日本外相河野太郎21日在記者會上向各國主要媒體機構呼吁，報道日本人的姓名時應遵循“先寫姓，后寫名”的原則。以日本首相安倍晉三為例，現在是按照歐美“先名后姓”的習慣被寫為“Shinzo Abe”，河野太郎呼吁大家將其更正為“Abe Shinzo”。

In a news conference Tuesday, Foreign Minister Taro Kono said he plans to ask overseas news outlets to write Japanese names with the family name first and given name second — as is the convention in Japan.

日本外相河野太郎在本周二（21日）的新聞發布會上說，他打算要求海外新聞機構按照日本的慣例，報道日本人的姓名時先寫姓，后寫名。

"I plan to ask international media organizations to do this. Domestic media outlets that have English services should consider it, too," he said, according to Kyodo News.

據日本共同社報道，河野太郎說：“我計劃要求國際媒體組織這樣做。提供英語內容的國內媒體也應該考慮這樣做。”

【小知識】

英美人的姓名通常是“名在前姓在后”，比如David Beckham（大衛·貝克漢姆）這個名字中David是名，Beckham是姓，與中國和日本等國的姓名順序相反。

Kono noted that news organizations generally give Chinese and Korean names with the family name first, as in South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

河野太郎指出，很多國際媒體報道中韓領導人姓名時都是按照“先姓后名”順序書寫，比如韓國總統文在寅是“Moon Jae-in”。

His efforts to get the world to say Japanese names in the Japanese style seems in part to be a matter of timing.

他提出全球應按照日本“先姓后名”的習慣讀寫日本名字似乎是考慮到了時機的問題。

A new era, the Reiwa, began on May 1 as Emperor Akihito abdicated and his son, Naruhito, ascended to the throne. And Japan will soon play host to a number of major international events: the G20 summit next month, the Rugby World Cup in the fall, and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo next summer.

5月1日，明仁天皇退位，其子德仁天皇繼位，一個新的時代——令和時代開始了。日本也即將舉辦一系列國際盛事，包括將于下月舉行的二十國集團峰會、今年秋天的橄欖球世界杯、2020年東京夏季奧運會。

abdicate ['?bd?ke?t]：vi.退位；放棄

This isn't the first time that Kono has brought up the matter. "It's natural to discuss whether (such a change) should be made, including whether it should be in time for the emperor's accession ceremony (in October) or the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics (in 2020)," The Mainichi reports he said in March.

這并非河野太郎首次提出這個問題。據日本《每日新聞》報道，他在今年3月說：“我們自然應該討論是否應作出這一改變，包括是否應該趕在天皇的登基典禮（10月）或東京奧運會和殘奧會（2020年）前及時作出改變。”

The practice of putting the family name second when transliterating Japanese names is believed to date to the 19th century, when reformers of the Meiji dynasty sought to adapt to international standards, The Washington Post reports.

據《華盛頓郵報》報道，在譯寫日本人姓名時把姓放在第二位的做法，據信可以追溯到19世紀，當時明治維新派試圖適應國際標準。

transliterate[tr?ns'l?t?re?t; trɑ?ns-; -nz-]：vt.直譯；字譯

It's not clear what Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — or Abe Shinzo — makes of the suggestion to change.

目前還不清楚日本首相安倍晉三對這一建議有何看法。

"There are a lot of factors we have to consider, including convention," Yoshihide Suga, the government's chief spokesman, told a news conference.

日本政府首席發言人菅義偉在新聞發布會上表示：“我們必須考慮很多因素，包括慣例。”

On his own English-language Twitter page, the foreign minister writes his name as "KONO Taro." He speaks fluent English and has tweeted a photo of himself as a senior at Georgetown University, interning on Capitol Hill.

在自己的英文推特頁面上，日本外相河野太郎的名字是“KONO Taro”（先姓后名）。他說一口流利的英語，還在推特上發了一張自己在喬治城大學四年級時在美國國會山實習的照片。

Many news outlets follow The Associated Press on matters such as how to handle foreign names. The AP Stylebook has a section on Chinese names, which says: "In personal names, Chinese generally place surnames first and then given names, Deng Xiaoping." In general, it says, "follow an individual's preferred spelling."

許多新聞媒體都遵從美聯社處理外國名字的方式。美聯社寫作指南中關于中文姓名的章節中寫道：“書寫個人姓名時，中國人一般是先姓后名，比如‘鄧小平’。”指南中寫道，一般而言，“遵從個人偏愛的拼寫方式”。

The AP Stylebook's section on Korean names notes, "In both Koreas, the family name comes first." It has no entry on Japanese names.

該指南關于韓語姓名的解釋中寫道：“書寫朝鮮和韓國人的姓名，要把姓氏放在前面”。該指南沒有關于日語姓名的解釋。

對于日本政府這一呼吁，多數日本網民在社交網站上表示支持。有人說“學英語的時候經常被姓名順序搞暈”，“之所以有‘姓名’這個詞就是表明了順序”。也有反對的聲音認為，“為什么不能遵守國際規則？”

來源：NPR、環球網

翻譯&編輯：yaning