My dad and I are collaborating on a novel together, and it takes place in a place like Japan. We need help with all sorts of stuff to make our novel correct, so if anyone has any information on the culture of Japanese people, or if there are Japanese names you know, or about samurai or ninjas or pretty much anything, it would help a bunch. Thanks in advance.
Ooh, that sounds super cool. ^_^ I should try to wrangle my vati into doing something like that--goodness knows how that would turn out. You'll have to tell me how things go.
I'm one of those strange people who speaks rudimentary Japanese and knows a little about history but isn't really into anime or ninjas and the feudal system, and so on. So I can't tell you a whole lot beyond what's in the book I have--What Life Was Like Among Samurai and Shoguns: Japan 1000-1700. If your library has a copy, I'd recommend it. The reading's not all that easy or fun but it has a lot of great pictures and maps.
Goodness...there's a lot about culture. Most of it is based around being polite and honoring one's family, ancestors, etc. The oldest son/daughter is the most important child, and, in the past, got the largest share of land and of respect. In order to get around modern Japan, the two most important things are being quiet/not overly flashy and knowing when to take your shoes off. When you're eating, there are myriad rules for chopsticks, most of them going back to rituals with the dead.
In a lot of ways, the culture is self-deprecating--you never speak of your own family using "honorable" vocabulary, you never brag about anything you or your family has done, and you never accept a compliment without saying something like, "oh, no, that's not true". Japanese people are team players--if you ever watch a baseball game, the crowd cheers for the player who makes a sacrifice for the team, and not necessarily the most skilled player.
Some surnames off the top of my head: Outori, Ougawa, Tanaka, Shiomi, Fujioka, Kikuchi, Kobayashi, Kanagawa
If you have any specific questions about the culture, I'd love to answer them. ^_^ I can't tell you much about feudal times, but I can try to find any answers from modern times if you need some basic background.
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Check out the Japanese Culture Club and maybe the Manga and Anime Group. If you need anything else, I have a Japanese student living with me so if you hurry (she's going away for a month in a few days) and ask me some questions, I can get her to answer them.
Good luck.
*Don't expect to see me around much in the next couple of weeks. School has started again, and it'll be a couple of weeks before I've settled in. If you've asked me for a critique, you will get it, but not for a little while. Sorry*
For character names, I'd suggest avoiding Keiko for the girls. It's a very common Japanese name and it's always more interesting to have a name that isn't common. Some girls first names that I know: Sachiko, Kagome, Kaede, Chiyo, Mariko, Yukiko, Emiko, Sayoko
Some boys names: Miroku, Hiroyuki, Seto, Koga Keiji,
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