DramaWiki - User contributions [en]

DramaWiki:Romanization of Japanese

2006-05-16T22:54:39Z

Guenny:

The heart of DramaWiki is its search engine. For the search engine to function at its best for the majority of its illiterate Japanese readers, all text must be searchable using common roman characters that can be found on any given keyboard.

== DramaWiki policy ==
=== Creed ===
DramaWiki has a stance on the romanization of Japanese text, which differs from other wiki's, such as Wikipedia. Wikipedia, for example, focuses on precise accuracy of its information, which is really important when producing an encyclopedia-like service. DramaWiki, however, places its focus on the ease of searching for information. The guidelines DramaWiki use when romanizing Japanese text are:
* that the words and phrases, including proper nouns, be entered using a spelling arrangement that is most common among Japanese drama fans.
* that the latin-based characters used can be entered using any computer keyboard, including non-PC keyboards and operating systems.
* that the words and phrases can be queried using a variety of Internet-based search engines using their default interfaces and settings.

=== General guidelines ===
It is therefore a policy that all romanized Japanese text entered into DramaWiki use the following criteria. They are provided below in order of importance. When using the criteria, start with the first criterion and then work your way down until you reach a resolution:

# The most popular romanized spelling should be used - regardless of the romanization used. A top-rated search engine like [http://www.google.com Google] or [http://www.yahoo.com Yahoo] should be used to determine the most popular romanized spelling. More specific, the arrangement that generates the most number of results should be used on DramaWiki unless a majority cannot be determined. A variation with 55.1-percent or more should serve as the majority. When searching, always place the entire name or phrase in quotations. For example, search engine testing for Sakai Noriko should be entered as "Sakai Noriko" (including quotes). Use of macrons can be used in the search process to improve on your searches, but they should not be used when adding the romaji text to DramaWiki.
# If the artist or TV show's official web site provides the hiragana and/or the romaji of the name, it should also be used on DramaWiki. If the romaji is available on the web site, use it regardless of the romanization system used to create it. This is the case where a consensus on the Internet has not been developed, usually occuring when a new artist or TV show is introduced or the search results are too close to call. "Too close to call" under DramaWiki is when two variations are divided 50-50, or within 5-percent or less of one another.
# If an official web site does not provide the hiragana or romaji, use the hiragana as provided on [http://ja.wikipedia.org/ Japanese Wikipedia], and then develop the romaji based on the hiragana using the [[Wikipedia:Hepburn romanization|Hepburn romanization system]].
# If the artist or TV show name is not on Japanese Wikipedia, then the Hepburn romanization system should be applied on the kana.
# In all instances, the [[Wikipedia:macron|macrons]] must be removed, thus creating a modified Hepburn system excluding the use of macrons. See the historical section below for more information.
# All TV show and artist names must be properly capitalized. See the capitalization section below for more information.
# All katakana must be translated. See the katakana section below for more information.
# The article name must refect the TV show or artist name, with extra content (macrons, taglines, etc.) removed. See the article names section below for more information.

Reasons for tasks like the removal of macrons can be find in the historical section below.

== Capitalization of romanized artist and TV show names ==
It is a general rule on DramaWiki that we apply the principles of capitalization on romanized artist and TV show names, using the same princples English writers use. Capitalization is the process of capitalizing the first letter in a word. Briefly, [[Wikipedia:Grammatical particle|Particles]] are very similar in use as adpositions and similar components (prepositions, postpositions, circumpositions, conjunctions, etc.) in the English language. Examples in the Japanese language include の or no, と or to, among others.

It is therefore a DramaWiki policy that the rules of capitalization apply, in that all words, except for internal articles, prepositions and conjunctions, must be capitalized.

== Romanizing katakana ==
The purpose of katakana is to allow for the Japanese to write ''gairaigo'' (loanwords) as close to the word's native pronounciation and spelling as possible, but also stay within the [[Wikipedia:Japanese phonology|Japanese phonology]].

When romanizing katakana, most non-Japanese speaking people will apply the same rules of romanization they use on hiragana and kanji (assuming the pronounciation of kanji characters can be represented by both hiragana or katakana). This practice is impraticle for two reasons:
# It does not help those who can read katakana and are able to generate the gairaigo from it.
# It does not help the illiterate Japanese reader since although the conversion of katakana to romaji was technically correct, the resulting romanized loanword has no meaning to the reader.

