User:Fernando Danger/sandbox

Proposal regarding the format of Japanese personal names

{{rfc|style}} According to WP:JTITLE, Japanese born prior to 1868 should be given family name first while those born later should be given family name last. In general, academic usage is to put family name first, while journalists tend to put family name last. As near as I can tell, the idea of using a specific year as a cutoff is unique to Wikipedia. I have created the following options to allow editors to express preference. For example, "BACD" indicates that "B" is the editor's first preference, "A" second, and so forth.

Options

A. Default to surname first, with exceptions as required by WP:COMMONNAME.

B. Default to given name first, with exceptions as required by COMMONNAME.

C. Follow general common name principles with no default.

D. Retain current language in guideline.

Here is what some authorities on style have to say:

• "In Japanese usage, the family name precedes the given name. Japanese names are sometimes westernized, however, by authors writing in English or persons of Japanese origin living in the West. [Examples:] Tajima Yumiko; Tajima; Yoshida Shigeru; Yoshida; but Noriaki Kurosawa; Kurosawa." Chicago Manual of Style, "Japanese names" (§8.16). N.B. "Tajima Yumiko" is a "Jane Doe" name, not a real person. This example suggests that when in doubt Japanese name order should be used.
• "Use them in the customary Western fashion, with the surname after the given name." New York Times Style Guide, "Japanese names."
• "Although the Japanese put the family name first in their own language (Koizumi Junichiro), they generally reverse the order in western contexts. So Junichiro Koizumi, Heizo Takenaka, Shintaro Ishihara and so on." The Economist, "Japanese names"

CMOS was produced by the University of Chicago Press. It is recommended in WP:MOS in two separate places. The Economist and the New York Times are both news organizations.

I have produced ngrams for three hopefully representative post-war figures: Kishi Nobusuke (ngram and Britannica), Nakasone Yasuhiro[1][2], and Nakagami Kenji[3][4]. When these people were in the news, the westernized form of their names dominated. Later, the non-westernized form became prevalent.

The original rationale for the current guideline, which was adopted in 2006, was that Japanese schools taught students to put their given names first in English. However, this is no longer the case. Mass ping time: Mass ping time: [[User:Curly Turkey|Curly Turkey]], [[User:Imaginatorium|Imaginatorium]], [[User:Cckerberos|Cckerberos]], [[User:Margin1522|Margin1522]], [[User:Msmarmalade|Msmarmalade]], [[User:Giraffedata|Giraffedata]], [[User:Nihonjoe|Nihonjoe]], [[User:Sturmgewehr88|Sturmgewehr88]], [[User:SMcCandlish|SMcCandlish]], [[User:Elinruby|Elinruby]], [[User:WhisperToMe|WhisperToMe]].

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