Katakana Analysis Final

     The two katakana samples I’ve chosen are: フジトランスコーポレーション and ストロベリーグミ.

     The Fujitrans Corporation is an international company based in Japan that primarily deals with Import/Export and Freight Handling. There are three reasons why Fujitrans would spell its name in katakana rather than hiragana: “-trans” & “Corporation” are loanwords, international appeal, and savvy marketing techniques.

     Given all possible English words to borrow, the two specific words chosen “-trans” and “corporation” are the most immediate to the needs of Fujitrans for accessibility. “Trans” obviously stands for transportation which is one of the services provided by the international shipping company. “Corporation” is used simply because Fujitrans is a corporation by definition.

     To give the title of the company an international feel, English words are transcribed into Japanese Katakana. Primarily because Fujitrans deals with shipping internationally, there needs to be a presence that foreigners could readily connect with. The usage of the katakana characters denotes an existing relationship overseas with the wider world back in Japan.

     These specific terms are used of all possible combinations of words, English or Japanese, (and word-fragments in the case of “–trans”) because of a branding strategy by Fujitrans. An article in the Japan Times Online on Japanese company names highlights their mixed usage of katakana, hiragana, kanji, romaji, and English. All of these companies aim to utilize an almost discreet force in their very name that focuses on convenience and simplicity. This discreet force works both in the Japanese and International (Primarily English-speaking) domains. The names of these companies are limited to goals of convenience and simplicity so that any potential client would know the products of the company quickly and clearly. Katakana is not only considered more modern but also cleaner and simpler to write and understand.

        My second katakana sample choice (ストロベリーグミ) is interesting in that there is a Japanese word for strawberry already: いちご. As one of the textbook explanations we were given states: the use of loanwords has the effect of making a concept or product more attractive (with its foreignness). Modernization appeals to younger generations. When marketing "Strawberry Gummy" candies, the youth are, most likely, Kusagai Company's target consumers. If we look at the Kasugai website we can see how all of their flavors are written in katakana and are English derived rather than written in Hiragana with the Japanese words.

          Comparing Kasugai’s product with another company’s product, The Japanese word いちご is used on the strawberry flavored Pocky. Perhaps the Glico Company (those who produce Pocky) chose to write in hiragana and use the Japanese word for strawberry to make a closer association to Japan. This is most likely because Pocky is unlike anything we have overseas (at least not like anything here in the US) but we definitely know what gummies are.