Japanese Name Pronunciation Question

Discussion in 'Off Topic Area' started by Moosey, Jul 4, 2012.

  1. Moosey

    Moosey invariably, a moose Supporter

    I was watching the second series of "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" the other day and one conversation struck me (that I'm sure is memorable to any other Westerners who've seen it too).

    A new character is introduced and hands his business card to another character. The second character looks at his name, 合田 一人, and says "Ah, you are Gōda Hitori...", to which the first guy replies "Actually, my name is pronounced Gōda Kazundo".

    Is it common in Japanese for it to be unclear what pronunciation is used when reading a person's name from kanji? Is the confusion between the two characters above to do with the onyomi versus kunyomi reading of "一人"? Is there a tradition as to which pronunciations are used in people's names?
     

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