appears to be only a minor note in the story of Toyota.
Sources:
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