What are their first and family names?

[sugarbasil]

OK, I know that in Japanese the family name comes first, but as we know with a few artists (Ayu, for one example) sometimes they switch it for promotion.

So can anyone give me a list of artists and tell me what their family names and first names are? Sometimes it's obvious, but others I have no idea. :/

[Tom Punks]

Otsuka Ai - Otsuka is the family name
Utada Hikaru - Utada is the family name
Koda Kumi - Koda
Nakashima Mika - Nakashima
Shimatani Hitomi - Shimatani
Hirai Ken - Hirai
Amuro Namie - Amuro
Van Tomiko - Van
Yamashita Tomohisa - Yamashita
Kuraki Mai - Kuraki
Tsukamoto Takashi - Tsukamoto
Shibasaki Kou - Shibasaki

Is that what you meant? ^o)

[sugarbasil]

Hehe, yep yep. Thanks. ^_^

[Calico]

IF you can ready any Japanese sometimes you can tell from looking at their stage names. Like "Hitomi Shimatani". Her given name is written in hiragana so if you can read that then you can do the same for some others. =) Also after a while you just start to recognize certain sounds/kanji that are almost exclusively in surnames, or even given names. If a woman's name ends in "ko" it's probably her given name.

*can't think of anything else to say*

[Celaphorce]

I've always been confused about Namie Amuro's name, is Namie her first or her last?

[Melon Panda]

I believe Namie is her first name.

[ownsarai]

Yes Namie is her first name.

[ayu-fan]

usually family name's longer than first name

[Celaphorce]

Originally Posted by ownsarai

Yes Namie is her first name.

Thanks...if I ever have a daughter or 2 I want their names to be Idina(after Idina Menzel), and Namie of course...

[prussian blue]

Originally Posted by Tom Punks

Otsuka Ai - Otsuka is the family name
Utada Hikaru - Utada is the family name
Koda Kumi - Koda
Nakashima Mika - Nakashima
Shimatani Hitomi - Shimatani
Hirai Ken - Hirai
Amuro Namie - Amuro
Van Tomiko - Van
Yamashita Tomohisa - Yamashita
Kuraki Mai - Kuraki
Tsukamoto Takashi - Tsukamoto
Shibasaki Kou - Shibasaki

Is that what you meant? ^o)

how to pronounce it in japanese? BAN? and... is it common surname?

plus, hitomi's (who sang japanese girl) surname is furuya~ she once changed it to uesugi, which is her husband surname but after she got divorced she changed back to furuya again