マツモトキヨシ ＝ “マツキヨ”
Matsumoto Kiyoshi Ltd., Co.
Largest Drug chain store in Japan
Founder: 松本清（まつもときよし）
· Name after its founder
Effects katakana has:
· Brings image of “modern”
o Drug store sells modern consumer goods.
· Transfer a name of an individual to a name of brand
o Famous brands are in Katakana since most of them are from foreign country
o People easily recognize it as a name of brand when the name is written in Katakana
o By getting rid of the original Kanji of the founder’s name, the name became closer to everyone, not only as a different person
· Cool
o Katakana is just somehow “cooler” to young people.
o Because Katakana is used to translate foreign language to Japanese
o Fashionable
· Easy for graphic design
o It is easier to make a good looking trademark with Katakana since it is not as complex as Kanji; it has more straight lines and edges compared to Hiragana which has more rounded corners.
· More focused on the sound
o Katakana is more about the sound, Hiragana and Kanji are more about the meaning
o Sound part is more important to a brand name
Why not Hiragana:
· Looks childish or old
o Hiragana is the first thing that children learn
o Has an image of lack of knowledge or seriousness
o Only some stores which have long history(over hundred years) and want to use it as their appeal point, would use Hiragana for their brand name
Why not Kanji
· Too formal
o Make an distance between the brand and customer
o Drug store sells handy items, so Kanji doesn’t fit
· Reminds people of the individual
o Reminds people of the founder himself. In this case, not necessary
Conclusion:
Katagana is better than Hiragana and Kanji in this case, since it is modern, looks good and more easily accepted by young people.
ドキドキ
Doki-doki
Onomatopoeia (a word for describing sound)
The sound of heart beating
Also, ドキドキする
As a verb, means heart is beating (because of being nervous or in love)
Why Katakana:
· Describe sound rather than meaning.
· Make people picture the image rather than understanding
I am really interested in your analysis that the sound is very important in katakana. We often use katakana to write onomatopoeia, for example “ゴクゴク”, “ガツガツ”. As katakana sound is more powerful and lively than hiragana and kanji, we might use them to express sound like onomatopoeia. However, the sentence written in katakana, which is “ワタシハ ニホンジンデス( I am Japanese.)” , sounds a little strange impression. It sounds like the utterance by aliens or foreign people who cannot speak Japanese well. I think that it might relate to katakana’ feature, which is used translated foreign language to Japanese.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting analysis. If you are interested in the cool factor take a look at some manga. In the books Nana for instance the title is written in romaji and there are two characters called nana in the book. One is a cool rock chick and she writes hers ナナ but the more cutesy old fashioned one writes her's なな。 And of course both words mean seven so there is much joking which one of the characters sometimes being referred to as はち or 8 which is a pun on a famous dog named hachi. Japanese is a really complex but fun language with all those layers of meaning.
ReplyDeleteロワン（コロンビアのにねんせい） えと、 がんばってください。 いいブログですよ。
Your analysis is very interesting. I personally had never thought about the detachment aspect of カタカナ. The fact that not using 漢字 but カタカナ to emphasize on the the sound is very important for companies looking to get their brand out their. It reminds me of how jingles have the same effect. If you don't have a catchy/simple name you can count having a successful ad campaign out.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your point that katakana brings the image of modernity. Plus, katakana is just somehow “cooler” to young people. Similarly, it is very natural to koreans using the English word in the sentence other than using their own word. A chic or dandy could be the example. looool
ReplyDeleteobba! very well constructed and impressive analysis!! I agree with you that katakana is cooler than hiragana or kanji and has the image of modernity. I've learned a lot from reading your analysis! :)
ReplyDelete