A Few Updates From Our Workshop

November is usually the month when we make more certificates and awards than usual. Lately I have also been designing wooden nafuda. These are the Japanese-style rectangular name plaques with students’ or teachers’ names written on them, often in kanji or kana, and displayed in a dojo or school. When you hang them together on a rack, it is called a nafudakake.

Instead of making them exactly like the traditional Japanese ones, I am thinking about making a version that is more flexible. I want the back to have hidden magnets and still follow a simple Japanese look. We could even embed an NFC tag inside the nafuda so a student could tap it with a phone and go to your website or a page that explains their translated name and how to pronounce it.

For the frame, we can make boards that fit common photo frame sizes with magnets lined up perfectly so all the nafuda stay straight. But you do not even need a frame, because the nafuda can stick to any metal surface, a file cabinet, or even a refrigerator.

You could give these to students when they reach a new rank to motivate them to keep going and earn more. They could also be gifts for visiting martial artists in Asia, since they are nicely made and use American wood. It feels both familiar and special.

I have also been working on a book called “Good Names Can Jump.” It looks at more than 500 NBA players’ Chinese names as listed by NBA China and other Chinese and Taiwanese news media. It may take at least a few months before I finish it.

I am also working on a book about sounds and sound combinations to avoid when naming medical products. Some companies really need help. One time a consultant asked for my opinion about an English name for a medical product that was getting very negative feedback. It turned out the name sounded like “kill me now” in Mandarin. That was definitely not a good choice.

Let me know what you think.