Why does the narrator switch tenses here? ～いました　～です


I'm currently reading _[The Tale of Peter
Rabbit](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Peter_Rabbit)_ in Japanese,
but the opening to the story is confusing me a bit.

> [昔々]{むかしむかし}あるところに、四[匹]{ひき}の小さなウサギが **いました**
> 。彼らの[名前]{なまえ}はプロプシー、モプシー、コットンテールとピーター **です** 。

As you can see, the first sentence is in the past tense, but the second seems
to be in the present. Double checking several English versions of the text,
they all have both in the past tense; and in general switching tenses in
English is frowned upon.

Now, I know that Japanese treats tenses differently from English, but this
seems odd to me. Thus, my question is: Can you switch tenses like this in
Japanese, and if so, what (extra) nuances (if any) does it carry?




This is definitely not unusual: verbs often switch tenses in the middle of
Japanese narratives for effect. I don't have a definitive reference to back
this up, but I'll try to explain the general concept as best I understand it.

If I remember correctly, the past tense often has more emphasis in a Japanese
narrative than the present tense. For example, consider the following two
sentences.

> 智{さとし}は玄関{げんかん}に行{い}きます。ドアを開{あ}けると、幼馴染{おさななじみ}の優子{ゆうこ}がいました。
>
> Satoshi went to the front door. Opening it, he found his childhood friend
> Yuko!

In this case, the first sentence sets the scene (in the present tense) and the
second one provides the action (in the past tense).

In your example, the order of the tenses is reversed—the first sentence uses a
past-tense verb and the second uses a present-tense verb—but I think that the
basic principle is the same.

> [昔々]{むかしむかし}あるところに、四[匹]{ひき}の小さなウサギが **いました**
> 。彼らの[名前]{なまえ}はプロプシー、モプシー、コットンテールとピーター **です** 。

At the beginning of the story, the reader knows _nothing_. In my experience,
it's very common for Japanese narratives to start with a sentence in the past
tense because it emphasizes the initial information that is given. The next
sentence switches back to the present tense because it is providing
supplementary information: we already know that there are four rabbits, and
the author is simply filling in their names (providing background).




This is definitely not unusual: verbs often switch tenses in the middle of
Japanese narratives for effect. I don't have a definitive reference to back
this up, but I'll try to explain the general concept as best I understand it.

If I remember correctly, the past tense often has more emphasis in a Japanese
narrative than the present tense. For example, consider the following two
sentences.

> 智{さとし}は玄関{げんかん}に行{い}きます。ドアを開{あ}けると、幼馴染{おさななじみ}の優子{ゆうこ}がいました。
>
> Satoshi went to the front door. Opening it, he found his childhood friend
> Yuko!

In this case, the first sentence sets the scene (in the present tense) and the
second one provides the action (in the past tense).

In your example, the order of the tenses is reversed—the first sentence uses a
past-tense verb and the second uses a present-tense verb—but I think that the
basic principle is the same.

> [昔々]{むかしむかし}あるところに、四[匹]{ひき}の小さなウサギが **いました**
> 。彼らの[名前]{なまえ}はプロプシー、モプシー、コットンテールとピーター **です** 。

At the beginning of the story, the reader knows _nothing_. In my experience,
it's very common for Japanese narratives to start with a sentence in the past
tense because it emphasizes the initial information that is given. The next
sentence switches back to the present tense because it is providing
supplementary information: we already know that there are four rabbits, and
the author is simply filling in their names (providing background).

