user1587: So we have this question "What is Kikuhiko's sexual orientation?". when it was posted it used retag because the series tag didn't exist. after confirming that the series was Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju i tagged it as descending-stories following the list here

In general, my preference would be for the following system. In descending order of preference, we should generally:

Use English name. If there is an official English name which fits in 25 characters, we should go with that. Subtitles can be omitted in general.
Use English abbreviation. If the English title exists, but it does not fit in 25 characters, and there is an official abbreviation of the English title which does fit, then use that.
Use romanized Japanese title. Hepburn romanization is the standard method most of us use. Since macrons are not available without going to unicode characters (which is a bad idea) be sure to do these in the traditional style, e.g. ō should be replaced with ou. In Japanese word boundaries are sometimes ambiguous, but usually it's fairly clear where they should be.
Use Japanese abbreviated title. This is going to be common for shows with long titles, like Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai gets tagged as oreimo. There are usually official abbreviations for series with very long titles, at least for those series that are fairly successful.
If none of the above seem to fit, come up with something that works temporarily, e.g. the first N words of the title. Make a meta post asking for suggestions for a better tag name.


aside from going with the first item in the list my other reason for descending-stories was that shouwa-genroku-rakugo-shinjuu and showa-genroku-rakugo-shinju are both too long for the 25 character limit on tags. also like how Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia's japanese release name is Ar tonelico: The Girl Who Keeps Singing at the End of the World (アルトネリコ世界の終わりで詩い続ける少女 Aru toneriko Sekai no Owari de Utai Tsuzukeru Shōjo) can be shortened to just Ar Tonelico by dropping it's subtitle i figured that Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju was a subtitle and could just be dropped
however Aki Tanaka may have found a better name

@Memor-X if else, the alternative Japanese tag should be rakugo-shinju (from the URL of its official site)

rakugo-shinju seems valid to me aswell. so i would like to ask which tag should be used for the question? descending-stories or rakugo-shinju? and whatever isn't used can we use as a synonym?

user8486: I would go with rakugo-shinju because the OP has never seen the name descending-stories.

@Makoto I have never ever see the name "Descending Stories" until you mention it. I bet nobody will recognize by this tags. But can't you use just Showa-Rakugo?

If a need ever arises (I doubt it since it's not a widely known series), we can always tag the English name as a synonym following the usual procedure of suggesting a tag synonym (4 upvotes from users with a total answer score of 5 or more on the tag).

user1908: While I agree that "Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu" is a fairly unwieldy title, I had literally no idea that it'd been localized as "Descending Stories" despite being something of a fan of this series. This suggests to me that some fragment of the Japanese title is the way to go. 
The master tag is now rakugo-shinju, with showa-genroku-rakugo and descending-stories as synonyms (along with some vowel variations). 

1587: <p>So we have this question &quot;<a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/39623/1587">What is Kikuhiko's sexual orientation?</a>&quot;. when it was posted it used <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/retag" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;retag&#39;" rel="tag">retag</a> because the series tag didn't exist. after confirming that the series was <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descending_Stories:_Showa_Genroku_Rakugo_Shinju" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju</a></em> i tagged it as <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/descending-stories" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;descending-stories&#39;" rel="tag">descending-stories</a> following the list <a href="https://anime.meta.stackexchange.com/a/522/1587">here</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>In general, my preference would be for the following system. In descending order of preference, we should <em>generally</em>:</p>
<ol>
<li>Use English name. If there is an <strong>official</strong> English name which fits in 25 characters, we should go with that. Subtitles can be omitted in general.</li>
<li>Use English abbreviation. If the English title exists, but it does not fit in 25 characters, and there is an official abbreviation of the English title which does fit, then use that.</li>
<li>Use romanized Japanese title. Hepburn romanization is the standard method most of us use. Since macrons are not available without going to unicode characters (which is a bad idea) be sure to do these in the traditional style, e.g. ō should be replaced with ou. In Japanese word boundaries are sometimes ambiguous, but usually it's fairly clear where they should be.</li>
<li>Use Japanese abbreviated title. This is going to be common for shows with long titles, like <em>Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai</em> gets tagged as <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/oreimo" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;oreimo&#39;" rel="tag">oreimo</a>. There are usually official abbreviations for series with very long titles, at least for those series that are fairly successful.</li>
<li>If none of the above seem to fit, come up with something that works temporarily, e.g. the first N words of the title. Make a meta post asking for suggestions for a better tag name.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p>aside from going with the first item in the list my other reason for <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/descending-stories" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;descending-stories&#39;" rel="tag">descending-stories</a> was that <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/shouwa-genroku-rakugo-shinjuu" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;shouwa-genroku-rakugo-shinjuu&#39;" rel="tag">shouwa-genroku-rakugo-shinjuu</a> and <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/showa-genroku-rakugo-shinju" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;showa-genroku-rakugo-shinju&#39;" rel="tag">showa-genroku-rakugo-shinju</a> are both too long for the 25 character limit on tags. also like how <em>Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia's</em> japanese release name is <em>Ar tonelico: The Girl Who Keeps Singing at the End of the World</em> (アルトネリコ世界の終わりで詩い続ける少女 <em>Aru toneriko Sekai no Owari de Utai Tsuzukeru Shōjo</em>) can be shortened to just <em>Ar Tonelico</em> by dropping it's subtitle i figured that <em>Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju</em> was a subtitle and could just be dropped</p>
<p>however <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/39623/what-is-kikuhikos-sexual-orientation?noredirect=1#comment53765_39623">Aki Tanaka</a> may have found a better name</p>
<blockquote>
<p>@Memor-X if else, the alternative Japanese tag should be <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/rakugo-shinju">rakugo-shinju</a> (<a href="http://rakugo-shinju-anime.jp/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">from the URL of its official site</a>)</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/rakugo-shinju" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;rakugo-shinju&#39;" rel="tag">rakugo-shinju</a> seems valid to me aswell. so i would like to ask which tag should be used for the question? <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/descending-stories" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;descending-stories&#39;" rel="tag">descending-stories</a> or <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/rakugo-shinju" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;rakugo-shinju&#39;" rel="tag">rakugo-shinju</a>? and whatever isn't used can we use as a synonym?</p>
 8486: <p>I would go with <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/rakugo-shinju" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;rakugo-shinju&#39;" rel="tag">rakugo-shinju</a> because the OP has never seen the name <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/descending-stories" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;descending-stories&#39;" rel="tag">descending-stories</a>.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>@Makoto I have never ever see the name "Descending Stories" until you mention it. I bet nobody will recognize by this tags. But can't you use just Showa-Rakugo?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If a need ever arises (I doubt it since it's not a widely known series), we can always tag the English name as a synonym following the usual <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/help/privileges/suggest-tag-synonyms">procedure of suggesting a tag synonym</a> (4 upvotes from users with a total answer score of 5 or more on the tag).</p>
 1908: <p>While I agree that "Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu" is a fairly unwieldy title, I had literally no idea that it'd been localized as "Descending Stories" despite being something of a fan of this series. This suggests to me that some fragment of the Japanese title is the way to go. </p>

<p>The master tag is now <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/rakugo-shinju" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;rakugo-shinju&#39;" rel="tag">rakugo-shinju</a>, with <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/showa-genroku-rakugo" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;showa-genroku-rakugo&#39;" rel="tag">showa-genroku-rakugo</a> and <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/descending-stories" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;descending-stories&#39;" rel="tag">descending-stories</a> as synonyms (along with some vowel variations). </p>