It is therefore a DramaWiki policy that all gairaigo written in katakana must be ''translated'' to its original native form. For example, プロポーズ, although it translates using romaji to ''puropozu'', DramaWiki requires for the katakana word be translated to its English form, ''proposal''. Same rule applies to all other arabic language systems.

The exception to this rule is when katakana is used to write a word that originates from a non-arabic character system, such as simplified and traditional Chinese, hangul, etc. Gairaigo written in katakana to represent words in these writing languages should then be romanized using the Hepburn system, with the macrons removed.

== Romanization of article names ==
Another reason for removing macrons from romanized names is to stay compatible with Internet web standards. Although an Internet-based URL (universal relay link) can handle macrons (URLs adapt to macrons by converting the macron to its UTF-8 numerical equivalent), they should not be used in an article name under DramaWiki. Use of macrons in a URL name further complicates the searching capability of the popular search engines. And, the URL becomes unreadable by a person when too many UTF-8 codes are used.

The article name should be based on a TV show or artist's romanized name. Seeing the TV show and artist names fall under the same modified Hepburn restrictions, the article names should not pose any problem with staying within DramaWiki policy.

=== Use of taglines in a TV show title ===
The DramaWiki policy is that taglines should not be included in a Japanese TV show article's name.

It is common for Japanese TV shows to use taglines in addition to the main title. A ''tagline'' is a sub-title used to further market a TV show, giving the reader a more accurate description of the TV show. For example, the American TV show [[Wikipedia:Star Trek|Star Trek]] uses the tagline "To boldly go where no man has gone before." However, when indexed in any TV show database, such as [http://www.imdb.com IMDB], taglines are never included as part of the main title.

In Japanese TV shows, taglines are usually identified when they're placed within tilde characters (~). For example, the Japanese drama スタートライン ([[Start Line]]) uses the tagline ～涙のスプリンター～ (Namida no Sprinter). For DramaWiki purposes, the article name should be ''Start Line'' and not ''Start Line ~Namida no Sprinter~'' The purpose for leaving out the tagline is to stay compatible with other databases like IMDB and JDorama.com.

== History of romanization in modern time ==
Romanization did not start recently. It has been practiced since the invention of the [[Wikipedia:Typewriter|typewriter]] back in the 19th century. Back then, only the 26 letters of the [[Wikipedia:Latin alphabet|latin alphabet]] and a few other punctuation characters were available on the keyboard ([[Wikipedia:QWERTY|QWERTY]] or [[Wikipedia:Dvorak Simplified Keyboard|Dvorak]] styles).

When the modern digital computer was first invented 50-plus years ago, the only characters available on the keyboard were those that made up the [[Wikipedia:ASCII|ASCII]] character set. Aside from the "special" characters (control codes, etc.), there are 96 displayable characters in the ASCII set. They are:

<pre>
!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?
@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_
`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~
</pre>

One of the earlier and more popular romanization systems is [[Wikipedia:Hepburn romanization|Hepburn]]. However, Hepburn, based on the use of [[Wikipedia:macron|macrons]], was designed to be used when Japanese text was romanized by handwriting, and typewriters and teletype machines of the time were never addressed in its specification. Because the typewriter could not generate macrons, most recorders (people who copied handwritten text to typewritten text), replaced these macrons with characters that were available on the typewriter keyboard. In otherwords, the ''ō'' was replaced with ''o'', ''ū'' was replaced with ''u'', and so on.

Other romanization systems, such as [[Wikipedia:Wāpuro rōmaji|wapuro romaji]] fixed the problem with macrons by replacing them with other characters that fit the ASCII set. For example, the ''ō'' was replaced with ''ou'', ''ū'' with ''uu'', and so on. The problem here is that most recorders were not familiar with wapuro romaji, and was never instructed to use this system. Also, wapuro romaji was never an official implementation of romaji at any time, as wapuro is considered a work-around.

In the sense of romanization, searching is complicated when the use of different characters for a given letter is in use. For example, the words kōhaku (紅白 or red and white) and kohaku (琥珀 or amber) differ when making a simple query using database software that hasn't been tweaked to convert non-ASCII to ASCII.

A great amount of information you'll find on the Internet today were recorded from hardcopy documentation produced using these legacy devices. But rather than correcting the romanized text, most if not virtually all hardcopy documents were recorded into the Internet in its exact form. As a result, data dating as early as the early 1990's were entered using Hepburn as a guideline for romanization, but with their macron characters replaced with ASCII.

