The world's 'friendliest country' that's issuing a new name ban this week

By Emily Wright, World News Reporter

One of the world's friendliest countries is implementing a new ban on baby names this week. (Image: Getty)

Japan is implementing a new rule for parents when naming their children this week. The regulation, which will come into force this week, aims to prevent parents from giving their children strange or distasteful names. 

The new ban will make it harder to register "flashy" names, known as "kira-kira," following a long debate over the extent of freedoms parents should have in naming their children. In modern times, Japanese names consist of a family name (surname) followed by a given name. However, a major issue with naming children in recent years has been due to the unique features of the Japanese language. Most names are made up of characters called "kanji", many of which can be pronounced in several different ways, meaning you cannot always tell how to pronounce someone's name. 

The pronunciation of the child's name depends on factors such as how the kanji characters are combined with others. (Image: Getty)

The pronunciation of the child's name depends on factors such as how the kanji characters are combined with others. For many names, a different set of phonetic characters is needed to spell out the sound. 

Previously, when Japanese families added a new baby's name to their family register, they did not have to specify the pronunciation of the kanji, meaning the parents could decide how their child's name would be pronounced. This could result in names as bizarre as Pikachu, Nintendo's most famous Pokémon, or Purin, meaning "pudding."

However, under the new rules, which follow years of deliberation, pronunciations must be specified and will be policed to eliminate extreme readings. 

It will been unacceptable to use a name 'contrary to the interests of the child'. (Image: Getty)

From this week onwards, it will be unacceptable to use a pronunciation that means the opposite of the kanji and anything "contrary to the interests of the child".

However, not all see the benefit of the plans. "Names and readings of names written in kanji, like words in general, change with the times," said the liberal Asahi newspaper.

“It is easy to imagine that this process … will involve huge amounts of paperwork," it warned.

Japan is said to be one of the friendliest countries in the world. Conde Nast ranked it sixth friendliest with a score of 93.25, writing: "The country’s friendly faces have made a well-rounded impression on our readers, as Tokyo coincidentally also ranks sixth in our list of the world’s friendliest cities."