[colum]Story of My Name

~Story of My First Name~

Thank you so much for having curiosity towards the origin of my name!

Here’s the story for you!

Before I start telling the story about my name, you have to understand this specific general knowledge of Japanese FISH.

 Yes.

 

This tiny fish is dried sardine and we call it “IRIKO” in Japanese.
We normally use this fish as the stock of the miso soup, and other Japanese food.
The best part of this fish is, though this fish is staying in this mini-size, it contains huge amount of calcium and it help us-human keep our bones healthy.

 Well, I think fish-talk is enough for us!

So let me talk about how my parents came up with my name ERIKO.

 

My mother is from Nagasaki, in Kyushu area, where you can eat the best quality of fish!
For my grandma, it is impossible not use IRIKO the fish for their miso-soup.
When I was in my mother’s womb, my mom was wishing that I will be a tall healthy child and she was calling me as “IRIKO” the fish’s name.
But after I was born, she and my father thought, I would get bullied if they actually named me “IRIKO.”

So they used some Chinese letters which sounds “IRIKO”, and fortunately, my current Chinese letter “E”(衣) actually has two sounds- “I” and “E.” So they decided to use these Chinese letters and called me “ERIKO.”

 

Actually, as I explained in the another article (http://erikoyaybeejapanlife.blogspot.jp/2012/08/history-cultureorigin-of-japanese.html),
this “E”(衣) has the meaning of “cloth.” Fortuity, I was grown up to be a girl who loves sewing materials, o I pretty much like my name:).

Japanese YUKATA I sewed:)

So, yea, anyway, I’m just a fish. (^^)