In summary, technology has hindered the effectiveness of systems like Hepburn in its exact academic form. The ending result is that the modified Hepburn - Hepburn without the macrons - is the most common form of romanization you will find on the Internet.

== See also ==
*[[Wikipedia:Japanese phonology|Japanese phonology]]
*[[Wikipedia:Katakana|Katakana]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hepburn romanization|Hepburn romanization]]
*[[Wikipedia:Capitalization|Capitalization in the English language]]

2005-07-07T15:05:08Z

Guenny:

*student of [[Wikipedia:Japanology|japanology]] and [[Wikipedia:Sociology|sociology]] in Trier/Germany
*administrator of the [[Wikipedia:de:Benutzer:Guenny|german wikipedia]]

== Useful Links ==
*http://www.uni-trier.de/uni/japanologie/AkLiFda.html
*http://cms.mit.edu/mit3/papers/goessmann.pdf
*http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/ICAS2/contents.pdf
*http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/ICAS2/Goessmann.pdf
*http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/ICAS2/Gatzen.pdf

== Literature ==
*Blechinger, Verena and Jochen Legewie, 1998, ‘Japans neue Rolle in Asien’ (Japan’s
New Role in Asia), in Japanstudien. Jahrbuch des Deutschen Instituts für Japanstudien
der Phillipp Franz von Siebold Stiftung (Japanese Studies. Annual Journal of the German
Institute for Japanese Studies), 10, München: Iudicium, pp. 15-25.

*Gatzen, Barbara, 2001, Fernsehnachrichten in Japan: Inszenierungsstrategien im
interkulturellen Vergleich mit Deutschland (Japanese Television News: An Intercultural
Comparison of Presentation Strategies in Japanese and German News Shows),
Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.

*Gössmann, Hilaria, Renate Jaschke and Andreas Mrugalla, 1998, ‘Fremdheit oder
Vertrautheit? Die Begegnung zwischen Japan und seinen asiatischen Nachbarn im
Spiegel des Fernsehdramas “Doku?’ (Strangeness or Familiarity? The Encounter
Between Japan and Her Asian Neighbors as Mirrored in the TV Drama “Doku?), in
Jahrbuch des Deutschen Instituts für Japanstudien der Philipp-Franz-von-Siebold-Stiftun
(Japanese Studies. Annual Journal of the German Institute for Japanese Studies), 10,
München: Iudicium, pp. 335-368.

*Gössmann, Hilaria and Barbara Gatzen, 2002, ‘Fernsehen als Spiegel und Motor des
Wandels. Ein Paradigmenwechsel in der Darstellung der asiatischen Nachbarländer?’
(Television as Mirror and Driving Force of Change. A Paradigm Change in the Depiction
of Neighbouring Asian Countries?), in Medien als Objekt und Triebfeder des Wandels
(Media as Object and Driving Force of Change), ed. Hilaria Gössmann and Franz
Waldenberger, Hamburg: Institute for Asian Art.

*Iwata-Weickgenannt, Kristina (2003): “Nah und fern zugleich? Koreanische und
japankoreanische Figuren in japanischen Fernsehdramen der Jahre 2001 und 2002.? (Close
and Yet Far Away? Korean and Korean-Japanese Characters in Japanese Television Dramas
of 2001 and 2002) In: Gössmann, Hilaria (ed.): Interkulturelle Begegnungen in Literatur,
Fernsehen und Film. Ein japanisch-deutscher Vergleich. Munich: Iudicium. (forthcoming)

*Hirahara Hideo (1998): “Macht und Ohnmacht des Familienoberhaupts. Entwicklungen im
Genre Fernsehdrama von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart.? (Power and Powerlessness of the
Patriarch. Developments in the Genre of Television Drama from its Beginnings to Today) In:
Gössmann, Hilaria (ed.): Das Bild der Familie in den japanischen Medien. Munich: Iudicium,
pp. 109-118.

*Hirahara Hideo (eds.): A History of Japanese Television Drama. Modern Japan
Japanese. Tokyo: The Japan Association of Broadcasting Art.

