gurdymonkey | If it's Tuesday, you must be Kitsune.....

What is the sound of one hand clapping itself to one forehead in front of monitors across the Known World? It is the sound of some enthusiastic newcomer to one of the SCA Japanese lists who wants to name himself/herself after an animal with whom he/she identifies. Number One on the hit parade is Kitsune, though we've also had requests for wolves and most recently a raven. (Nobody ever wants to be a cockroach though. Or even a tanuki.)

Today, O Readers, She Who Sucks Least muses on the subject of persona and naming within the SCA. On one of the non-Japanese SCA lists I am on, someone recently posed the question of how one reconciles one's personal beliefs with the belief system one's persona would have subscribed to. The short version of that discussion pretty much boils down to either downplaying (or completely omitting) the religious aspect of one's persona within the confines of SCA play or incorporating it - as long as it is done with respectful intent.

Nobody bats an eye at an American of northern European ancestry portraying a northern European medieval Christian, which is quite convenient for when I am being Jehanne. However, as an American of northern European ancestry etc., my portrayal of a Japanese becomes far more complicated.

Again, the key, at least in my own mind, is respectful intent. I admit that when I am Saionji I work a lot harder at it. I worried when Duchess Tamsin (who is Japanese American) and I locked eyes across the road in Merchant's Row the first time she'd actually seen me in wafuku. She is a dear, classy lady who would have never said a word against it, but I still felt my gut knot and wondered "Oh, God, what does she think?" I feel it every time we have native Japanese visitors from the Barony of the Far West. (The good news is that I've had most reassuringly positive and complimentary reactions in all cases and appear to have managed not to offend anyone.)

So, back to the "Hi, can I call myself Kitsune?" people. Well, you can call yourself whatever you want, but should you?

In the SCA, if you want to register a name, "every word in a Society name must be compatible with period naming practices."

Regardless of the story you read or the anime you saw or the fact that you think wolves are admirable or ravens are cool, you have to stop and ask, did the Japanese name their children after these creatures? If not, WHY not? How did Japanese of the period perceive these animals 300 or more years before the founding of the Sierra Club? That's the criteria you should consider if you want to attempt a respectful portrayal of a Japanese in the SCA. (E.g., when the Shinsegumi were referred to as the Wolves of Mibu, it was most definitely not a compliment.)

Trust someone who started out with a punning Japanese nickname that made all the martial artists think, "Are you SURE you want to call yourself that, hon?" (It served its purpose at the time, then when I was ready, I chose a better name.)

Are you still sure you want that name?