The Red Cloud chief., 1881-03-17

THE Japanese tradesman. unlike the
! Chinaman. IL not accustomed 10 adopt
! high-sounding titles TO denote his place
Of business. and. until recently. trades
men we're designated by the names OF
Isheir respective stores. to which tbeir
own surnanes were added neir
business signs. or trademarks. as We
would style them, reproduce In many
cases the province from which the fam
ily originally came, TO which frequently
their former trade was added Thus.
presuming tina, Kane-ko (metal child).
10 be carrying on business l. Mito Va
(Mito's shop). his trade designation
would be Miio-Ya Kane-ko. OF late
this class is permitted to use q sur tame.
a privilege confined in former DAYS 20
the official class. These surnames evf-
IDENTIFY derive their origin from the
names Of the landed property Of those
who bearthem We find among them the
names of woods. forests. underwood,
quick-river. bill-town. cliff bridge. cliff
cape. front-field. small-stream. virtuous-
river, rivcr-mouth, or other words usu-
ally compounded of two Chinese char
acters, names OF one or three forming
the exceptions. 1t is permitted TO fam
lilies TO bestow their on per-
sons not related TO them, and in this
manner the nobility was accustomed TO
honor their retainers and the sdmur.
the servants and tradesmen who lived
under their protection. Besides the
surname. or family desgnxfion, the
japanese employ the common name
which corresponds with our bsptismal
title. and a preference is shown by
some families for names possessing GER
tain peculiaritieS az. Tor exaanple Yosh-
itaro. Yoshigiro, Yoshisaburo. kitchi-
Tor Yoshi-) moske. The eldest sons
bestowed name frequently ends
in Taro, the second sons in
Giro. and tie third in Saburo.
Grandsons who use the same name
a their fathers and grandfathers en-
body the character mayo (grandson),
and great -grandsons the character hito.
| The son on reaching manhood. has a
name chosen for him. which usually
oversees some lhOpedfor quality or
good fortune. This is the name used
by officials in Japan. Azana is n nom
de plume, employed BY students or lite
rary men. % is a fancy name, adopted
chiefly by those who retire from active
life or who prefer to be known among
their friends under some other than
their ordinary title. hai mo is the
posthumous name which is engraved
upon tine tombstone. This latter is
usually selected by the Buddhist priests,
and is determined by certain rules. va
rying according To the sect and rank of
the deceased. Women have no sur
names. They are known by a name
(yobi na) which is selected by the pa
rents about a week after the birth of
the infant. The names of fruit, trees,
flowers. colors. birds, certain animals,
or some other fancy name, selected ar
bitrarilv, usually furnish this designa-
ton. which, except when the person is
addressed by a parent or superior. is
generally used with the prefix o. The
names of singing and dancing girls are
frequently elaborated by the addition
of qualifying words, As. for instance.
kO yoshi (the little fortune.) while those
of the public women are still more
fancifully adorned, thus: Fuiindmi (tbe
wave OF the wisteria blossom). The
daughters OF the upper classes usually
| receive a name on their bctrothal.
which consists of one Chinese charac-
ter. 1t is chosen By their friends. but
is very rarely used. The kai milo is the
only other lame given to women. This
is posthumous, as in the case OF males.
Cor. Brst0n Herald