How could you improve the word Hikari-tai (火雷隊) as a name


This might be a subjective question

Okay first things first, this question is more about trying to come up with a
better name that doesn't disrespect or butcher the language. And I'm not
really learning Nihongo, I'm writing a manga that is a very global story so
I'm trying to represent different people, nations and their representatives in
the world that I'm building in a believable and sound manner.

So I have a fictional team, a private contractor or a mercenary group that
would be owned and operated by a group of Japanese business people, and the
team would be known for being fast and effective.

So I tried to find a name for the team, and just recently I ended up with 火雷隊
among others with help from ChatGPT, also because I couldn't find native
speaker willing to help in the few comic/manga community I was in, so had to
give AI a try.

Anyways, I wanted the name to start with "H" when romanised, this is something
that cannot be changed (if so then any other letter of the English alphabet
available would be every other letter, for example B, D, F (is taken), H etc).

I wanted the name to convey the meaning that the team is fast (like lightning)
and effective (like fire), so I found 火雷隊

Though, I'm still not sure about this and need to get perspective from people
who are familiar with the language and who could help, and how to use it
properly so that a native Japanese person understands what I want them to and
not confuse them.

Hoping I'm asking in the right place, I don't think this goes against the
guidelines of what to ask...




As you said you are not someone who's learning Japanese, I will not go into
details of Kanji readings in this answer. But with regards to your question,
let's examine the name 火雷隊 you have.

## 火

This Kanji means fire, and is read as `ka`, `hi`, or `ho` when prefixing other
Kanji's in some words.

## 雷

This Kanji means thunder, and is read as `rai` or `kaminari` on its own, but
in a name it can take on whatever readings, so it's totally fine if you want
it to be read as `kari`. In Japanese, the convention is that ANY Kanji can
have ANY reading, and it's completely arbitrary and without restrictions. You
can take the Kanji 雷 and have it read as `banana` if you really want.

## 隊

This kanji means team and is read as `tai`.

## 火雷隊

Together, the Kanji's convey the meaning `the team of fire and thunder`, but
the thing is, MOST people would read this as `karai-tai`, and the reading of
`hikari-tai` would not occur to them upon first look. However, if you make it
clear to people that the Kanji is 火雷隊 and the reading is `hikari-tai`, then no
one would have a problem with it, and it's easy to see where that name comes
from. `hi` from 火, `kari` for 雷(which is already read as **ka** mina **ri** ),
`tai` is the default reading for 隊 meaning team.

## HIKARI

The word `hikari`, as you may or may not be aware, actually means `light` in
Japanese, and has the Kanji 光. This is sort of a word play, where you use
`fire-thunder 火雷` but install the pronunciation `hikari (light)` upon it to
convey two meanings at the same time.

## Conclusion

So, the name 火雷隊 is a word-play that means `team of fire and thunder` in
writing but would convey the meaning `the team of light` when spoken. It's
pretty cool to be honest, and nothing seems out of place due to the existing
convention that Kanji in Japanese names can be read however they want. Just
make sure that you tell people it's `hikari-tai`, or expect people to read it
as `karai-tai`, or even `hikaminari-tai` since 火雷 actually is a (ancient) word
in the dictionary with the reading `hikaminari`.

You said you wanted to express the quickness of the team... well whether one
could associate fire/thunder/light with quickness is a subjective question.




As you said you are not someone who's learning Japanese, I will not go into
details of Kanji readings in this answer. But with regards to your question,
let's examine the name 火雷隊 you have.

## 火

This Kanji means fire, and is read as `ka`, `hi`, or `ho` when prefixing other
Kanji's in some words.

## 雷

This Kanji means thunder, and is read as `rai` or `kaminari` on its own, but
in a name it can take on whatever readings, so it's totally fine if you want
it to be read as `kari`. In Japanese, the convention is that ANY Kanji can
have ANY reading, and it's completely arbitrary and without restrictions. You
can take the Kanji 雷 and have it read as `banana` if you really want.

## 隊

This kanji means team and is read as `tai`.

## 火雷隊

Together, the Kanji's convey the meaning `the team of fire and thunder`, but
the thing is, MOST people would read this as `karai-tai`, and the reading of
`hikari-tai` would not occur to them upon first look. However, if you make it
clear to people that the Kanji is 火雷隊 and the reading is `hikari-tai`, then no
one would have a problem with it, and it's easy to see where that name comes
from. `hi` from 火, `kari` for 雷(which is already read as **ka** mina **ri** ),
`tai` is the default reading for 隊 meaning team.

## HIKARI

The word `hikari`, as you may or may not be aware, actually means `light` in
Japanese, and has the Kanji 光. This is sort of a word play, where you use
`fire-thunder 火雷` but install the pronunciation `hikari (light)` upon it to
convey two meanings at the same time.

## Conclusion

So, the name 火雷隊 is a word-play that means `team of fire and thunder` in
writing but would convey the meaning `the team of light` when spoken. It's
pretty cool to be honest, and nothing seems out of place due to the existing
convention that Kanji in Japanese names can be read however they want. Just
make sure that you tell people it's `hikari-tai`, or expect people to read it
as `karai-tai`, or even `hikaminari-tai` since 火雷 actually is a (ancient) word
in the dictionary with the reading `hikaminari`.

You said you wanted to express the quickness of the team... well whether one
could associate fire/thunder/light with quickness is a subjective question.

