AnimeSuki Forum - Thinking of Nice Japanese Nation Names is Tough....

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Thinking of Nice Japanese Nation Names is Tough....

I'm currently writing several short stories (for publication), and it seems trying to get good Japanese nation names are always tough....

The overall theme of the short stories is the world 30 years after a massive meter shower hit the Northern Hemisphere in 1943, changing the face of the globe. Most of the leaders of the Allies and Axis dies, while millions of lives are lost, industries are destroyed, and famine rages on for two decades.

I've nearly finished the European stories, but am having trouble with the former Japanese side. Most of Korea, Manchuria, and the Japanese Islands were devestated, forcing Japan to transfer most of its leadership to Taipei. As for the people left on the Home Islands, they regrouped to find independent states.

Situation in Japan:

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...of_Japan_2.png

Currently, it's mainly split up in regional (地方) lines (Except Okinawa, which the original Dai Nippon Teikoku still has). However, the former regional names are not used in the nation names.

So, Japanese speakers, please help me on my quest (?) to think of good nation names for the various Japanese states in East Asia. I'll put up a map of the situation soon.

Thanks, and have a nice day.

Just make up crap like I do ^_^. First of all, think if you want it to have a subtle meaning like something you'll refer to later on as a good story scheme. If so you'll have to learn you Kanjis ^^. If not you can just use simple words that have singular meanings and combine them to make a word. Or you can do like the Americans and chop up words, add them to another or not and create a whole new meanings to them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aoie_Emesai (Post 1271283)

I know Kanji and and all that (I'm not your regular "Oh, I don't know Japanese, HELP!!!!" type), but the problem is trying to make names that makes sense.

I'm a person who hates nonsense, at least in my own stories.

I love "alternate history" stories so good luck on it .... sadly no country names pop up, but something ironic or double meaning would be good (especially with wordplay in kanji).

Let's see...from the AD&D Forgotten Realms Oriental Adventures Campaign Set, there were two countries based on Japan. One was called Wa (not terribly inventive; it was based roughly on Tokugawa Japan), the other was called Kozakura (roughly based on early Sengoku Jidai Japan).

I don't recall that the fiefs in Sengoku Japan had individual names. There were traditional names for each province, or the clan names that ruled a given area. So perhaps nations named after the ruling family/zaibatsu? That idea was used in the Amtrak Wars series written by Patrick Tilley (although he applied the idea to a post-apocalyptic USA, not Japan).

Quote:

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf (Post 1271322)

Wa would probably be 和 or 倭. Kozakura COULD be 小桜, a family name.

Kozakura does seem nice, given the "Sakura" at the end

I guess maybe I should start going for the "name versions" of kanji, where you pronounce a character differently from its regular sound..

Here are the old names used before Meji restoration.
蝦夷 Ezo (Hokaiddo)
陸奥 Mutsu (Tohoku)
坂東 Bando (Kanto)
甲濃 Kaino (Tokai)
大和 Yamato (Kinki)
山陰陽 Saninyo (Chugoku)
伊予 Iyo (Shikoku)
鎮西 Chinsei (Kyushu)

Tokai and Chugoku region names where made up deriving two major old names into one.
By the way in case you didn't know Taiwan was part of Japan during the certain era in your story.

You owe me two.:cool:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tri-ring (Post 1271351)

True, lol. Thanks for the old names.

Although I do know the thing about Taiwan, hence the reason Nippon moved to Taipei.