日本外相河野太郎21日在记者会上向各国主要媒体机构呼吁，报道日本人的姓名时应遵循“先写姓，后写名”的原则。以日本首相安倍晋三为例，现在是按照欧美“先名后姓”的习惯被写为“Shinzo Abe”，河野太郎呼吁大家将其更正为“Abe Shinzo”。

 俄罗斯莫斯科5月10日。2019年，日本外务大臣河野太郎在俄罗斯外交部斯皮里多诺夫卡大街招待会上与俄罗斯外务大臣举行联合记者会。

In a news conference Tuesday, Foreign Minister Taro Kono said he plans to ask overseas news outlets to write Japanese names with the family name first and given name second — as is the convention in Japan.

日本外相河野太郎在本周二（21日）的新闻发布会上说，他打算要求海外新闻机构按照日本的惯例，报道日本人的姓名时先写姓，后写名。

"I plan to ask international media organizations to do this. Domestic media outlets that have English services should consider it, too," he said, according to Kyodo News.

据日本共同社报道，河野太郎说：“我计划要求国际媒体组织这样做。提供英语内容的国内媒体也应该考虑这样做。”

【小知识】

英美人的姓名通常是“名在前姓在后”，比如David Beckham（大卫·贝克汉姆）这个名字中David是名，Beckham是姓，与中国和日本等国的姓名顺序相反。

 Kono noted that news organizations generally give Chinese and Korean names with the family name first, as in South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

河野太郎指出，很多国际媒体报道中韩领导人姓名时都是按照“先姓后名”顺序书写，比如韩国总统文在寅是“Moon Jae-in”。

His efforts to get the world to say Japanese names in the Japanese style seems in part to be a matter of timing.

他提出全球应按照日本“先姓后名”的习惯读写日本名字似乎是考虑到了时机的问题。

A new era, the Reiwa, began on May 1 as Emperor Akihito abdicated and his son, Naruhito, ascended to the throne. And Japan will soon play host to a number of major international events: the G20 summit next month, the Rugby World Cup in the fall, and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo next summer.

5月1日，明仁天皇退位，其子德仁天皇继位，一个新的时代——令和时代开始了。日本也即将举办一系列国际盛事，包括将于下月举行的二十国集团峰会、今年秋天的橄榄球世界杯、2020年东京夏季奥运会。

abdicate ['æbdɪkeɪt]：vi.退位；放弃

This isn't the first time that Kono has brought up the matter. "It's natural to discuss whether (such a change) should be made, including whether it should be in time for the emperor's accession ceremony (in October) or the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics (in 2020)," The Mainichi reports he said in March.

这并非河野太郎首次提出这个问题。据日本《每日新闻》报道，他在今年3月说：“我们自然应该讨论是否应作出这一改变，包括是否应该赶在天皇的登基典礼（10月）或东京奥运会和残奥会（2020年）前及时作出改变。”

The practice of putting the family name second when transliterating Japanese names is believed to date to the 19th century, when reformers of the Meiji dynasty sought to adapt to international standards, The Washington Post reports.

据《华盛顿邮报》报道，在译写日本人姓名时把姓放在第二位的做法，据信可以追溯到19世纪，当时明治维新派试图适应国际标准。

transliterate[træns'lɪtəreɪt; trɑːns-; -nz-]：vt.直译；字译

It's not clear what Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — or Abe Shinzo — makes of the suggestion to change.

目前还不清楚日本首相安倍晋三对这一建议有何看法。

 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers his policy speech at the lower house of parliament in Tokyo, Japan, Jan 28, 2019. [Photo/Agencies] 

"There are a lot of factors we have to consider, including convention," Yoshihide Suga, the government's chief spokesman, told a news conference.

日本政府首席发言人菅义伟在新闻发布会上表示：“我们必须考虑很多因素，包括惯例。”

On his own English-language Twitter page, the foreign minister writes his name as "KONO Taro." He speaks fluent English and has tweeted a photo of himself as a senior at Georgetown University, interning on Capitol Hill.

在自己的英文推特页面上，日本外相河野太郎的名字是“KONO Taro”（先姓后名）。他说一口流利的英语，还在推特上发了一张自己在乔治城大学四年级时在美国国会山实习的照片。

Many news outlets follow The Associated Press on matters such as how to handle foreign names. The AP Stylebook has a section on Chinese names, which says: "In personal names, Chinese generally place surnames first and then given names, Deng Xiaoping." In general, it says, "follow an individual's preferred spelling."

许多新闻媒体都遵从美联社处理外国名字的方式。美联社写作指南中关于中文姓名的章节中写道：“书写个人姓名时，中国人一般是先姓后名，比如‘邓小平’。”指南中写道，一般而言，“遵从个人偏爱的拼写方式”。

The AP Stylebook's section on Korean names notes, "In both Koreas, the family name comes first." It has no entry on Japanese names.

该指南关于韩语姓名的解释中写道：“书写朝鲜和韩国人的姓名，要把姓氏放在前面”。该指南没有关于日语姓名的解释。

对于日本政府这一呼吁，多数日本网民在社交网站上表示支持。有人说“学英语的时候经常被姓名顺序搞晕”，“之所以有‘姓名’这个词就是表明了顺序”。也有反对的声音认为，“为什么不能遵守国际规则？”