Native Names

In my special ed class Dai-chan and I have been translating prefectures names and names of teachers and students into English. It is amazing how much of these translations sound like Native American names from old folklore.

Oi sensei- Big Pump
Tanaka sensei- Middle of Rice Field
Kawamura sensei- River Town
Fukushima sensei- Good Luck Island
Kobayashi-kun- Little Tree
Ota san- Big Rice Field

Hokkaido-ken- North Ocean Road
Kochi-ken- Tall Knowing
Hiroshima-ken- Wide Island
Kumamoto-ken- Bear Book (or base)


And these aren't rough translations of the meanings. For example 'Sarah' means 'princess' but actually it doesn't. I wouldn't say 'The Sarah is waiting in the tower to be saved'. But in Japanese these are literally the words. Kawa actually means river. Hiro(i) is the actual word for wide. I noticed this a while ago but I never really thought about it.