Chapter 4 No.4

BY the Japanese a certain kind of girl is called a Rose-Girl,-Bara-Musumé. Perhaps my reader will think of Tennyson's "queen-rose of the rosebud-garden of girls," and imagine some analogy between the Japanese and the English idea of femininity symbolized by the rose. But there is no analogy whatever. The Bara-Musumé is not so called because she is delicate and sweet, nor because she blushes, nor because she is rosy; indeed, a rosy face is not admired in Japan. No; she is compared to a rose chiefly for the reason that a rose has thorns.

The man who tries to pull a Japanese rose is likely to hurt his fingers. The man who tries to win a Bara-Musumé is apt to hurt himself much more seriously,-even unto death. It were better, alone and unarmed, to meet a tiger than to invite the caress of a Rose-Girl.

Now the appellation of Bara-Musumé-much more rational as a simile than many of our own floral comparisons-can seem strange only because it is not in accord with our poetical usages and emotional habits. It is one in a thousand possible examples of the fact that Japanese similes and metaphors are not of the sort that he who runs may read. And this fact is particularly well exemplified in the yobina, or personal names of Japanese women. Because a yobina happens to be identical with the name of some tree, or bird, or flower, it does not follow that the personal appellation conveys to Japanese imagination ideas resembling those which the corresponding English word would convey, under like circumstances, to English imagination. Of the yobina that seem to us especially beautiful in translation, only a small number are bestowed for ?sthetic reasons. Nor is it correct to suppose, as many persons still do, that Japanese girls are usually named after flowers, or graceful shrubs, or other beautiful objects. ?sthetic appellations are in use; but the majority of yobina are not ?sthetic. Some years ago a young Japanese scholar published an interesting essay upon this subject. He had collected the personal names of about four hundred students of the Higher Normal School for Females,-girls from every part of the Empire; and he found on his list only between fifty and sixty names possessing ?sthetic quality. But concerning even these he was careful to observe only that they "caused an ?sthetic sensation,"-not that they had been given for ?sthetic reasons. Among them were such names as Saki (Cape), Miné (Peak), Kishi (Beach), Hama (Shore), Kuni (Capital),-originally place-names;-Tsuru (Stork), Tazu (Ricefield Stork), and Chizu (Thousand Storks);-also such appellations as Yoshino (Fertile Field), Orino (Weavers' Field), Shirushi (Proof), and Masago (Sand). Few of these could seem ?sthetic to a Western mind; and probably no one of them was originally given for ?sthetic reasons. Names containing the character for "Stork" are names having reference to longevity, not to beauty; and a large number of names with the termination "no" (field or plain) are names referring to moral qualities. I doubt whether even fifteen per cent of yobina are really ?sthetic. A very much larger proportion are names expressing moral or mental qualities. Tenderness, kindness, deftness, cleverness, are frequently represented by yobina; but appellations implying physical charm, or suggesting ?sthetic ideas only, are comparatively uncommon. One reason for the fact may be that very ?sthetic names are given to geisha and to jōro, and consequently vulgarized. But the chief reason certainly is that the domestic virtues still occupy in Japanese moral estimate a place not less important than that accorded to religious faith in the life of our own Middle Ages. Not in theory only, but in every-day practice, moral beauty is placed far above physical beauty; and girls are usually selected as wives, not for their good looks, but for their domestic qualities. Among the middle classes a very ?sthetic name would not be considered in the best taste; among the poorer classes, it would scarcely be thought respectable. Ladies of rank, on the other hand, are privileged to bear very poetical names; yet the majority of the aristocratic yobina also are moral rather than ?sthetic.

