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:
Wow, I didn't know there were other reasons beside globalization for using katakana. The whole 8 stroke can be seemingly superstitious, but I agree that it does hold cultural and traditional meanings.
ReplyDeleteCool!
このアナライズは すごいですね。トヨタのれきしは わかりませんでした。
ReplyDeleteYou have a great analysis, and I definitely agree with the point that one of the reasons companies utilize katakana is for brand recognition. My analysis suggests similar arguments.