＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:https://skawa68.com/
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
I have written about “Kira Kira Names” (「キラキラネーム」)before. This time, I would like to introduce “Shiwa Shiwa Names（wrinkled names）,” which are said to be on the increase recently.
１．What is a “Shiwa Shiwa Name(wrinkled name)?”
In a move that goes against the trend of “Kira Kira Names” that started to become popular in the 2000s, “Shiwa Shiwa Names” have recently become a hot topic. Does this mean that “trends repeat themselves?”
A “Shiwa Shiwa Name” is a name that “has a Japanese, old-fashioned impression, as if it were from the Taisho or Showa Era.
More and more people seem to find it “retro, nice and cute,” and some even name their children after Taisho-roman or Showa-modern names because they find them “fashionable.
It seems that for us, the “baby boomer” generation, the overwhelming majority of boys had “ichi(「一」)” or “ni(「二」)” or “ro(「郎」「朗」) or “o(「男」)” at the end of their names, and girls had “ko（「子」）” at the end.
2. Examples of “Shiwa Shiwa Names（wrinkled names）” given to children by celebrities
Some examples of celebrities who have given their children “Shiwa Shiwa Names（wrinkled names）” include
“Taro（「太郎（たろう）」）” by Shido Nakamura and Yuko Takeuchi, and “Himawari（「向日葵（ひまわり）」）” and “Mantaro（「万太郎（まんたろう）」）” by Taro Hakase and Mayuko Takada.
Is it possible that the trend to give “Shiwa Shiwa Names(wrinkled names)” that are ordinary but still appropriate for Japanese people is a reaction to the “Kira-Kira Names” that seem eccentric and bizarre?
Some examples of celebrities who have given their children “Shiwa Shiwa Names（wrinkled names）” include
“Taro（「太郎（たろう）」）” by Shido Nakamura and Yuko Takeuchi, and “Himawari（「向日葵（ひまわり）」）” and “Mantaro（「万太郎（まんたろう）」）” by Taro Hakase and Mayuko Takada.
Is it possible that the trend to give “Shiwa Shiwa Names(wrinkled names)” that are ordinary but still appropriate for Japanese people is a reaction to the “Kira-Kira Names” that seem eccentric and bizarre?
3. the Japanese people’s sense of balance
This may be an indication of the Japanese people’s “sense of balance.
In the world of politics, after a long period of “LDP politics” and the emergence of various dissatisfactions and problems, the “Democratic Party of Japan” (DPJ) was formed by gathering all the opposition parties. This was the result of many people thinking, “Let’s give the LDP a good scolding once,” or “Let’s let the DPJ do it once.
However, as you all know, not only did the DPJ reveal its complete inability to govern, but also former Prime Minister Hatoyama’s handling of the Okinawa problem and former Prime Minister Kan’s poor handling of the nuclear power plant accident left a big mark.
So, the LDP returned to power, but looking at the current opposition parties, I still feel that they are still “opposition parties that only oppose the government but have no ability to propose a counter-proposal,” and that there is no party that can be trusted to govern.
Let’s return to the main issue.
4. specific examples of “Shiwa Shiwa Names(wrinkled names)” of celebrities and famous athletes
Celebrity stage names and famous athletes with “wrinkled names” include Keiko Kitagawa, Satomi Ishihara, Suzu Hirose, Hana Kuroki, Fumi Nikaido, Fumino Kimura, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Shinnosuke Abe, and Shohei Otani.
Shinnosuke Abe named it after Peter (real name: Shinnosuke Ikehata) because his mother was a big fan of Peter.
Shohei Otani(「大谷翔平」) was named after Minamoto no Yoshitsune, who has ties to Hiraizumi, Oshu, his father’s hometown. The character “sho（「翔」）” (flying) was used to evoke Yoshitsune’s image of flying while fighting, and “hei（「平」）” was taken from Hiraizumi（「平泉」）.
As a side note, the character “翔” has been allowed to be used as the character for “name” since 1981. This is a bit surprising.
5. specific example of a character’s name from a novel that became popular
There is a historical novel by Shotaro Ikenami called “Kenkaku Shobai” (Swordsman’s Business). The main character, Kohei Akiyama’s son Daijiro’s wife is a female swordsman named Mifuyu Sasaki, and there is a story that many fathers of Ikenami fans liked the name “Mifuyu(「三冬」)” and named their girls after her.
This seems to be because the image of a woman named “Mifuyu” in the novel was very attractive, and not because he liked the kanji.
This name “Mifuyu” seems to be both a “sparkling name” and a “wrinkled name.
The original meaning of “Mifuyu/Santou（「三冬（みふゆ／さんとう）」）” is the three months of winter (October, November, and December in the lunar calendar). “Mifuyuzuki（「三冬月（みふゆづき）」）” is another name for the 12th month of the lunar calendar.
6. how to name a child to reflect the times
In the Taisho era, boys’ names often contained the kanji characters “Mas（「正」）,” “Kiyo（「清」）,” and “Hiro（「博」）,” and before and during the war, brave names such as “Yu（「勇」）,” “Sho（「勝」）,” “Kun（「勲」）,” “Kou（「功」）,” and “Bu（「武」）” were popular.
Common girls’ names in the Taisho era were “Chiyo（「千代」）,” “Fumiko（「文子」）,” “Haru（「ハル」）,” and “Hana（「ハナ」）,” while in the first half of the Showa（「昭和」） era, “Akiko（「昭子」）” and “Kazuko（「和子」）” were popular, and gradually after that, names including “Bi（美）” became more common.
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