Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 570

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/570

Some of the Academy's early reports contain errors that we haven't yet corrected. Please use it with caution.

Gretings,

Here's the information we have on "Hachisuka Takamune," which you'd like to use as a Japanese name.

We were able to document the family name "Hachisuka" to 1568 and the nanori "Takamune" to 1392. (1) Thus, we're sure this would be an appropriate name for the late 16th century.

You should also have a "yobina" or call-name. A yobina was the name by which people in the buke or warrior class were commonly called. There are a fairly limited number of yobina, most of which were derived from titles or rank or position within a family. Among the most common are:

Tarou (1st son)
Jirou (2nd son)
Saborou (3rd son)

The yobina is the name by which people other than close friends and family would address you in daily life.

We hope that this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel

(1) Nostrand, B. "Name Construction in Medieval Japan."