Web Magazine Online

Previous | Web Magazine | Next

By Ikuko Kiriyama My Name and Japanese Culture When we Japanese explain the meaning of the name, we see the meanings of characters we use for the name because Japanese names have their meaning in the characters. In my case, I have four characters in my names. My family name is Kiriyama which means paulownia (Kiri) in the mountain (Yama). And my first name is divided into two parts, Iku (bring up, being brought up) and Ko (child). To tell the origins of my family name, I have to go back to before the Meiji Period when Japan was still a closed country. The ancestors on my father's side had owned many mountains which were rich in the tree, paulownia. As you know, Japanese people use lumber in many ways -- for example, plates, buildings, chopsticks, furniture and papers. Therefore, owning the land in which they can produce a variety of product made them wealthy and made them belong to upper-class. However, because of the political change, Japan had to open the nation to other countries. European or American culture came into the country, and the strong influence pushed intellectuals to participate in the movement to democratize Japan. As the result of the Meiji restoration, peers had to part with their private land and property. They lost their property but their names remained. This is the reason why I have this family name, Kiriyama. My first name, Ikuko, was given to me by my parents. I am their first child, and they strongly wished to bring me up well so that I will be blessed with love and health. This is what they told me when I asked them the meaning of my name in childhood. To tell the truth, I did not like this name. It sounds very out of date because it has the character, Ko. It is very traditional to name female children with the name which has this character at the end of the name. To me, my name seemed to be very old-fashioned. I hoped to change my name, Ikuko, when I was a child. I knew that it is possible to change the first name officially in Japan. So I asked my mother to allow me to change it. Then she told me the meaning of my name. When I heard about the meaning, I thought that it was very beautiful to have been named with a wish filled with the love of my parents and I really appreciated my name. Besides, when I look in the dictionary to understand the exact meaning of the word, I found the fact that the character Iku means "to bring up." That is, my name means that I can bring up something well which I really adore and take care of. It gave me a beautiful feeling and hope in my life. Now I really appreciate my name and thank for my parents for naming me with this name. (Ikuko Kiriyama is a junior and from Japan.)