* * *

But the first great difficulty in the way of a study of yobina is the difficulty of translating them. A knowledge of spoken Japanese can help you very little indeed. A knowledge of Chinese also is indispensable. The meaning of a name written in kana only,-in the Japanese characters,-cannot be, in most cases, even guessed at. The Chinese characters of the name can alone explain it. The Japanese essayist, already referred to, found himself obliged to throw out no less than thirty-six names out of a list of two hundred and thirteen, simply because these thirty-six, having been recorded only in kana, could not be interpreted. Kana give only the pronunciation; and the pronunciation of a woman's name explains nothing in a majority of cases. Transliterated into Romaji, a yobina may signify two, three, or even half-a-dozen different things. One of the names thrown out of the list was Banka. Banka might signify "Mint" (the plant), which would be a pretty name; but it might also mean "Evening-haze." Yuka, another rejected name, might be an abbreviation of Yukabutsu, "precious"; but it might just as well mean "a floor." Nochi, a third example, might signify "future"; yet it could also mean "a descendant," and various other things. My reader will be able to find many other homonyms in the lists of names given further on. Ai in Romaji, for instance, may signify either "love" or "indigo-blue";-Chō, "a butterfly," or "superior," or "long";-Ei, either "sagacious" or "blooming";-Kei, either "rapture" or "reverence";-Sato, either "native home" or "sugar";-Toshi, either "year" or "arrow-head";-Taka, "tall," "honorable," or "falcon." The chief, and, for the present, insuperable obstacle to the use of Roman letters in writing Japanese, is the prodigious number of homonyms in the language. You need only glance into any good Japanese-English dictionary to understand the gravity of this obstacle. Not to multiply examples, I shall merely observe that there are nineteen words spelled chō; twenty-one spelled ki; twenty-five spelled to or tō; and no less than forty-nine spelled ko or kō.

* * *

Yet, as I have already suggested, the real signification of a woman's name cannot be ascertained even from a literal translation made with the help of the Chinese characters. Such a name, for instance, as Kagami (Mirror) really signifies the Pure-Minded, and this not in the Occidental, but in the Confucian sense of the term. Umé (Plum-blossom) is a name referring to wifely devotion and virtue. Matsu (Pine) does not refer, as an appellation, to the beauty of the tree, but to the fact that its evergreen foliage is the emblem of vigorous age. The name Také (Bamboo) is given to a child only because the bamboo has been for centuries a symbol of good-fortune. The name Sen (Wood-fairy) sounds charmingly to Western fancy; yet it expresses nothing more than the parents' hope of long life for their daughter and her offspring,-wood-fairies being supposed to live for thousands of years.... Again, many names are of so strange a sort that it is impossible to discover their meaning without questioning either the bearer or the giver; and sometimes all inquiry proves vain, because the original meaning has been long forgotten.

Before attempting to go further into the subject, I shall here offer a translation of the Tōkyō essayist's list of names,-rearranged in alphabetical order, without honorific prefixes or suffixes. Although some classes of common names are not represented, the list will serve to show the character of many still popular yobina, and also to illustrate several of the facts to which I have already called attention.

* * *

SELECTED NAMES OF STUDENTS AND GRADUATES

OF THE HIGHER NORMAL SCHOOL FOR

FEMALES (1880-1895):-

Number of

students

so named.

Ai ("Indigo,"-the color) 1

Ai ("Love") 1

Akasuké ("The Bright Helper") 1

Asa ("Morning") 1

Asa ("Shallow")[33] 2

[33] Probably a place-name originally.

Au ("Meeting") 2

Bun ("Composition"-in the literary sense)[34] 1

[34]Might we not quaintly say, "A Fair Writing"?

Chika ("Near")[35] 5

[35] Probably in the sense of "near and dear"-but not certainly so.

Chitosé ("A Thousand Years") 1

Chiyo ("A Thousand Generations") 1

Chizu ("Thousand Storks") 1

Chō ("Butterfly") 1

Chō ("Superior") 2

Ei ("Clever") 1

Ei ("Blooming") 2

Etsu ("Delight") 1

Fudé ("Writing-brush") 1

Fuji ("Fuji,"-the mountain) 1

Fuji ("Wistaria-flower") 2

Fuki ("Fuki,"-name of a plant, Nardosmia Japonica) 1

Fuku ("Good-fortune") 2

Fumi ("Letter")[36] 5

[36] Fumi signifies here a letter written by a woman only-a letter written according to the rules of feminine epistolary style.

