Japan bans ‘flashy’ baby names like Pikachu, Pudding

Japan has introduced rules to prevent parents from giving their children “flashy” names.

The regulations come into effect this week and will make it harder to register names that are considered “kira-kira” or “flashy”, the Times reported.

The list of banned names includes Pikachu, from the Pokémon series, Pudding and King.

The issue arises because in the Japanese language, names are made of characters called kanji that can be pronounced in different ways, the Times reported.

This made it difficult to tell how to pronounce a name by looking at its characters. Previously, families didn’t have to specify the pronunciation of the kanji, which meant parents could decide how to pronounce the name.

But, under the new rules, pronunciations have to be specified in an effort to eliminate “extreme readings”, the Times reported.

Some of the names that have been banned include Pikachu, Pudding, Akuma, Jiro, King and Shiizaa.

Source: Stuff
--Agencies