When reading longer lists of Japanese names — for example, in closing credits or attendance registers — I always have two rather contradictory impressions. On the one hand, there are a handful of very common surnames that seem to be around just everywhere. But on the other hand, you are always sure to find a name or two you feel you've never seen — let alone pronounced — before.
Incongruous as this may seem, both impressions have a pinch of truth to them. But, to start with, how many Japanese surnames are there anyway? This is a rather tricky question, because the total number of names crucially depends on how we decide to count them.
A first problem in this respect are surnames that sound the same but use different kanji characters. Take names with kawa (river), for instance, which can be written either 川 or 河. Accordingly, there is 川原 and 河原 for Kawahara, 川村 and 河村 for Kawamura and so forth.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.