Fumino ("Letter-field") 1

Fusa ("Tassel") 3

Gin ("Silver") 2

Hama ("Shore") 3

Hana ("Blossom") 3

Haru? ("Spring-time Bay") 1

Hatsu ("The First-born") 2

Hidé ("Excellent") 4

Hidé ("Fruitful") 2

Hisano ("Long Plain") 2

Ichi ("Market") 4

Iku ("Nourishing") 3

Iné ("Springing Rice") 3

Ishi ("Stone") 1

Ito ("Thread") 4

Iwa ("Rock") 1

Jun ("The Obedient")[37] 1

[37] Jun suru means to be obedient unto death. The word jun has a much stronger signification than that which attaches to our word "obedience" in these modern times.

Kagami ("Mirror") 3

Kama ("Sickle") 1

Kamé ("Tortoise") 2

Kaméyo ("Generations-of-the-Tortoise")[38] 1

[38] The tortoise is supposed to live for a thousand years.

Kan ("The Forbearing")[39] 11

[39] Abbreviation of kannin, "forbearance," "self-control," etc. The name might equally well be translated "Patience."

Kana ("Character"-in the sense of written character)[40] 2

[40] Kana signifies the Japanese syllabary,-the characters with which the language is written. The reader may imagine, if he wishes, that the name signifies the Alpha and Omega of all feminine charm; but I confess that I have not been able to find any satisfactory explanation of it.

Kané ("Bronze") 3

Katsu ("Victorious") 2

Kazashi ("Hair-pin,"-or any ornament worn in the hair) 1

Kazu ("Number,"-i.e., "great number") 1

Kei ("The Respectful") 3

Ken ("Humility") 1

Kiku ("Chrysanthemum") 6

Kiku? ("Chrysanthemum-branch") 1

Kikuno ("Chrysanthemum-field") 1

Kimi ("Sovereign") 1

Kin ("Gold") 4

Kinu ("Cloth-of-Silk") 1

Kishi ("Beach") 2

Kiyo ("Happy Generations") 1

Kiyo ("Pure") 5

Ko ("Chime,"-the sound of a bell) 1

Kō ("Filial Piety") 11

Kō ("The Fine") 1

Koma ("Filly") 1

Komé ("Cleaned Rice") 1

Koto ("Koto,"-the Japanese harp) 4

Kuma ("Bear") 1

Kumi ("Braid") 1

Kuni ("Capital,"-chief city) 1

Kuni ("Province") 3

Kura ("Treasure-house") 1

Kurano ("Storehouse-field") 1

Kuri ("Chestnut") 1

Kuwa ("Mulberry-tree") 1

Masa ("Straightforward,"-upright) 3

Masago ("Sand") 1

Masu ("Increase") 3

Masu? ("Branch-of-Increase") 1

Matsu ("Pine") 2

Matsu? ("Pine-branch") 1

Michi ("The Way,"-doctrine) 4

Mi? ("Triple Branch") 1

Miki? ("Main-branch") 1

Miné ("Peak") 2

Mitsu ("Light") 5

Mitsu? ("Shining Branch") 1

Mori? ("Service-Bay")[41] 1

[41] The word "service" here refers especially to attendance at meal-time,-to the serving of rice, etc.

Naka ("The Midmost") 4

Nami ("Wave") 1

Nobu ("Fidelity") 6

Nobu ("The Prolonger")[42] 1

[42] Perhaps in the hopeful meaning of extending the family-line; but more probably in the signification that a daughter's care prolongs the life of her parents, or of her husband's parents.

