I wrote this section for non-Japanese people. My name is “NISHIO Hirokazu” and “NISHIO” is the family name. All Japanese people say their family name first when they are speaking Japanese language, but unfortunately many people are misunderstanding that we must say given name first when we speak English.
This stems from the historical context of English education in Japan. Initially, there was an attempt to align with Western conventions by changing the name order. However, this decision was later revoked. In the year 2000, the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs issued a directive to ministries and universities, recommending the use of the surname-first order.
My family name “NISHIO” is made of two characters “NISHI”(west) and “O”(tail). My family name “NISHIO” is made of two characters “NISHI”(west) and “O”(tail). “O” has the same origin with “WO”(fish) so my ancestor might be a fisher. My given name “Hirokazu” is made of two characters “HIRO” and “KAZU”. It means “big” and “calmful”. (Wiktionary). “KAZU” is pronounced like a cousin without “n”. It means “peace” and “harmony”. (Wiktionary).
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This page is auto-translated from [/nishio/About My Name](https://scrapbox.io/nishio/About My Name) using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I’m very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.