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, literally meaning "house name", is a term applied in traditional Japanese culture to
names A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...
passed down within a guild, studio, or other circumstance other than blood relations. The term is synonymous with and . The term most often refers to the guild names of
kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...
actors, but is also applicable to the names artists take from their masters or studios, names taken from one's business, and a few other similar circumstances. The of , also often seen at the end of a name, means "house", "roof", or "shop", and helps to illuminate the origins and meanings of the term. A number of have associated emblems, some of which incorporate
rebus A rebus ( ) is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases. For example: the word "been" might be depicted by a rebus showing an illustrated bumblebee next to a plus sign (+ ...
es; see
Japanese rebus monogram A Japanese rebus monogram is a monogram in a particular style, which spells a name via a rebus, as a form of Japanese wordplay or visual pun. Today they are most often seen in corporate logos or product logos. These symbols are particularly co ...
.


History

Originally, were place names of homes or buildings taken on by the inhabitants. Even when the house changed hands entirely from one family to another, the new family would take on the name of the house. However, the previous owners would frequently keep the house name when they moved. Often, a family (or individual) would come to be better known by their than by their actual family name. Though it is not clear when the custom first emerged, it first appears in print in the chronicles of the
Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...
. For many centuries, commoners in Japan did not have
family name In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...
s, and so would often come about to describe people by their location, occupation, or by a store or business they owned. There are similarities in the origins and evolution of family names in other cultures around the world. also came to be used to help differentiate the status of lineages with the same last name, or simply to differentiate between people with the same family name within a village. Houses might come to be known simply by their location, such as in a or at the , and families took on these place-names. could also be used to denote the
main Main may refer to: Geography *Main River (disambiguation), multiple rivers with the same name *Ma'in, an ancient kingdom in modern-day Yemen * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *Spanish Main, the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territ ...
() and
branch A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...
() lines of a family. came to be especially well-known and widely used in kabuki theater, where actors take on a name relating to their guild. The famous actor
Ichikawa Danjūrō V also known as , was one of the most famous and popular Japanese Kabuki actors of all time. Throughout his career, Danjūrō would hold some of the highest ranks in the '' hyōbanki'', an annual Edo publications which evaluated actors and perfor ...
, though he was from the Ichikawa family, was also known by the of Naritaya (Narita house), which indicates his guild within the kabuki world. This therefore connects him to others of the Naritaya, and reflects his apprenticeship and study alongside certain other actors who might be from other families. Actors' were often chosen to recall earlier great actors, and it remains a common practice (called ) for audience members to shout out an actor's when he performed a line or pose particularly well-executed, especially a pose or line associated with the actor's namesake. Artists, writers and poets in Japan, like in other parts of the world, would often take on
pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
s or pseudonyms. These were sometimes derived from the names of their mentors (particularly in painting studios), in which case they could be considered . More often, these art-names or pen names are called , or simply , in Japanese. During the
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
, merchant houses took , which functioned as surnames. Patterns include the name of a
province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
combined with , resulting in examples such as Kagaya and Echigoya, and an indicator of occupation, such as Minatoya (, meaning "harbor", indicating someone in shipping or trade). Some of these survive as surnames today.


References


Bibliography

*"yagō". (1985). ''Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan''. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd. {{DEFAULTSORT:Yago Japanese family structure Naming conventions Japanese words and phrases Kabuki