Japanese Twin Foreign Exchange Students - Little help needed

I have an idea for a story about a pair of twin girls from Tokyo. They are foreign exchange students that have their senior year in Milwaukee, WI. They stay with their sponsor family and eventually sexual hijinks ensue on a cold, January night with the 18-year-old boy that lives there. I could use a little help though.

In Japanese, do last names go first? For example if the last name is Sato, would it go something like Sato Sakura...or Sakura Sato?

I checked online for japanese names for girls & narrowed my selections down to these:

Sakura - (Cherry Blossom)
Hatsumi - (Beginning of Beauty)
Mai - (Ocean) (Elegance)
Moriko - (Child of the Forest)
Hikari (Radiance)
Mika - (Divine)
Miyuki (Snow)
Mori (Forest)
Nami (Wave)
Kumiko (Girl with Braids)
Suki (Loved One)

I could use some help confirming that these are the correct translations for each name (I have found some conflicting info on the web). Also, if anyone out there has any personal details about the foreign exchange process, it would be very helpful. For example, does the sponsor family pick the girls up from the airport directly? Is the foreign exchange for the entire year? Etc...

Yes the last name goes first but it doesn't matter you'r story is going to take place in America so that doesn't matter at all. What the names mean is unimportant but I would stick with Sakura or Suki out of the list. Not that all those names are particularly hard to pronounce (I just think Mori is an ugly name for example and sounds masculine to boot.) but you want to stick to things your reader can easily wrap their tongue around.

Thanks.

I was leaning towards Sakura & Mika. I was thinking about having them look like Reon Kadena. I always thought she was smoking hot.

Mello_SixtyNine said:

Thanks.

I was leaning towards Sakura & Mika. I was thinking about having them look like Reon Kadena. I always thought she was smoking hot.

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I missed Mika, that's a fine name too. I was more thinking of dodging things like Hatsumi which really isn't that hard to say but still.

If you're going to describe the characters as looking like someone, pick someone famous or don't bother. Just describe them. And if you have any question who's famous ask someone at randome if they recognize the name or in this case can put a face to a name. The same goes for locations or anything else.

Yeah, definitely don't say a character looks like someone else. That's bush league. Go ahead and hold that image in your own mind, but put down a real description for the reader.

Also I like the name Saiko because it sounds like psycho.

I have a good title for you: "Tuning In Tokyo."

(In case anyone doesn't get it, that was the term - back when I was a yout - for feeling up a girl's boobs.)

walkerlong said:

Yeah, definitely don't say a character looks like someone else. That's bush league. Go ahead and hold that image in your own mind, but put down a real description for the reader.

Also I like the name Saiko because it sounds like psycho.

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It's not bush league, perhaps a tad lazy but it saves you a lot of energy later. You just have to pick someone that people actually recognize. It also unfortunately dates your work a bit but that's true of any references made that aren't timeless.

Sean Renaud said:

It's not bush league, perhaps a tad lazy but it saves you a lot of energy later. You just have to pick someone that people actually recognize. It also unfortunately dates your work a bit but that's true of any references made that aren't timeless.

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I disagree - I think it is "bush league" although I probably wouldn't use that term. Amateurish, maybe. NOBODY knows every famous person, and using that type of reference automatically puts off a large percentage of your readership who will feel "left out" of the story. I try to stick to universal types of descriptors, when I use them at all. Better yet to just hint at descriptions and let the reader fill in the rest with their own preferences.

You also tend to use fairly vague discriptors and let the reader imagine what they want. Which is fine. As for your other point about nobody knows every celebrity that's fair, but there are certain celebrities that everybody knows. At least close enough to everybody that you aren't putting off a large part of your audience by using them as a benchmark. The number of those people is fairly narrow I'll grant you but find me someone who doesn't know Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Britney Spears, Arnold Schwartzenegger, Beyoncee, Barrack Obama (really any of the last three Presidents) and I'll point to a non-American. Which doesn't make up a large enough group to be concerned about.

When it comes to somethings like say reboots that's what gets annoying, the insistance on acting like the audience doesn't know what's going on from jump. (I'm looking you Batman/Superman. We know the gig, we don't need to see your parents die, planet blow up, or how you first found out clowns are crazy!)

