After reading the title, many of you are snickering. I know I was! Sometimes Japanese names just don’t translate well into English. Osaka’s Kinki University realized this (college officials politely calling their university’s name distracting) and decided to change it’s name to Kindai University. I don’t know, law school and fishery research might be kinky. The school won medals at the London Summer Olympics too….
Honestly, it might be best to keep the old name. Kindai is a contraction of the university’s official name, but it doesn’t stand out in the mind like Kinki U does.
Remember the Fukushima (it’s okay to laugh) Daichi reactor meltdown a few years ago? Okay, probably not. Well, the Japanese electric company continues to wrestle with radiation leaks from the plant and terrible public relations. The company decided to change its image with a new mascot. Enter Fukuppy! That is pronounced foo koo pee, by the way. Although, the problems the company wrestles with makes many think the American pronunciation is more appropriate. If you are wondering, the name combines the Japanese word for good fortune with the English word “happy.” It also shares the same kanji characters of the company’s founder, who also shares the same kanji with the prefecture slammed by a tsunami. The same tsunami that caused the company’s troubles.
Awww. So cute it almost makes you want to go to prison for the hugs!
Fukuppy isn’t unusual. It is common for Japanese companies to create saccharine sweet characters to try to improve their image. Heck, Asahikawa Prison has the loveable? Katakkuri-chan.
I forgot to mention, Kinki U has a hotel nearby. Yep. Hotel Kinki just might want to keep its name.
