Kinki University to change pervy English name

I thought Kinki Bank would have started...

Kinki Kids have to be the most famous, but I think "Kinki Tours" bus company has to take the cake.

The Kinki Kids have caused a lot of confusion...

http://thejapanwanko.sub.jp/?p=999

Name change (of university) not to convincing...there are many businesses using 'kinki' name, better rename Kinki area.

Of course, renaming yourself "Kinki University University" also comes off as a paragon of higher education and learning. How about "West Central Japan University" for an English name?

It's a shame, things like this ad interest between cultures and changing the name makes the world a little more boring a little less humorous imo.

I say good on them, it's pretty rare that a Japanese company or institution picks up on a way they're perceived negatively by foreigners, and then actually does something about it. If I had it on my resume from a study abroad program or whatnot, I'd much rather tell American companies that I studied at Kindai University than Kinki U.

Kinki is fine. Nothing beats Fukuppy as a complete tone-deaf, ignorant naming.

I didn't think Japanese University's cared what Westerners thought about their university name.

So it is going to be called Kindai Dai in Japanese? Not to confuse it with Kindai (Kanazawa University ~ the Kana being 'gold' thus also having a 'kin' pronunciation.) Or will it be called Kin Dai 2? Kindaidai? Kin Die! Die!

There was a catholic college in Kansai, Amagasaki I think, named 英知大学 (Eichi Daigaku). Around 2006 it found its web site bombarded by obscene messages and the shop at its student union completely sold out of T-shirts and hoodies. Seems that "Eichi" sounds too much like "H" (pron. ettchi), a slang word for something naughty. The following year it changed its name to 聖トマス大学 (St. Thomas University). Then it changed again to 日本国際大学 (Japan International University), but I'm not sure it's in business any more. Should have stuck with "Eichi" and become sexular, er, secular.

I went to a touristy udon shop in Kyoto a few years back. They had changed the handwritten english sign for "Bukkake" noodles to "Bukkane" noodles!!

Another option could be to merge with Tamagawa University and change the name to Kintama University.

It's been a while but is the Kinki Grooming School still there? It was a nice looking dog company, just the sight of it made me howl

Perhaps Hentai University would be a better name. ;)

This could go on and on. As well as Kinki Homes, Kinki Bread and Horse Racing Kinki, there is the three letter code and name of my local International airport http://www.fuk-ab.co.jp/.

But this is not much of a problem for the Japanese. Kinki also puns on "taboo" in Japanese but few care about risqué double entendre. Consider the internationally famous watchmaker "Seiko(u)." The etymology is from the Japanese word for "precision instrument" but it puns on the Japanese for "coitus" among other things. No one bats an eyelid.

I hope Bendova in the Czech Republic, Horni in France, Climax in the US and Twatt in Wales don't follow suit. In order to save them, maybe Kinki Nippon Tours could organize trips to publicize great names. I was born in Cock Lane in Norton-Juxta-Twycross, England, by the way, which some incomers tried to change to Main Street -- thank the lord, a sense of humour prevailed and the name was kept.

Reminds of of a Childrens movie that in Japanese was called "Cat Cook"... but they marketed it to AMerican audiences with the direct translation title as "pussy soup".

Why? If I were still a young man there would be no school I'd rather be, based on name alone! Are they going to change the name of the economic zone itself? If not, how will "Kindai" dai explain it's in the Kinki region?

This reminds me of a joke:

What's the difference between kinky and erotic sex?

Kinky sex you use the feather duster. Erotic sex you use the whole chicken!

I'd like to know would this also affect the name of one of the largest railcar builders in Japan, Kinki Sharyo. That company builds many passenger railcars for use around the world, and is best known in Japan for building Shinkansen trainsets and the commuter rail trainsets used in the Keihanshin (Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe) region.

@Timtak, thanks for the info. In the 90's when I was just new in the hotel as a dishwasher, A Jman used to call me Seiko. I was giggling then as Ms. Seiko Matsuda was very famous then. I felt like beautiful calling me Seiko too. Never thought of another meaning to it except now. In my 20 yrs here, still a lot of things to be learned. And in my native country, there's a town in the province of Pampanga which is called Sexmoan. Good thing I was never born there.

Farmboy, ""I'm Kinki born and Kinki bred, and I'll be Kinki til I'm dead."

Epic my man... epic.

I always liked this one:

City Bank: Shiti Bank.

Much simpler to change the i to a y and call it Kinky University. No need to explain the difference any more.

Trinklets, unfortunately they changed the name of that great city as well, now it's called Sasmuan. Which is really a pity. And let's not forget the most popular touristic attraction of Austria, the beautiful village of F. (I can't post it because it's "potentially offensive")

Back on topic, I would recommend for hiring at Kinki university the renown American professor Mancuso, and the Russian researcher Chinkov.

My hometown has a place called Tittywank.

If Japanese establishments are going to start changing their names to suit juvenile giggling foreigners, then shouldn't Americans rename fanny packs something else, as the word 'fanny' has negative overtones in the UK (and probably Oz and NZ).