While I'm no where near above letting the reader fill in the gaps that's often because the appearance isn't supposed to be important, just the motivations and actions. Otherwise I consider that a failure of the author, you should be seeing what I'm seeing down to the tiniest detail. When the movie gets made you should be able to ID the characters instantly.

Personally I think Sakura is a bit overused in the English speaking world/Western world. It's like the name John in English. I like that you seem to put so much effort in looking up names for your characters, but to me, a story with a Japanese girl named Sakura sounds like a story about a white American man named John Smith.

LostKitteh said:

Personally I think Sakura is a bit overused in the English speaking world/Western world. It's like the name John in English. I like that you seem to put so much effort in looking up names for your characters, but to me, a story with a Japanese girl named Sakura sounds like a story about a white American man named John Smith.

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Which is exactly why you use it, it's relatable, and pronouncible. Though fictional males trend towards Jack for some reason even though it's not particularly common IRL.

Sean Renaud said:

Which is exactly why you use it, it's relatable, and pronouncible. Though fictional males trend towards Jack for some reason even though it's not particularly common IRL.

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All the names s/he listed are quite easy to pronounce. And I'm just saying since s/he spent so much efforts in looking up names, maybe it's more productive to pick something that isn't so common.

Btw, to OP again, it's a common practice in fiction to name twins with names that reference each other, or start with the same letter. In the original list I'd say Mai/Moriko is a good combination. (Mori can be a first name but I've seen it more as a family name)

For example, does the sponsor family pick the girls up from the airport directly? Is the foreign exchange for the entire year?

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It depends on the programs. I'd say look up a program on Google then base your story on it.

One thing though, a school year in Japan usually starts in April and ends in March. It's probably not important in your story, but I'll just leave it here in case you need it for the girls' back story.

I was thinking about a scenario when the twins meet the american boy that they will be staying with. He didn't expect the twins to be voluptuous & just as tall as him (5'8"). They make small talk to get to know each other & when he asks about their family, they mention that their older sister is Reon Kadena (or maybe Hitomi Aizawa), a famous Japanese model. The twins have a striking resemblance to their famous big-sis.

The american boy checks online & finds a ton of spank-able photos of her.

I haven't decided if the twins catch him whacking off to big sis, or some other kind of scenario that triggers a hot threesome.

PS. Here are some pics of Reon Kadena:

[Please refrain from posting images with web site URLs. Thank you.]



http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab263/jlky83/Funny%20Gifs/ReonKadena.gif

Hitomi Aizawa:

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee215/hugekent/Asian/1_Hitomi-Aizawa-1.jpg

http://i752.photobucket.com/albums/xx167/pastaed9793/woman/Asian/Hitomi_Aizawa_Hot_Picture.jpg

I was checking online for vids of Hitomi Aizawa & I found one where she's sucking a strap-on that a guy is wearing. It's the first video I found of her that wasn't the standard gravure modeling videos. I don't know how to embed videos so here's the link:

http://www.xvideos.com/video5794084/hitomi_aizawa_-_japanese_idol


Anyone know where I can find an uncensored version or the full version of this?

http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab263/jlky83/Funny%20Gifs/ReonKadena.gif

There's no need to fear! Underboob is here!!

[Please refrain from posting images with web site URLs. Thank you.]

I got the links from those photos from photobucket.com. Is there a different way to place photos in a post that do not have web site URLs?

I have known an absolutely gorgeus pair of Japanese twins, Karen and Sharon, for 40 years. they are so alike, yet completely different in many ways. I do not remember the meaning of their names but they are (phonetcally) Mi-hee rho and She-hee- rho. I love the way they roll off the tongue. But giving them American twin nicknames will make it easier for your readers and also give you an additional way to refer to them instead of theit Japanese names and she she she.

Thanks.

I gather that in some exchange programs, it's considered beneficial for the students to move on after a few months, so that they can experience a few different families and different areas.

If you look at the site Babynames World you'll find a lot of information about the different names.

I'm not a native Japanese speaker, but studied some Japanese and your list looks basically alright to me except...

1) I think Hikari is wrong, should be Hikaru (as in the pop star Hikaru Utada)

2) Mika doesn't mean Divine it means Good Smell. (It seems the Hebrew version of the name Mika means divine).

