Edge of the Bay
This is the second in a series of stories about my otosan or father, which I first posted last month.
In this story, I'll share with you a little bit about my father’s myōji or the “Ebata” family name. I still have many unanswered questions about my family’s roots and family name and, so, what I’m sharing with you is what I know to be true today.
For Japanese families, it’s common for their surnames to be derived from things related to nature, geographical features or to the landscape where they lived. The Ebata family name is believed to mean “edge of the bay,” which is where my ancestral roots are in Niigata-ken (prefecture).
According to legal records, the ancestral roots of the Ebata family can be traced at least as far back to the 1800’s to the town of Nakajo. The town was located in the Kitakanbara District in the Kaetsu area (in the north) of Niigata prefecture.
Today, the town of Nakajo no longer exists as the adjoining village of Kurokawa and Nakajo recently merged to form the new city of Tainai on September 1, 2005. Tainai City is a small traditional city with a population of about 34,000 built on a narrow plain that stretches about ten miles from the Sea of Japan to the foothills of the nearby mountains.
Up until 1962, the Ebata family owned two house lots in Nakajo, one house lot was 62 tsubo (a unit of measurement in Japanese real estate) or 2,203.48 square feet and the second house lot was 294 tsubo or 10,448.76 square feet. Both house lots equated to 356 tsubo or 12,652.24 square feet of land, which is roughly a third of an acre. As the eldest son, my father inherited these two house lots but he transferred ownership of the property to a man named Katsumi Shirase of Shibata on August 3, 1962. I don’t know who this man was, but he must have been a close friend or relative because my father may have taken his given name and adopted it as my eldest brother’s middle name, Katsumi.
Until 1960, my father went by the given name of Isami. Structurally, modern Japanese names are simple compared with American names. All Japanese have one family name, or surname, followed by one given name with no middle name; Japanese didn’t use middle names. For example, my father’s name “Isami” following the Japanese structure would be “Ebata Isami.” The only exception to Japanese names is the Imperial family whose members bear no surname and only a given name. American names clearly differentiate their given name followed by their middle name and then their family name. Thus, my father’s name following the American structure became “Isami Ebata.”
My father didn’t adopt a middle name until July 21, 1960, when he officially changed his name and adopted “Roy” as his American given name and he made his Japanese given name as his middle name. Thus, my father became known as “Roy Isami Ebata” from then on.
In this story, I'll share with you a little bit about my father’s myōji or the “Ebata” family name. I still have many unanswered questions about my family’s roots and family name and, so, what I’m sharing with you is what I know to be true today.
For Japanese families, it’s common for their surnames to be derived from things related to nature, geographical features or to the landscape where they lived. The Ebata family name is believed to mean “edge of the bay,” which is where my ancestral roots are in Niigata-ken (prefecture).
According to legal records, the ancestral roots of the Ebata family can be traced at least as far back to the 1800’s to the town of Nakajo. The town was located in the Kitakanbara District in the Kaetsu area (in the north) of Niigata prefecture.
Today, the town of Nakajo no longer exists as the adjoining village of Kurokawa and Nakajo recently merged to form the new city of Tainai on September 1, 2005. Tainai City is a small traditional city with a population of about 34,000 built on a narrow plain that stretches about ten miles from the Sea of Japan to the foothills of the nearby mountains.
Up until 1962, the Ebata family owned two house lots in Nakajo, one house lot was 62 tsubo (a unit of measurement in Japanese real estate) or 2,203.48 square feet and the second house lot was 294 tsubo or 10,448.76 square feet. Both house lots equated to 356 tsubo or 12,652.24 square feet of land, which is roughly a third of an acre. As the eldest son, my father inherited these two house lots but he transferred ownership of the property to a man named Katsumi Shirase of Shibata on August 3, 1962. I don’t know who this man was, but he must have been a close friend or relative because my father may have taken his given name and adopted it as my eldest brother’s middle name, Katsumi.
Until 1960, my father went by the given name of Isami. Structurally, modern Japanese names are simple compared with American names. All Japanese have one family name, or surname, followed by one given name with no middle name; Japanese didn’t use middle names. For example, my father’s name “Isami” following the Japanese structure would be “Ebata Isami.” The only exception to Japanese names is the Imperial family whose members bear no surname and only a given name. American names clearly differentiate their given name followed by their middle name and then their family name. Thus, my father’s name following the American structure became “Isami Ebata.”
My father didn’t adopt a middle name until July 21, 1960, when he officially changed his name and adopted “Roy” as his American given name and he made his Japanese given name as his middle name. Thus, my father became known as “Roy Isami Ebata” from then on.
posted by i'mPossible! dreams® at 10:38 AM
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