How about Obenjo? That's a fine samurai surname!
And I agree, Ito is too common of a surname and uncommon as a given name. You may want to re-think that.
Shobata has a nice ring to it. I dont like Yamamomo only because momo is a local slang term here for a stupid person.
"Yamamomo" is mountain-peach, so it seemed odd, but I stuck it in anyway.
Hmm, you're probably right about Ito being a surname. Perhaps I'll take Heron's suggestion and use it as a surname and choose a different given name.
But Obenjo Kusanosuke is right, I looked it up and found that it's the sixth most popular Japanese surname. Hmm.
Perhaps if I changed it to Itto? What do you think about that?
OK, Itto is a given name, but it would inevitably remind of Lone Wolf and Cub's OGAMI Ittô.
Itto is also the name of one of the most formidable TRUE Swordsmasters, namely, Kagehisa Ittosai. Much of that Itto-ryu technique is still used in "sports" kendo nowadays. Along those lines, please note my other post on the "Kendo Masshigura" television-series which spotlights the Hokushin-Itto-ryu.
Even using "part time warrior" would be confusing unless you take the time to explain what they are doing on thier "off time" and why they are only "part time" warriors. Which is why I still think "Jizamurai" would work -because either way, you'll still have to explain it, and at least if you use the Japanese word, it immediately gives you a proper noun to tag it rather than a descriptive.
How about seasonal warrior? There was the fighting season time of the year and the tending the crops time of the year.
I have a feeling someone reading that term in a story would say - sort of like I did when I read it.
I know. It sounds funny. Like a seasonal worker at the local ski resort.
I've been working on a short story since the beginning of the year.
I was hoping to enter it in this year's contest, but it has since grown much larger than the allowed parameters; so, unless my final edit is exceptionally critical, that's not likely to happen.
I brought it up in the Japanese Language section when I was working on some character names/nicknames, but this seems to be a more appropriate thread. The story is about a ukiyo-e woodblock carver who becomes an assassin employing the tools of his original trade.
My working title is "The Carver and the Assassin," and I'm trying to figure out the best term to use for assassin in the Japanese subtitle "Horishi to _____."
At the moment it's between "ansatsusha" (暗殺者) and "shikaku" (刺客).
Is one more appropriate/period for the Edo period than the other?
The character works exclusively for the Lord responsible for his latter training, so I think "ansatsusha" carries that idea more, but I'm just not sure if it has a more modern origin than I'm aware of.
My feeling is that "Shikaku" is old and "ansatsusha" is modern, though I haven't checked it.
My working title is "The Carver and the Assassin," and I'm trying to figure out the best term to use for assassin in the Japanese subtitle "Hiroshi to _____."
Not sure about "more appropriate" specifically, but the period dramas or manga I've come across have all used "shikaku" (刺客) to refer to assassins. Also, I get the impression that "chōkokushi" (彫刻師) would make a better choice than "hiroshi" for "carver".
Nah, Horishi is specifically a woodblock carver. Choukokushi refers to wood carvers in more of a sculptural application, though that just so happens to end up being his assassin nickname!