By HANS GREIMEL, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jun 20, 4:27 PM ET
TOKYO - Japan has returned to using the prewar name for the island of Iwo Jima — site of one of World War II's most horrific battles — at the urging of its original inhabitants, who want to reclaim an identity they say has been hijacked by high-profile movies like Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima."
The new name, Iwo To, was adopted Monday by the Japanese Geographical Survey Institute in consultation with Japan's coast guard.
2007-06-21 05:36:48 · 9 answers · asked by Kooties 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Other - Cultures & Groups
Nuke them again? ( o _ o ) Whoa?! Dude don't get all bent. It's just a question.
2007-06-21 05:50:04 · update #1
hi ! I'm a japanese writing from Tokyo.
this topic is not much popular in Japan.
like someone wrote above,this is nothing but correction of the name for us.
do you know what "iwo jima" means in English ?
"iwo"(iou) is sulfur and "jima"(shima) is island and confusingly, "to"(tou) also means island.
in japanese ideograph(kanji), "to" and "jima" is the same.
this means that no transcribe chages on Japanese news papers but sound.
do you get it ?
2007-06-21 21:29:27 · answer #1 · answered by Kei5 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Its not messing with history. If you read a fuller version of the story you will see that the island was originally called Iwo To, but some Japanese navy officers made a mistake when calling it Iwo Jima and the name stuck. So really its like putting history right. Whatever its called, the same things still happened there.
2007-06-21 05:44:10 · answer #2 · answered by lucy_diamond66 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The U.S. occupied Iwo Jima until 1968 and it was returned to Japan. Japan didn't change the name. Even now it is called Iwo Jima or Iwo to.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwo_Jima
and Jima and To is same meaning = island.
Jima is Japanese KUN reading of Chinese letter of island.
To is Japanese On reading of Chinese letter of island.
Japanese has several ways of reading in one character.
I reapeat again. Jima and To is same meaning and character. It has 2 different pronouciation.
And Japan won't change the name next Sep. Cos it has been ALREADY changed since 1968. Some ppl call this island as Iwo to even now. Cos Jima and TO are the same meaning.
And as for the Eastwood's movie. Even many American movie productions or distributors has been changes the title of Japanese movie to English title.
(the article do not mention this.)
Is he fair? huh?
2007-06-22 05:54:24 · answer #3 · answered by Joriental 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. It's their country and quite as it's kept... it was literally called Iwo Jima at one time anyway. They embrace their history and are not ashamed of it. We invaded them remember? We initiated those battles on their land. We have some historic war sites over here too. I live in the South and it is evident here.... especially in Tennessee.
2007-06-21 10:33:52 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Just like us changing the name of the highest mountain in North America from Denali to Mt. McKinley.
The history doesn't change. It, just like the mountain, is still there.
Maybe they want to move on from WWII and concentrate on the future, as well.
2007-06-21 05:56:17 · answer #5 · answered by ? 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Cape Canaveral became Cape Kennedy then became Cape Canaveral again. San Diego started off as San Miguel. New York started off as New Amsterdam. Leningrad became St. Petersburg. Edo became Tokyo. Stop me, I could go on and on and on...............
2007-06-21 05:42:45 · answer #6 · answered by jxt299 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The new name is actually the pre-war name. I think it's a good thing. It's their land, after all :)
2007-06-22 11:41:10 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
History is dynamic and not as static as one would like to believe.
2007-06-21 05:41:55 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's their Island and they can do anything they want with it even change its name. What do you want to do...Nuke them again?
2007-06-21 05:40:20 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