Why do Japanese titles often start with titles/appositions?


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Japanese titles in books, songs, shows, etc. are accompanied with a title
(status) or an apposition when there is a name. It happens so often, as if it
is a rule.

> 三年B組金八先生  
>  おじゃまんが山田くん  
>  機動戦士ガンダム  
>  超時空要塞マクロス  
>  宇宙戦艦ヤマト  
>  キャプテンハーロック  
>  電子戦隊デンジマン  
>  太陽戦隊サンバルカン  
>  科学忍者隊ガッチャマン  
>  元祖天才バカボン  
>  プロゴルファー猿  
>  オバケのQ太郎  
>  忍者ハットリくん  
>  Dr.スランプアラレちゃん  
>  めぞん一刻  
>  釣りキチ三平  
>  男あばれはっちゃく

Sometimes, it is accompanied with an onomatopoeia, an interjection, or some
short word.

> ハローサンディーベル  
>  ゲゲゲの鬼太郎  
>  こちら葛飾区亀有公園前派出所

Why did it happen to be like this?




I think there is some truth in your assertion. However, I do think that the
answer is not simple as there are many factors involved:

  1. I know for a fact that Japanese titles strive to be easily understandable and try to help give the reader hints about what the story is about. It is true that you can see examples in other languages also, however I would argue that there is a _greater_ tendency to do this in Japanese culture. For example, there was a Disney film titled [Up](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_%282009_film%29) in English. When this was localized in Japan, the title was changed to [カールじいさんの空飛ぶ家](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB%E3%81%98%E3%81%84%E3%81%95%E3%82%93%E3%81%AE%E7%A9%BA%E9%A3%9B%E3%81%B6%E5%AE%B6). In English, you can maybe guess a little bit about the movie, but the Japanese title definitely gives you a much clearer picture. I also guess that in English, there is greater tendency to leave the reader to guess what the story is about to make them curious, whereas in Japanese culture, people may be more inclined to ignore something if they don't know what it is about right away.

  2. Also, another cultural phenomenon is Japanese culture tends to focus more on individuals more than other cultures. For example, even to this day [Oda Nobunaga](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oda_Nobunaga), [Toyotomi Hideyoshi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyotomi_Hideyoshi), [Tokugawa Ieyasu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyasu), etc. are very popular historical figures, and there are countless moves, books, video games about them. Now, it is true that all cultures have a notion of this, however, I would argue that this is more prevalent in Japanese culture. I realize that all the examples do not fit this pattern, but most of the titles have a name of a person in them which I think shows that the stories often focus on individuals.




I think there is some truth in your assertion. However, I do think that the
answer is not simple as there are many factors involved:

  1. I know for a fact that Japanese titles strive to be easily understandable and try to help give the reader hints about what the story is about. It is true that you can see examples in other languages also, however I would argue that there is a _greater_ tendency to do this in Japanese culture. For example, there was a Disney film titled [Up](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_%282009_film%29) in English. When this was localized in Japan, the title was changed to [カールじいさんの空飛ぶ家](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB%E3%81%98%E3%81%84%E3%81%95%E3%82%93%E3%81%AE%E7%A9%BA%E9%A3%9B%E3%81%B6%E5%AE%B6). In English, you can maybe guess a little bit about the movie, but the Japanese title definitely gives you a much clearer picture. I also guess that in English, there is greater tendency to leave the reader to guess what the story is about to make them curious, whereas in Japanese culture, people may be more inclined to ignore something if they don't know what it is about right away.

  2. Also, another cultural phenomenon is Japanese culture tends to focus more on individuals more than other cultures. For example, even to this day [Oda Nobunaga](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oda_Nobunaga), [Toyotomi Hideyoshi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyotomi_Hideyoshi), [Tokugawa Ieyasu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyasu), etc. are very popular historical figures, and there are countless moves, books, video games about them. Now, it is true that all cultures have a notion of this, however, I would argue that this is more prevalent in Japanese culture. I realize that all the examples do not fit this pattern, but most of the titles have a name of a person in them which I think shows that the stories often focus on individuals.

