if you are so disturbed by ayu's chinese name, then keep quiet.

Since you are a chinese too, i assume that you have a chinese name. if i make a big fuss over how funny ur chinese name sounds like, will you like it?

and since ayu's name can't be changed, i suggest u suck a milk bottle and be quiet. why grumble over things that cannot be changed?

You have a problem with the name ayu's parents gave it to her?

and the rough translation of ayu's name in Canto is "Pan Kei Po".

Should you have any problems with that, i suggest u erase ayu off ur memory since her name gives u so much problems.

Woah...let's just all calm down a little ^^. It wasn't the point of this thread to start a big heated argument on her name. The point was to try and get a discussion going on what other people thought about this; more specifically I was interested in seeing what Chinese people thought since this seems to apply to them the most living in certain locations. Obviously you didn't take it very well. I don't know if you're upset because it seems like I'm making fun of the culture (which I happen to be a part of) or because I'm in a way making fun of Ayu. It wasn't my intention to do either. Of course I have a Chinese birth name myself...I'm not going to post it here for obvious reasons as it happens to be my real name LOL. I don't think I'd mind at all if people made fun of it to tell you the truth, even more so from someone who is part of the same culture, or understandably someone from a different culture as well XD. If it sounds funny it sounds funny haha. This is suppose to be a lighthearted discussion; my intent wasn't to elicit responses like yours...at least not such angry and emotional responses.

Yes, to me Binqibu sound very funny to me and others. How can I keep quiet about it and why should I have to though? I think it's a very valid topic for discussion as it relates directly to Ayu and her fans of many ethnicities on this board who may take interest. I know I was interested because I don't happen to live in places like Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, etc. where all this happens. If you think there's something wrong with this thread or my posts or anyone else's post you should report it and a moderator will get rid of them if he/she find problems with it. I wouldn't mind at all; if I'm doing and saying stuff I shouldn't then it's better this thread and some or all of its posts are removed. That or maybe it's you who should keep quiet and not take part if it offends you so much...like a look and walk away type-thing. I hate exchanging heated words with people on forums because I know exactly how it ends up turning out. The main point is this is a discussion, and should be a respectful and civilized one at that. I think I have done that, trying as best as possible not to say offensive things directly about the culture itself. If I have then I apologize.

And the name her mother gave her is not Binqibu or Pan Kei Po; you and I both as well as others know it's Ayumi Hamasaki xD. The real difference between me and her...my Chinese name reflects who I truly am. For her it's totally different because she belongs to a different culture; I believe it does not reflect who she truly is elsewhere as an artist and person. I don't think her foreign names are giving me any problems though; I mean it's not the end of the world for me. I apologize if I made it seem that way. It's not disturbing to me...rather I think "intrigues" would be a better word. Pan Kei Po sounds very funny too actually xD...it's such a far cry from "Ayumi Hamasaki" as well haha. You're right; understandably it is what it is, but why can't I and others still express how we feel about it? I will NEVER erase her from my memory...I have come too far now haha. Regardless of who she is verbally in other places she'll always be Ayumi Hamasaki to me :).

In Cantonese, it's something like bung kai bu.:innocent

^actually "濱崎步" in cantonese would be "bun kei bo" which I personally don't think is wierd at all. Also in japanese, the kanji for "hama" can be either "浜" or "濱", and the second kanji is actually in the chinese dictionary, but it is a traditional character and so the simplified it to "滨" and so it became "滨崎步", but her real name is Hamasaki Ayumi and you know it!!

Just out of curiosity, how do you write Utada Hikaru and Namie Amuro's names in Chinese? I know I've definitely seen Ayu's Chinese name a lot, but never Utada's or Namie's.

^Someone posted them in the 1st page I think.

And yeah, calm down people, I think jimex did nothing wrong and he has been extremely polite to begin with.

But, just out of curiosity (and from someone who is from a extremely diferent culture than China´s LOL), why do they adapt the pronounciation to the chinese pronounciation? I mean, don´t they understand "ayumi hamasaki" (when written in roman alphabet)? It´s not really hard to pronounce I think. (I mean, for me at least, Ayu´s name it´s way easier to pronounce than, say, Britney Spears)

Yup someone posted there before.

Namie Amuro = An Shi Nai Mei Hui, where An Shi is "Amuro" and Nai Mei Hui is "Namie".

Utada Hikaru = Yu Duo Tian Guang, where Yu Duo Tian is "Utada" and Guang is "Hikaru".

Haha yeah it might be a little confusing. I'm not an expert on this myself but the story goes that Japan borrowed many Chinese characters and adapted them into their own language (what we know as kanji today). The main difference is in how they are read and the syllabary/phoenetics in each language. Basically the way something is said and what it means in one language can mean a totally different thing and be said in a totally different way as well. The case with Ayu's name and many other Japanese pop stars' is just one example of this. I guess you could say it's like an identification to that particular culture. Whereas you can write any kanji in its native hiragana form, you can't do anything like this with Chinese, except romanize it with its pinyin; it'll look totally different from the Japanese romanization as well. There's no way for them to adapt "Ayumi Hamasaki" into their own language because of differences in the phonetics and also the fact that there are no characters to illustrate the way that would be said. The pronunciation of each kanji stems from the syllables of the hiragana system. With Chinese characters you basically have to know by heart "this is how it's said and this is what it means". The only way you can illustrate it visibly is either writing out the character itself or using romanization + pinyin. In Japanese you can write something using kanji, hiragana or romanization. This is very convenient because if you forget a certain kanji, you can always write it in its hiragana form and hopefully people can understand it in its proper context. I think if you forgot a certain Chinese character, the only thing you could do is write its pinyin and that would look very strange xD.

