The "ashi" in his name isn't in the jinmeiyo. (There is only a more common variant there, which is used to write his name on the Web.) Furthermore, I don't know of anyone else with his last name. Is it an invented name? It seems to make sense, anyway, considering the mood of the comic.
By the way, reading YKK in the original Japanese is quite a challenge. For example, "ridge roads" in the prologue chapter is actually an obsolete compound meaning a road with its end buried in the uncharted roots of a mountain, and the moon-zither/gekkin (improperly transliterated as "getsukin" but I don't blame you) is so called because its shape and color resemble the full moon.
Here's the message on the inside cover of volume 1:
"Like a festival, the world is slowly winding down.
"After an era of eventide and a time of ponderous cooling, I will guide. Before the night, sit down on the hot concrete."
- 莫囂圓隣
Monday, August 1, 2005
Why am I not surprised?
But, what is the jinmeiyo that you mention?
- outsideking
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
Isn' t the jinmeiyo the list of kanji that the Japanese government accepts for use in names? I seem to recall that some kanji were not allowed in order to keep people from giving their kids names like "armpit" or "spiderman" .
- Soyokaze
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
That's right. For more information see here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinmeiyo_kanji
- 莫囂圓隣
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
Here's another little tip: "ari"+box-with-a-line is "arimasu". The "masu" is an old, wooden type of Japanese sake cup, for which there exists a very rare kigou; the box with a line through.
Basically it's a very obscure pun at the translator's expense, and the sign reads "we have gasoline".
- 莫囂圓隣
Thursday, August 4, 2005
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