Official Japanese Style Sheet Koryu Books

by Diane Skoss
January 23, 1997

Introduction

Our primary goal in writing and publishing is communication, with a secondary aim of education. Although we are working in English, our subject matter is Japanese in origin; when possible we should avoid Japanese terminology. However, we all know that in this field there are Japanese terms that are virtually untranslatable, or that take an entire paragraph to explain. Convention dictates that we do use a number of Japanese terms in our practice and in our writing.

In addition, the goals of communication and education both mean that it is absolutely necessary for the reader to READ the page we have written or produced. Studies are showing that many factors work against ease of reading and even the likelihood of a reader reading any given page. Anything which disrupts the smooth flow of characters and the fastest mode of recognition (i.e. roman type) may be problematic, and studies indicate that italics (and lots of hyphenated words) are two features that most definitely get in the way. Hence, some of the recent editorial trends away from a lots of italics, etc.

These guidelines are intended to help clear the confusion with regards to some of these issues, and to help writer and editor to maintain a consistent approach.

Japanese Style Sheet

(Developed with the kind assistance of: Ellis Amdur, Hunter Armstrong, Ron Beaubien, Alex Bennett, Larry Bieri, Randy Channel, Richard Florence, Dave Hall, David Lynch, Dave Lowry, Wayne Muromoto, David Pitard, Guy Power, Stanley Pranin, Meik Skoss, Derek Steel, and Mark Wiley)

Authorities

For Japanese romanized spelling use Kenkyusha’s New Japanese-English Dictionary, 4th ed. (hereafter the Green Goddess), Kenkyusha’s New School Japanese-English Dictionary, and Nelson’s Japanese-English Character Dictionary. For time periods, quick kanji lookup and dozens of other useful things, use Kodansha’s Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia.

Romanization

Koryu Books uses the modified Hepburn system, following the spelling as it appears in the Green Goddess, without macrons and post “n” apostrophes. When an “n” precedes b, p, or m, spell as in the Green Goddess; thus, shinbun, not shimbun; senpai, not sempai, except when it appears in the name of an organization. However, all Japanese terms used in the text should be presented (and defined) in the glossary with diacritical marks, as they appear in the Green Goddess (except for word breaks, outlined below).

Kanji

In most texts, kanji will not be used in the main text, but will instead appear in the glossary. Authors should prepare Japanese word lists with the correct kanji to accompany each text.

Capitalization

As there is no capitalization in Japanese, capitalize as if using English.

The trend is away from a great deal of capitalization (take a look at some 17th century book title pages to see how different our eyes are now), but “Proper nouns are still conventionally capitalized” (Chicago, p. 236). The names of the modern martial ways are not proper nouns (but rather analogous to something like tennis in English) and should not be capitalized except when the first word in a sentence.

Names and initials of persons are capitalized. (p. 237)

Titles of persons (terms like sensei–if used as part of a name, or the founder, which appears so frequently in aikido writings): “Civil, military, religious, and professional titles and titles of nobility are capitalized when they immediately precede a personal name, as part of the name…. When such titles are used in apposition to a name they are not part of the name and so are lowercased.”

So while it is “President Clinton,” it is “the president of the United States”. Ditto the founder. You might say, “the Founder Kano” but you’d say “the founder of judo.”

Terms that are capitalized are not italicized, regardless of the FTO rule (outlined below). We can say, however, that the FTO rule applies to the first appearance of a term that can legally be italicized.

Place names are capitalized, but not italicized (see Chicago’s for full explanations). Note that it is “the West,” “the East,” “the Orient,” “the Occident,” “oriental culture,” (but an Oriental), etc.

Political divisions such as empire, state, county, prefecture, ward are capitalized when they are used as part of a proper name and lowercased when not; i.e., Gunma Prefecture, but the prefecture of Gunma.

Words derived from proper nouns should be written following the so-called “up” style, which capitalizes only those parts of the word actually derived from a proper noun. Thus, Yagyu Shinkage-ryu heiho (no italics), Kodokan judo, and Tomiki aikido.