*Gössmann, Hilaria (2003): “The Relationship between Japanese and Other Asians in Popular
Japanese TV Dramas.? In: Iwabuchi Kôichi and Lulu T. Reyes (eds.): Telenovelas in Asia.
Quezon City: Anvil Publishing. (forthcoming)

*Gatzen, Barbara und Hilaria Gössmann (2003): “Fernsehen als Spiegel und Motor des
Wandels. Zur Konstruktion von China und Korea in Fernsehserien und
Dokumentarsendungen in Japan.? (Television as Mirror and Driving Force of Change. On the
Construction of China and Korea in Television Series and Documentaries in Japan) In:
Gössmann, Hilaria und Franz Waldenberger (eds.): Medien in Japan. (forthcoming)

2005-06-03T08:12:41Z

Guenny:

==Details==
*'''Title:''' 空?ら?る一億?星 / Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi
*'''Also Known As:''' The Smile Has Left Your Eyes / One Million Stars Falling from the Sky
*'''Episodes:''' 11
*'''Broadcast network:''' Fuji TV
*'''Broadcast period:''' 2002-04-15 to 2002-06-24

==Casts & Credits==
===Produced by===
: 高井一郎
: 鈴木?弘

===Directed by===
: [[Nakae Isamu]]
: [[ Hirano Shin]]

===Writer===
:[[Kitagawa Eriko]]

===Cast===
:[[Sanma Akashiya]] as Kanzo Dojima
:[[Kimura Takuya|Takuya Kimura]] as Ryo Katase
:[[Eri Fukatsu]] as Yuko

==Synopsis==
The story opens after a young female student kills herself by jumping off a balcony. It's soon discovered that she was in fact stabbed, and the room arranged to make it look like a suicide. And so we begin. A few minor details lead Detective Kanzo to suspect that Ryo, an enigmatic chef's assistant, knows more about her death.The two have run into each other by chance a few times, and each time left Kanzo with an uncomfortable feeling. Every clue that is revealed seems to lead to more questions about Ryo, his obsessive girlfriend, his callous and manipulative relations with several women, and about a painful memory from Kanzo's past. Things get more complicated when a powerful love/hate relationship develops between Ryo and Kanza's little sister, the beautiful Yuko (Eri Fukatsu). What exactly is their connection? As the evidence (and body count) rises, Kanza tries desperately to save his sister from Ryo's influence. He's no saint, but is he the Devil Kanza thinks he is? And why? The answers will floor you, even when you think you've got them figured out already.

==Review by aNToK==
Boy, doesn't that sound exciting? So much so, that I had this laying around for 6 months until neonkinpatsu mentioned a plot twist or two that made me rethink watching. And here we are.

Folks, if you come into this drama thinking you're going to see some run-of-the-mill whodunnit drama with a little love thrown in or something, you'll be wrong. Dead wrong. If your idea of a good time is seeing a few J-idols fall in love, have problems, work everything out, live happily ever after, or if you just like salivating over Takuya Kimura, go watch Long Vacation, Beautiful Life, or Love Generation or something. You'll be happier that way. Trust me.

BUT...

If you're looking for something with realism and bite, that doesn't just poke around at the dark side of the human mind, but wallows in it like a starving pig at a trough, then you just might be ready for Million Stars. Maybe.
This is as close to a life-altering drama as I've seen yet, and I've seen a bunch. Two days later, I'm still thinking about it. Quite simply, this drama is a dark masterpiece, and noone who watches it will come out unaffected...

Like I said before, this drama is a true modern masterpiece. The characters are real, with good and bad sides to all.The burn scars that Ryo and Yuko share to me represent the emotional scars that dwell within us all. The director does an amazing job building tension in every episode, and when the slightly eerie "Mission Impossible" style music starts up at the end of every show, the cliffhanger leaves you jumping as fast as you can to the next episode.
This series is like a speeding train with no brakes. You know there's going to be a crash somewhere, but you've got to keep watching to see where the bodies fall.

After the emotionally draining experience that drama was for me, I'm going to have to rewatch Sweet 18 or something to get my head back on straight. It's that effecting.

Okay, maybe I'll play that scene from ep 11 just one more time first.... 
'''Rating:''' See it/Life Altering (4.5/5)

[http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9478 discussion in forum]

==External Links==
*[http://jdorama.com/drama.657.htm JDorama.com]
*[http://www.spcnet.tv/reviews/review.php?rID=243 spcnet.tv Review]

[[Category:JDrama]]
[[Category:JDrama2002]]
[[Category:Fuji TV]]