Artist, Talent and Group Names that People often get wrong…

In Japan, there are numerous names that people get wrong.

In an article for “Joshi SPA!”, the publication looks into six artists and group names that people often get wrong.

One group name that people often have a problem reading, including Horie Takafumi is the group, AAA.  The name is pronounced as “Triple A”.  But some read it as A-A-A or Aaah.

For Yonezu Kenshi, the music artist was well-known for his Vocaloid songs when he debuted as “Hachi”.  But when he debuted in 2012, he debuted under his real name Yonezu Kenshi.  But some read it as Yonezu “Genji”.

For the band “ONE OK ROCK”, people pronounced the band as it is spelled, but in reality, it’s pronounced as “ONE O’ CLOCK” (10969 – Wan-o-ku-ro-ku) as Japanese language has no distinction between “R” and “L”.

For actor Arata Mackenyu (born as Maeda Mackenyu), son of martial artist and director/actor Chiba Sonny, but when you see his Japanese name – 新田真剣佑.  Many Japanese are unable to read it as Arata Mackenyu and pronounce it as “Nitta Shinkenyu”.

For the band Suchmos, Japanese have a difficult name pronouncing it.  Considering the name is derived from legendary jazz singer Louis Armstrong who was known as “Satchmo”, the band name is pronounced with a “Sa” not “Su”.

For actress Kuroki Haru, who starred in the film “Small House” but quite often the kanji is mistaken as “Hana” not “Haru”.

For actress/model Takei Emi, wife of EXILE’s TAKAHIRO, her name is often mistaken as Takei Saki.