Hyphenation

Koryu Books’ New Rule of the Green Goddess:

Step 1) Look up word in Kenkyusha’s New School Japanese-English dictionary (derived from the Green Goddess). Hyphenate as indicated.

Step 2) If not in Kenkyusha’s New School, refer to the Green Goddess. If hyphenated, drop hyphen, unless both parts are clearly separate words.

naginatajutsu

kangeiko

jojutsu

hinawaju (matchlock rifle)

nagewaza

iriminage

Exceptions: little one syllable suffixes that qualify or extend the meaning of a proper noun or noun derived from a proper noun (one that’s capitalized, in other words), but aren’t really part of the name should be appended with hyphens. This category includes -ryu and -ha, as well as the geographic/political designators -ku -ken -to, etc. (but not machi or mura, since they’ve got two syllables, and are words that stand on their own–they should be capitalized and attached without hyphen to the name). -san also falls in this category, while sensei (a word/title in its own right) does not (i.e. Kato-san, but Kato Sensei).

Thus:

Owari Kan-ryu

Muhi Muteki-ryu

Daito-ryu aiki jujutsu

Shinjuku-ku, but Misaki machi

Also hyphenate titles that were used as part of a personal name. Thus, Ise-no-kami, as opposed to Ise no Kami.

Particles

Particles such as go, o, no, ni, e should be separated from other words by spaces.

Italicization

Here’s a brief summary of what Chicago’s says about the use of italics.

p. 210-211 Use italics for words and phrases in a foreign language “if they are likely to be unfamiliar to readers…”, but don’t use italics for proper nouns regardless of the language they are from. If you are including a definition, put it in parentheses after the italicized word. For “Ethnological studies” in which there are lots of foreign words used (I’d argue that what we are doing for the most part falls into this category), use the FTO (first time only) rule. Include a glossary when you do this.

However, the manual goes on to note that familiar words should be set in roman type. I’ll quote here (from p. 211-212):

“The problem, of course, lies in deciding whether a word or phrase is familiar…Familiarity is relative; there will always be some readers for whom words familiar to the writer, and to many other readers, will remain strange. Should the less familiar words be italicized? Many words that have long resided in standard English dictionaries are unfamiliar to most of us, and that has not been regarded as a reason to italicize them. Perhaps it may be assumed that if a word or phrase can be found in a standard dictionary, the reader may have relatively easy access to its meaning, and the term therefore need not be italicized. More moderately, the decision might be based on a blend of considerations-familiarity, inclusion in a dictionary, and sympathy with the reader.”

Koryu Books uses the first time only rule (FTO). Any word that requires italicization should be immediately defined in parentheses following its first isolated use (i.e. not as part of a proper noun, or a word derived from a proper noun). A glossary should be appended to the document. Some editorial/authorial discretion may be used to decide which terms need defining on their first appearance, as this will vary widely from audience to audience. Also, editors may choose to leave a common term (say, dojo) undefined, though italicized, on its first appearance, but include a definition, just in case, in the glossary.

The following words do not need to be italicized or defined, though they typically should be included in the glossary.

aikido (in dict.)

judo (in dict.)

jujutsu (in dict.)

karate (or karatedo) (in dict.)

kendo (in dict.)

sumo (in dict.)

Isolated foreign proper nouns are not italicized, even when cited as foreign terms.

Japanese Names

Use Japanese name order, surname first, except when the individual actually wrote or published using Western order (Jigoro Kano, Hiroaki Sato), or is/was a long-term resident in the West (Yoji Kondo, Hiroshi Ikeda). When working with translated Japanese, leave the name as it appears in the Japanese. Thus, a translated text referring to Kano would use Japanese order, Kano Jigoro, while an original article would refer to him as Jigoro Kano. Note that it is not necessary that all appearances of a name be the same in a single book, article, or essay.

In the glossary (and bibliography when appropriate) indicate the surname of all individuals listed by setting the surname in small caps.

Time Periods and Dates

On the first appearance of each Japanese period or date, give its Western dates in parentheses as listed in Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia.

Copyright 1997 Diane Skoss. All rights reserved. This text is intended for personal use and may not be reproduced by any means without express written (or e-mailed) permission of the author.