82638
I've recently read some curious news.

Apparently, the mayor of a small Japanese town, Yutaka Umeda, has unexpectedly
become somewhat of a celebrity after the recent US elections, because his name
can also be read as "Jo Baiden".

[CBS](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/will-japans-own-joe-biden-put-his-small-
town-on-the-map/):

> Thanks to the vagaries of Japan's complex written language, an obscure
> provincial mayor has suddenly gained his 15 minutes of fame after
> discovering his name can also be read as the moniker of America's president-
> elect.
>
> "I feel we have a bond," Mayor Yutaka Umeda, aka, "Joe Biden," of Yamato
> town, in southwest Japan, was quoted as saying by local media. "When I heard
> (Biden) had won, it was like a personal victory for me, too."

[Japan Times](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/11/09/national/japan-jo-
baiden/):

> Yutaka Umeda, 73, mayor of Yamato, Kumamoto Prefecture, was caught by
> surprise when his family told him that an alternate reading of his name had
> drawn attention online.
>
> "I feel very close to him. It feels as though I've also won the election
> after hearing about (Democratic nominee Joe Biden's) projected win" over his
> rival, President Donald Trump, Umeda said Sunday.
>
> Kanji characters usually have several phonetic readings. The mayor's family
> name comprises characters meaning "plum" and "rice field," but while they
> are usually pronounced as "ume" and "da" in names — a fairly common one in
> Japan — they can also be read as "bai" and "den." The character for Yutaka,
> meanwhile, is more commonly read as "jo."

Admittedly, I know nothing about Chinese, Japanese or how kanji works. I also
tried to find an online table of kanji characters and check it myself, but
unsuccesfully.

Is this true?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-16T09:11:52.890
82636
2020-11-17T20:26:30.717
2020-11-17T20:26:30.717
-1
40917
question
names
Can "Yutaka Umeda" (name of a Japanese mayor) be read as "Jo Baiden"?
According to the town's official website, the mayor of Yamato-cho, Kumamoto is
indeed named Yutaka Umeda.

<https://www.town.kumamoto-yamato.lg.jp/kiji0035130/index.html>

The kanji for his name is 梅田 (うめだ, Umeda) 穰 (ゆたか, Yutaka). His name uses
kun'yomi readings for the kanji, meaning they are of Japanese origin.

If you read the characters with their Chinese-origin readings (on'yomi), they
are 梅 (ばい, bai) 田 (でん, den) 穰 (じょう, jou).

So, yes, the kanji used to write his name do have on'yomi readings that sound
similar to "Joe Biden."
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-16T09:53:54.590
82638
2020-11-16T09:53:54.590
20479
82636
answer