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Originally Posted by Sister Princess
I remember somewhere saying the family names in Japan were given because the sections of land in Japan (Around 1400-1600 AD). However, I would like to know is there a website that has history about the major events happen to these lands?
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I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but:
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_name (somewhat in depth)
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The Origins and Meaning of Names (hard as hell to read so I'll quote it below)
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Japanese
Throughout most of the history of Japan, only the nobility had surnames. However, this changed in the late 1800s when the Emperor declared that everyone must have a last name. Whole villages then took the same name. For this reason, there are only about 10,000 surnames in use in Japan and most of these are locational. The following are examples of Japanese surnames: Arakawa (rough, river), Yamada (mountain, rice fields), Hata (farm) and Shishido (flesh, door).
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