初対面での会話ができるようになろう(5)

My name is Hiroko, and it's given by my grandmother. As we use Chinese characters that have each own meanings in itself, there are many "Hiroko"s who have different meanings in their names. In my case, "ko" is a popular word to give a daughter which means "child". And, as for this Chinese character's construction, it also means "from start to end."

Before answering your questions, I'd like to tell you what "hiro" means. With my "hiro", my grandmother chose the Chinese character meaning "broad-mindedness." So, my name represents me as "a broad-mindedness child." Isn't it a wonderful name? Well, as for your question, I'd rather love to have the same name; "Hiroko". What does your name mean?

Thank you! Yeah, so you know "Hiroko"s are everywhere in Japan, although the name is now seen a bit old-fashioned. Wow, is your name "princess" a real name? I thought it's your nickname. If you don't mind my asking, are you the fist daughter for your family? Is that the reason why you're given "princess"?

Your country has a pretty custom for girls' name. I understand the parents' love to their daughters. Well, my "hiro" can be used for boys as "Hiroshi", "Yutaka", "Kan" and more. I'm surprised that you know a lot about Japan! I think that young people don't know the Emperor Showa's name. The character of my name is different from his one, though.

I see. The character of Emperor Showa means "fertility", "to enlighten", and "broad-minded." Also, historically his family has inherited one character for about 1000 years in their names. The one means "to love" and "to befriend". We have his day which is his birthday. The day is set as the time to remind of the Showa era and think of our future.