Naturally for me though...if I see the characters for "Binqibu" and I know specifically it's referring to a certain pop star, I'm going to make my own rules and read it as Ayumi Hamasaki LOL.

mmm I understand... but why don´t they just write it in roman alphabet? do they do the same with western artists?

Lol I think romanization in Asian languages would be seen as out of place. I mean we see it when we read lyrics in romaji etc. That's mostly for people who can't read kanji/hiragana/katakana though. For the most part children are not taught to write in roman alphabet haha. Otherwise it wouldn't really seem like an Asian language would it xD? Since they have their own written component that's unique to their own language, I'd imagine this is why they would use that over romanization, which is pretty much used just to show how something would be said for people who can't read anything (foreigners like us for example haha; you'll see this in dictionaries which makes a whole lotta sense to me lol). The Chinese won't take "Ayumi Hamasaki" sadly because the characters representing the parts that make up her name can be read in Chinese and read differently, which means it'll sound different as well...ultimately meaning the romanization of it will change. That's why you see "Binqibu" or something else instead of Ayumi Hamasaki XD. Since the written component of both languages is very similar in regards to the Chinese characters, they'll try adapting it into their own language. If say the name was in all roman alphabets to begin with (like it was her actual birth name and the true way to write it), I'd imagine they'd have to keep it as is.

As for western artist...I have no idea to tell you the truth lol. I mean in Japan they could technically use katakana (and probably have) to illustrate the names of western artists, whereas in China the only thing they'd be able to do is give a nickname people would be familiar with...or they'd have to use the roman alphabet simply because there's no way for them to adapt the name into their own language. All the syllables and consonants would be pretty off haha.

the romanization of the asian languages only happened because foreign people wanted to learn their language, to make this easier the romanization began. also the japanese and the chinese names of Utada Hikaru and Namie Amuro is as following:

Utada Hikaru:
Japanese = 宇多田ひかる
Chinese = 宇多田光

Namie Amuro:
Japanese = 安室奈美恵
Chinese = 安室奈美恵

and for western artists, the chinese would just say their english names, but I don't see why they didn't do this with the japanese artists?
but I will always regard Ayu as Ayumi Hamasaki instead of her chinese name!

i'm chinese too...and honestly i dunno whats the big deal??

language can't be explained sometimes..it's about the traditions and customs of the people and how the majority people express themselves....

i love ayu regardless of what her name is....:shrug

oh, I see now. Thanks a lot for your help to you all ;)

That's a very interesting one actually. I do remember her name "hikaru" shares the same kanji as "hikari". She also used that character for her hit song "hikari", which she said was a very special song for her and she used the kanji to symbolize that, so it all makes a lot of sense!

Ayumi Hamasaki's real name is exactly the same kanjis as the Chinese one.

濱崎歩

But 浜崎あゆみ is much easier to write, and looks better.

And now, more people dont have kanji in first name.. so thats even worse for the Chinese translations.. ahaha.

But Japanese newspapers use "Ayu" a lot instead of 浜崎あゆみ。
So I thought before it would be the same as in China, because of no hiragana or katakana or something like that.
But when I heard "Binqibu" for the first time, I didnt even know they were saying about her.

But in Japanese, her name could potential be read 濱崎歩~ hinkibu , hinsaibu, binkibu , binsaibuetc.
If you chose different readings that are not normally used.. maybe never. ahahaha

So its relative~

Lol yeah in that case it would depend on the context its used xD. I know that in Japan, family names are written in kanji. The person's name though...do more people have it in kanji or hiragana/katakana? I think the latter is more common...or are they both just as common?

Actually before kanji name was really important,
That they would go to temple, and have their name checked.
The family name kanji would be counted for strokes in the kanji,
And then decide on compatible kanji first names with that one..
I dont really know how to explain it, I dont know it well myself..
Its like superstitions and stuff.

But because of that, a lot of people turned to hiragana and katakana because of that burden.
Also, because one kanji name can have maybe 2 or 3 readings.
Like 仁 can be Jin, Hitoshi, Masa,
章 can be Akira, or Sho.
How you pronounce something depends on region, and popularity at the time of the name given, like the year.
So its a little easier for to just use a hiragana or katakana.
For a full name:

中田章

You would only know how to pronounce the family name for sure..
中田 = Nakata

But as before, 章 can be Akira and Sho..

In Chinese its different because I know one kanji has one pronounciation, thats it.. ahaha

Thats why I think Japanese is a very hard language for people to learn..
You can guess one thing, and get it entirely wrong.

But I should say first names with 2/3 kanjis are becoming really popular,
Because they appear cool when combined with 2 kanji last name.
安室奈美恵　~　Namie Amuro for example.
For boys, its even more popular. 亀梨和也 ~ Kamenashi Kazuya

Ahaha, Japanese is indeed hard! And it's not like they put the hiragana above the kanji like some song lyrics...

Haha furigana with people's names would be very weird XD. Btw maikaru, your explanation makes a lot of sense. But then there would be another problem right? For example certain words written in hiragana could have two or three corresponding kanji characters for it right XD? So first and foremost I guess it's really used only to show how a person's name would be read, and not what it means. As for Chinese characters having only one pronunciation, I think that's true but there are always those exceptions haha. I can't really say 100% certain. Maybe someone who's very knowledgeable in written Chinese can elaborate on this. I took some lessons years back and for the most part I remember the characters had only one pronunciation.

^ haha there are exceptions like
行 and 樂