Seriously, it's daft. Who cares what foreigners think?

welcome to shiti wahk how may i help you, yes i would like some of your shiti chicken, okay couldn't help the southpark reference, but

Mick_HardwickMAY. 22, 2014 - 07:51AM JST The Kinki Kids have caused a lot of confusion...

http://thejapanwanko.sub.jp/?p=999

HIllarious article, thats really funny xD talk about bad mix up for the kinki kids

Silly! Kinki University is cute. When he goes to English speaking countries, he has an instant conversation starter. What s wrong with that? And in non-English speaking countries, it is a non-issue anyway. Does he want to cleanse the Japanese language of all words that can sound funny in English? Why?

Agree with WilliB ^^. Kinko's, a massively successful chain of photocopy shops in the US, has survived a long time, although who knows what really goes on behind the counter late at night? My online bank changes its name every few years and that's just confusing as hell.

I'm sorry that the university leadership feels the need to change the English version of this excellent institution's name. Instead, they should embrace its proud geographic heritage and turn these possibly awkward moments into teachable opportunities when abroad. But this does remind of the coffee shop/kissaten I happened upon years ago near Namba - its name boldly displayed in romaji was "Urine （うりね）Coffee Shop"...

Managers hope the move will embolden students to apply for exchanges, safe in the knowledge that they won’t be laughed at just for the name of their university

It could backfire.

Silly. One of the reasons why people outside of Japan know Kinki Dai (or Kindai as is already the nickname) is because of the name. They are clearly taking an interest in attractve foreign students and researchers but could I suggest they develop better programs rather than focus on the name?

The new mascot is the broadbanded thornyhead. D'oh!

Thunderbird: "Seriously, it's daft. Who cares what foreigners think?"

Obviously Kindai University does, now doesn't it?

Other possibilities might be:

Kindai Humo(u)rless University

or because their flag sports a kinky knot logo, then "Kinky Knot Kinki, Not Kinky University".

They really shouldn't have changed the name but instead should have introduced uniforms made of leather and latex.

While watching Sumo yesterday, I heard one of the announcers mention the university name change during the broadcast because one of the Sumo wrestlers was a graduate there. I doubt anyone would laugh in his face about that school's name.

I think it is better to have such a fun(!) name, than to have a name no one would notice... I don't know whether this university is a good one, or not, but to advertise themselves, their name is (was) a big plus.

I always thought that the naughtiest Japanese place name was the Kanto Plain as it is said in Japanese.

I thought they were going to say something like, "We're tired of English speakers snickering at our school name, so we're going to change the name from Kinki University to F*!& University!" (Or some other blatantly obscene word)

But in all seriousness, I understand the desire to be taken more seriously, but at the same time, you have to embrace the name. It's the perfect opportunity for some creative advertising.

"Kinky" doesn't even mean "perverted" tho.

Fukuppy made me laugh so much I could not type for ten minutes... hehee. Kinki, I already knew about and i actually think it is a really nice name for a place. There is a really good band in England called Chikinki. Very kawaii name. But Fukuppy... hahaa

I like the many suggestions by open-minded level headed people to capitalize on the name instead of change it. But this is the world we live in, and its full of pin-headed people. They have power too, and if the name change helps graduates be taken seriously by them on the international stage, the name change is unfortunate but necessary.

I must admit, when I first came to Japan I was slightly disturbed when an adult student told me, with an embarrassed grin on his face : "I love kinky kids!". To add to my distress, at the time there were some children taking a lesson in the adjacent room...

I drive a Nissan Moco. Moco means boogers in Spanish. You don't see me complaining.

I though "Plonka University" is more suitable for them.

Japanese business and school need to stop using English name which they don't know what mean was.

All they really had to do is say, "Kinki University is in Kinki, a part of Japan that includes Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto. It's a place, not a proclivity."

I didn't get the Fukupuppy until someone literally pointed it out haha. I don't read it in the same way as most do I guess. About Kinki, hey, it can be used as advertisement!!

Yes it is all about how you read things....In america a woman got in trouble for her liscense plate. She loves Tofu so on her plate it said ...ILvToFu..someone else reads it as I LV To Fu.....not good :(

Seriously, who cares about some giggling premature Americans? If all countries started renaming their facilities that might have a double meaning in another language, there wouldn't be much left in the end. You could even make something "kinki" out of Osaka, but that'd suck too hard. Just let it be.

"Kinky" doesn't even mean "perverted" tho.

True! Where 'horny' is the average, low form of expressing the meaning, 'kinky' is the high-fashion ballroom version of the same word. It's not really a dirty word.

Silly. And what's with the title? A "pervy" name? Pervy describes a person, interpretation or attitude, not word or place name. And are all names supposed to be cleared in all languages now?

When I lived in Kansai, I noticed it was only certain adolescent Americans who giggled over the word Kinki and made a big deal out of it.

Most other Westerners never batted an eyelid. Perhaps it has a stronger or more shocking meaning in US English?

@nandakanda

Agreed. We have a satellite campus of Kinki here in Kyushu.... I've never heard the slightest joke about the name in over twenty years.

I guess some people just have to get off on "weird Japanese".

But most are depicting the meanings in English. They are in Japanese and have no bearing on the English meaning!

Kindai Daigaku = Kinki University University

Ahhh, the good ole days in Kansai. I remember Kinki Bank's advertising campaign, "My bank. My Kinki."

Not as good as Fukuppy - a true blessing from the gods of irony if there ever was one - but not bad either.