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When it comes to Finland, there’s no shortage of opportunities for getting acquainted in Japan’s capital of Tokyo. From cafes where you can chow down with cute, stuffed Moomin characters created by a famous Swede-Finn, to Finland’s top doughnut chain, Arnold’s, and Karhhu, Finland’s number one beer, it’s easy for Tokyoites to take their taste buds for a dip in Nordic cuisine.

Now, people in Japan have found a new way to get acquainted with Finnish culture with the introduction of a clever little name generator from VisitFinland.com. Simply enter your name and within seconds you’re bestowed with the Finnish version, complete with a full explanation of the meaning behind your new name. We translated some well-known names and found they were connected to the wild nature of Lapland and mysterious tales of forest kings. 

Naturally, we had to start the experiment with our namesake, RocketNews, or ロケットニュース as it’s known in Japanese. For the generator to work, the male or female box has to be checked – a tricky question for a genderless website. The male version of our site translates to Ohto Sammalkorpi. Ohto being Forest King or bear, and Sammalkorpi meaning a moss-covered prairie.

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Ms. RocketNews turns out to be Tellervo Manner, a charming mainland daughter of a forest god. Who knew we had such mythical connections?

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Even a common name like John Smith turns out to be beautiful: Ukko, an ancient god of weather, produce and snow, and Kuura, meaning frost.

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Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, the queen of electric J-Pop, would be known as Ritva Puro in Finland; the hanging branch of a deciduous tree over a creek.

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Japan’s favourite vocaloid, Hatsune Miku, would be Pihla Kallio. Pihla is a tree that grows beautiful red berries in autumn, while Kallio is a rock. There’s definitely a metaphor in that somewhere.

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And what about the anime Attack on Titan, known in Japan as Shingeki no Kyojin? That would be the fierce-sounding Kaleva Mansikkamaa, Kaleva being a King that presides over aerial characters in a Finnish legend and Mansikkamaa, a land that turns into strawberries. Surely this one is too close to the mark to be a coincidence. Could there be an Attack on Titan fan working the controls in Finland?

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Top marks to the creatives at VisitFinland for coming up with this fantastic concept. The name generator does more than generate names, it generates interest in the unique culture and images of Finland. And with direct flights from Tokyo to Helsinki introduced just recently, it’s even harder to think of a reason not to go!

Source: Visitfinland.com