Nobu? ("Lengthening-branch") 1

Nui ("Tapestry,"-or, Embroidery) 1

Orino ("Weaving-Field") 1

Raku ("Pleasure") 3

Ren ("The Arranger") 1

Riku ("Land,"-ground) 1

Roku ("Emolument") 1

Ryō ("Dragon") 1

Ryū ("Lofty") 3

Sada ("The Chaste") 8

Saki ("Cape,"-promontory) 1

Saku ("Composition")[43] 3

[43] Abbreviation of sakubun, a literary composition.

Sato ("Home,"-native place) 2

Sawa ("Marsh") 1

Sei ("Force") 1

Seki ("Barrier,"-city-gate, toll-gate, etc.). 3

Sen ("Fairy")[44] 3

[44] As a matter of fact, we have no English equivalent for the word "sen," or "sennin,"-signifying a being possessing magical powers of all kinds and living for thousands of years. Some authorities consider the belief in sennin of Indian origin, and probably derived from old traditions of the Rishi.

Setsu ("True,"-tender and true) 2

Shidzu ("The Calmer") 1

Shidzu ("Peace") 2

Shig? ("Two-fold") 2

Shika ("Deer") 2

Shika? ("Deer-Inlet") 1

Shimé ("The Clasp,"-fastening) 1

Shin ("Truth") 1

Shina ("Goods") 1

Shina ("Virtue") 1

Shino ("Slender Bamboo") 1

Shirushi ("The Proof,"-evidence) 1

Shun ("The Excellent") 1

Sué ("The Last") 2

Sugi ("Cedar,"-cryptomeria) 1

Suté ("Forsaken,"-foundling) 1

Suzu ("Little Bell") 8

Suzu ("Tin") 1

Suzu? ("Branch of Little Bells") 1

Ta? ("Exquisite") 1

Taka ("Honor") 2

Taka ("Lofty") 9

Také ("Bamboo") 1

Tama ("Jewel") 1

Tamaki ("Ring") 1

Tamé ("For-the-Sake-of-") 3

Tani ("Valley") 4

Tazu ("Ricefield-Stork") 1

Tetsu ("Iron") 4

Toku ("Virtue") 2

Tomé ("Stop,"-cease)[45] 1

[45] Such a name may signify that the parents resolved, after the birth of the girl, to have no more children.

Tomi ("Riches") 3

Tomijū ("Wealth-and-Longevity") 1

Tomo ("The Friend") 4

Tora ("Tiger") 1

Toshi ("Arrowhead") 1

Toyo ("Abundance") 3

Tsugi ("Next,"-i. e., second in order of birth) 2

Tsuna ("Bond,"-rope, or fetter) 1

Tsuné ("The Constant,"-or, as we should say, Constance) 10

Tsuru ("Stork") 4

Umé ("Plum-blossom") 1

Uméga? ("Plumtree-spray") 1

Uméno ("Plumtree-field") 2

Urano ("Shore-field") 1

Ushi ("Cow,"-or Ox)[46] 1

[46] This extraordinary name is probably to be explained as a reference to date of birth. According to the old Chinese astrology, years, months, days, and hours were all named after the Signs of the Zodiac, and were supposed to have some mystic relation to those signs. I surmise that Miss Ushi was born at the Hour of the Ox, on the Day of the Ox, in the Month of the Ox and the Year of the Ox-"Ushi no Toshi no Ushi no Tsuki no Ushi no Hi no Ushi no Koku."

Uta ("Poem,"-or Song) 1

Wakana ("Young Na,"-probably the rape-plant is referred to) 1

Ya? ("Eight-fold") 1

Yasu ("The Tranquil") 1

Yō ("The Positive,"-as opposed to Negative or Feminine in the old Chinese philosophy;-therefore, perhaps, Masculine) 1

Yoné ("Rice,"-in the old sense of wealth) 4

Yoshi ("The Good") 1

Yoshino ("Good Field") 1

Yū ("The Valiant") 1

Yuri ("Lily") 1

* * *

It will be observed that in the above list the names referring to Constancy, Forbearance, and Filial Piety have the highest numbers attached to them.