Our Vertical Japanese Name Necklace and Horizontal Japanese Name Necklace are part of our stunning world language name necklace collection. Each is beautifully designed and crafted for your particular name, and we love the look. But, while we are creating these stunning name necklaces in the 21st century, the language of Japan has formed over thousands of years. Today, we’ll explore our Japanese name necklaces in a deep dive guide. We’ll cover the history of the lettering, the modern trend and how we’ve created it in our own brand.
Japanese Lettering: A Very Brief History
While we’re talking about Japanese lettering, the story actually starts in Ancient China. Chinese writing styles date back 6000 years (4000 BC), but they didn’t make their way to Japan till the 1st Century AD and they weren’t formally adopted till the 6th Century. Around the 6th Century, some Japanese began using Chinese writing in courts and for official documents, making it the language of government. This developed into Japan’s first writing system, Kanbun. Kanbun consisted of Chinese characters with additional markings. These markings added to grammar and word order that suited the Japanese oral language.
In the 7th Century, Kanbun developed into Manyogana which still used Chinese characters. Manyogana became a writing system where every symbol or letter represents a sound and not a meaning. This is the same as the Latin alphabet which is used in English today. The writing style was quite complicated and eventually became Kana, a simplified version in the 9th Century.
Today, the modern Japanese writing system uses a combination of logographic kanji, which are adopted Chinese characters, and syllabic kana; which includes Hiragana and Katakana.
Hiragana syllabary is used for; inflexions after verbs and adjectives, grammar words (prepositions etc.) and to clarify the pronunciation of Kanji. Katakana syllabary is used for; foreign words and names, some plants and animal names and onomatopoeia. Kanji are logographs or symbols used for; nouns and stems of verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Kanji includes people’s names, so when you get a Japanese Name Necklace this is displaying Kanji. When written in a vertical alignment, characters are called tategaki and in a horizontal alignment, they are named yokogaki.
Japanese Name Necklace Trend
Non-English name necklaces and other jewellery have been a hot trend for the past couple of years. And it doesn’t look like this fit is going anywhere soon. As we discussed in our Arabic Name Necklace and Chinese Name Necklace Deep Dive articles, Celebrities love this look. But it’s not always through jewellery.
The rise of Japanese fashion and beauty culture has been growing in the past decade. Japanese street styles such as Kawaii Peeps and Lolita have all contributed to a rise in Japanese lettering in various products. With lettering used in clothing, accessories, jewellery, home decor and much, much more.
Tattoos are one part of fashion trends that many don’t talk about, but you’ll often see the same clothing and accessory trends play out in tattoo designs. Kanji tattoos, while not as popular as Chinese tattoos in the nineties, are growing in popularity. Just make sure you get the correct spelling or you might end up with something you didn’t quite expect. This happened to Ariana Grande in 2019 when instead of her tattoo translating to the title of her latest single, 7 Rings, it spelt out the word for a Japanese-style BBQ grill! Always double check your spelling, or get a professional to translate.
Our Japanese Name Necklace
If you’re on the hunt to add some Japanese style to your wardrobe, a Japanese Name Necklace is a perfect way to add a touch of Kawaii to your look.
Material Colour
We only use high-quality metals in our jewellery. You can pick between 18K gold plated stainless steel and sterling silver plated stainless steel for the Japanese Name Necklace. Because it's sturdy, tarnish-free, and water-resistant, we use plated stainless steel. It's also a cost-effective material, allowing our customers to acquire high-end, on-trend designs without breaking the bank. Because we never use nickel or cobalt in our products, there is less chance of an allergic reaction and it won’t turn your skin green!
Chain Length & Style
The majority of our customised necklaces now come in a variety of chain lengths and styles. Chain lengths of 40cm, 45cm, and 50cm are available for the Japanese Name Necklace. Depending on the necklace, we presently offer up to five chain styles: traditional link, small curb, box chain, sphere style, and Cuban chain. There's a size chart and a chain style chart right on the product page to assist you in deciding which is ideal for you. We have two Japanese necklace styles, one has the Kanji symbols sitting horizontally, while the other has them vertically. Both look stunning.
Personalisation
Creating your own custom name necklace is the best thing about our world language necklaces. For the Japanese script, we offer up to 12 characters. You can enter your desired name, or word, directly into the input field in Japanese (e.g. ハンナ). You can also input your name in English and we’ll translate it directly for you (e.g. Hannah= ハンナ ).
Shop Custom Japanese Name Necklace
We hope you’ve enjoyed this deep dive into Japanese Name necklaces. We also offer a variety of other non-English language necklaces if you prefer a different style. Check out our Hindi Name Necklace, Chinese Name Necklace, Arabic Name Necklace and Korean Name Necklace. You can also see our full collection of personalised jewellery here.
If you have any questions about ordering our personalised products, check out the FAQ’s in our help centre or get in touch.