3) I think Miyuki is more like Beautiful Snow (Yuki on its own means snow and is also a girls name)

In Japan the traditional way is to have the surname first (i.s. Sato Sakura) however since the girls are coming to America they may reverse the name to follow the Western way. It can get confusing, so it's maybe best to occasionally refer to Miss Sato to make it clear.

I'd agree that Sakura is a little bit of a cliche name (but then so is the name John and you could still write a story with that name)

Mello_SixtyNine said:

I have an idea for a story about a pair of twin girls from Tokyo. They are foreign exchange students that have their senior year in Milwaukee, WI. They stay with their sponsor family and eventually sexual hijinks ensue on a cold, January night with the 18-year-old boy that lives there. I could use a little help though.

In Japanese, do last names go first? For example if the last name is Sato, would it go something like Sato Sakura...or Sakura Sato?

I checked online for japanese names for girls & narrowed my selections down to these:

Sakura - (Cherry Blossom)
Hatsumi - (Beginning of Beauty)
Mai - (Ocean) (Elegance)
Moriko - (Child of the Forest)
Hikari (Radiance)
Mika - (Divine)
Miyuki (Snow)
Mori (Forest)
Nami (Wave)
Kumiko (Girl with Braids)
Suki (Loved One)

I could use some help confirming that these are the correct translations for each name (I have found some conflicting info on the web). Also, if anyone out there has any personal details about the foreign exchange process, it would be very helpful. For example, does the sponsor family pick the girls up from the airport directly? Is the foreign exchange for the entire year? Etc...

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I'm not Japanese but I lived in Japan for many years and am a Japanese -> English translator. That said, Japanese names can be hard, as different characters can be used. However, going through your list:

Sakura - (Cherry Blossom) - Yes
Hatsumi - (Beginning of Beauty) - More like "first beauty", but yes
Mai - (Ocean) (Elegance) - No. "Mai" can mean "ocean" in some words but used as a name it is more frequent to see 麻衣, which is hard to translate; the first character means "hemp", the second refers to a kind of coating or vesture.
Moriko - (Child of the Forest) - Yes, I suppose, but I've never come across that as a name before
Hikari (Radiance) - Yes
Mika - (Divine) - As somebody says above, means "lovely smell" or similar, although could also be "lovely flower".
Miyuki (Snow) - No. 美由紀 is the most common form of this name and again, is hard to translate. It doesn't really have a meaning. The three characters are beautiful, serious, era. (Japanese names aren't like Native American ones like "Crazy Horse" or whatever. Sometimes the characters are just used because they look good and have an auspicious number of lines, or the right feel.)
Mori (Forest) - Yes, but not used as a name usually.
Nami (Wave) - Could be, but more likely to be 奈美, which is the first character from the ancient, holy capital of Nara, and the character for "beautiful"
Kumiko (Girl with Braids) - No. Again, one of those ones that doesn't really have a discernible meaning. First character comes from the word for "long absent", or "long ago", the second is "beautiful", the last one "girl" or "child".
Suki (Loved One) - No. Not a name. 'Suki' is the word for liking something. But it's not a name to my knowledge.

I'd just reiterate that Japanese names don't necessarily have a coherent meaning like a native American one. The characters have meanings but taken together they don't have to make sense as a unit.

I am relatively ignorant of Japanese culture, but I believe they conceive sex as symbolized by "rain" and "clouds."

I'm not sure if this continues to translate over to names like "Amaya" and "Amaterasu" (closest female names I could find) but if it did, the double entendre would be pretty nifty to my mind...

(Amaya means "night rain", while Amaterasu means "shining over heaven")

...or you could always go with the ever laughable and funny "Fuk Mi and Fuk Yu".

"No! Fuk Mi, like this!" Turns and bends over (to show her name on her backpack. yeah, sure )

In regards to the foreign exchange concept, I have one thing to point out, high school students are more likely to be picked up at the airport. You mentioned "18 year olds" then said "seniors" which led me to think you meant high school.

College students are a little more variable. Usually a college sends out a bus to pick up a group of foreign students and brings them back to be indoctrinated into American culture. There are sometimes a LOT of culture clash, or more than you would think.
However, a foreign college student might just arrive and travel to the college unattended.
Just thought I'd add that in to chew on.

For reference, I got those names from http://www.20000-names.com/female_japanese_names.htm