Japan has a polite request for the world: Stop saying our names wrong. In Japanese, people are referred to by their family name first, followed by a given name, the same pattern as used by Chinese and Korean.
In Japanese, people are referred to by their family name first, followed by a given name, the same pattern as used by Chinese and Korean. For almost a century and a half, however, Japanese names have been written in English the opposite way round, with the given name first. This practice was adopted during the Meiji Era as a part of broader attempts at internationalization and has now become standard, though exceptions exist and many historical names are still written with the family name first.
See Japan's new Emperor ascend the throne 02:39Tokyo will have its work cut out for it, however, and even if most media organizations adopt the Japanese order, there is no guarantee everyone will get it right -- as an internet search for"Mr Jinping" demonstrates. At present, the Associated Press style guide does not include an entry for Japanese names, but AP writes the Japanese Prime Minister's name as Shinzo Abe.
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