most of the Japanese groups and institutions which are most deeply concerned in the problem and print most of the material using Rōmaji are resolutely continuing to use the Old Romanization. Furthermore, the Old Romanization is still accepted everywhere outside of Japan, and the weight of the forty or fifty years during which it has been the acknowledged standard system has given it a lead in world use over Nipponsiki and Kokutei that could not be overcome in anything short of several decades. It will be no simple task to substitute such startling Romanization as Tyōsyū for Chōshū, Huzi for Fuji, Tusima for Tsushima and zyūzitu for jūjitsu. The half-hearted support of Kokutei by certain groups in Japan will accomplish little in the face of the evident superiority of the Old Romanization, its decades of unquestioned supremacy, and the determined support it is being given by many Japanese as well as most foreigners. Kokutei has by no means won the battle. It still is decidedly the weaker opponent of the two, and any deflection from the Old Romanization on the part of this society or any other group, whether in Japan or abroad, will not tend towards uniformity, as Mr. Carr asserts, but will only lead towards greater confusion.[1]
In conclusion, one may summarize the case for the Old Romanization as follows. Of the three systems it alone is a phonetic tran-
- ↑ The inevitable confusion which would result can be illustrated by two well known examples. The steamship company operating the liner Chichibu Maru was induced to change the spelling of the name to Titibu Maru in conformity with Kokutei. The resulting confusion in pronunciation among the foreign passengers of the ship made the company desire to restore the old spelling, but the supporters of Kokutei vigorously opposed this. Eventually the company, in desperation, changed the name of the liner to Kamakura Maru, a name Romanized alike in all systems. The second example is afforded by a famous Tōkyō grocery store of Meidiya, which in the old Romanization would be Meijiya. Several decades ago the company began using Nipponsiki for its name, and in all these years foreigners in Tōkyō, including those who speak the Japanese language, have persisted in pronouncing the second syllable of the name as di, although this syllable does not exist in the Japanese phonetic system.
“Minister of Education, General Araki: The question of the use of Romaji has been discussed often. … I am hoping that we may be able to establish an institution for studying sound, and before arriving at a final decision, we must make careful studies of our own language and sounds.”
