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Shinzo Abe
AsiaEast Asia

Japan to the English-speaking world: call him Abe Shinzo, not Shinzo Abe

  • Diplomat says prime minister’s family name should come first, as with Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Moon Jae-in
  • Request issued ahead of series of important international events in Japan, including G20 summit and visit from US President Donald Trump

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Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks at his New Year's press conference in Ise, central Japan, in January. Photo: Kyodo via AP
The Washington Post
Ahead of a series of important international events in Japan, including a visit from US President Donald Trump this weekend, Japan’s foreign minister has issued a request to the English-speaking world: call our prime minister Abe Shinzo, not Shinzo Abe.
“The new Reiwa era was ushered in and we are hosting the Group of 20 summit. As many news organisations write ‘Chinese President Xi Jinping’ and ‘South Korean President Moon Jae-in’, it is desirable for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s name to be written in a similar manner,” said foreign minister Taro Kono at a news conference on Tuesday, according to the Mainichi newspaper.

Or perhaps we should say, Kono Taro said that? Kono is the foreign minister’s family name, just as Abe is the Japanese prime minister’s family name. The Japanese diplomat says that the family name should be first when referred to in English, as it is when it is written or spoken in Japanese.

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Chinese and Korean names have their family names first in English – for example, in the cases of Xi and Moon, as Kono noted.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono (centre) during talks in Moscow on May 10. Photo: AP
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono (centre) during talks in Moscow on May 10. Photo: AP
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The convention for English-language transliterations of Japanese names, however, has long put the family name second.

The custom is believed to date back to the 19th century, during a period when the Meiji dynasty reformed Japan’s complicated naming culture – and encouraged both foreigners and Japanese people themselves to write their family name second when writing in English, part of a broader attempt to conform to international standards.

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