About: Why the Lions?

Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP)

Sunday, February 5, 2023

2022 Seibu Lions name translations

 


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One of our most common gags here at Graveyard Baseball is to do a literal translation of Lions players and their family names. On Twitter, it often looks like this:


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Here is the 2022 edition of every Seibu Lions player.  

To prevent redundancy, we have assigned 田 to paddy and 野 to field. If some guys have the same family name, we've translated their first name as a bonus. When seeing that kanji, the last name is first, first name is last.

For players with the same surname, we also translated their first name.

Italicized names are players who are not returning for 2023.

All draft picks from 2022 are not included since they won't play until 2023. 

Pitchers:

Tatsushi Masuda 増田: More paddies

Kona Takahashi 髙橋 光成: Tall bridge, Light growing

Ken Togame 十亀: Ten turtles

Shota Hamaya 浜屋: Beach Roof

Katsunori Hirai 平井: Flat well

Yasuo Sano 佐野: Assistant field

Ichiro Tamura 田村: Paddy village

Keisuke Honda 本田: Book Paddy

Shota Takekuma 武隈: Warrior shadow

Tatsuya Imai 今井: Now well (Well as in the noun, not the adverb/adjective)

Kaima Taira 平良: Flat Good

Yutaro Watanabe 渡邉: Ford Edge (ford as in ferry crossing or transit, not the car).

Tetsuya Utsumi 内海: Inside Sea (Inlet)

Ryosuke Moriwaki 森脇: Forest Armpit (or side / flank)

Kaito Yoza 與座: Participation Seat

Tetsu Miyagawa 宮川: Shrine River

Hiroki Inoue 井上: Well Top

Koki Matsuoka 松岡: Pine Tree Hill

Takeru Sasaki 佐々木: Assistant Tree

Katsuhiko Kumon 公文: Government Documents

Ren Omagari 大曲: Big Bend

Yoshinobu Mizukami 水上: Water Top

Chihiro Sumida 隅田: Corner Paddy

Shunsuke Sato 佐藤: Assistant Wisteria

Shinnosuke Hada 羽田: Feather Paddy

Masaya Kuroda 黒田: Black Paddy

Yuto Akagami 赤上: Red Top

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Catchers:

Tomoya Mori 森: Forest

Masatoshi Okada 岡田: Hill paddy

Shoya Makino 牧野: Shepard Field

Masato Saito 齊藤 誠人: Adjusted Wisteria, Sincere Person

Sena Tsuge 柘植: Mulberry Plant

Yuto Koga 古賀: Old Joy

Daichi Nakaguma 中熊: Center Bear



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Infielders:

Sosuke Genda 源田: Root paddy (源 [gen] can refer to the origin or root of something)

Hotaka Yamakawa 山川: Mountain river

Takeya Nakamura 中村: Center village

Haruka Yamada 山田: Mountain paddy

Shuta Tonosaki 外崎: Outside cape (cape as in headland, not the cloak)

Kakeru Yamanobe 山野辺: Mountain Field Area

Ryota Kawano 川野: River Field

Kento Watanabe 渡部: Cross Section

Takayoshi Yamamura 山村: Mountain Village

"Brandon" Taiga Tysinger ブランドン: Broom Hill 

Due to going by his given name and not being a foreigner as someone born in Okinawa, Brandon gets recognized here. 

Seigo Nakayama 中山: Center Mountain

Natsuo Takizawa 滝澤: Waterfall Swamp

Shinya Hasegawa 長谷川: Long Valley River

Shota Hiranuma 平沼: Flat Marsh


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Outfielders:

Yuji Kaneko 金子 侑司: Gold child, Assistant director

Takumi Kuriyama 栗山: Chestnut mountain

Manaya Nishikawa 西川: West River

Seiji Kawagoe 川越: River surpass

Masato Kumashiro 熊代: Bear substitute

Shohei Suzuki 鈴木: Bell tree

Daisuke Togawa 戸川: Door river

[Aito] Takeda 武田 愛斗: Military paddy, Love Big Dipper / Ladle (Takeda has his first name registered)

Wataru Takagi 高木 渉: Tall Tree, Ford (as in fording or crossing a river)

Junichiro Kishi 岸: Beach

Gakuto Wakabayashi 若林: Young Grove

Yuta Nakamigawa 仲三河: Between Three Rivers

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Ikusei:


Toshihiro Idei 出井: Exit Well

Hiromasa Saito 齊藤 大将: Adjusted Wisteria, General

Sho Ito: 伊藤: Italian Wisteria

Joseph Ken Miyamoto 宮本: Shrine Book

Taishi Mameda 豆田: Legume Paddy

Kaito Awatsu 粟津: Millet Harbor

Towa Uema 上間: Above Space

Takeru Furuichi 古市: Old Market

Shinya Sugai 菅井: Sedge Well

Keishin Kawamura 川村: River Village

Hitoto Komazuki 駒月: Horse Moon

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Manager and Coaches:

Hatsuhiko Tsuji 辻: Intersection

Kiyoshi Toyoda 豊田: Rich Paddy

Shigenobu Shima 嶋: Island

Masahiro Abe 阿部: Corner head of Yamato Group (saw Africa for Abe's name, but too confusing)

Fumiya Nishiguchi 西口: West Mouth

Tomoaki Sato 佐藤: Assistant Wisteria

Kazuo Matsui 松井: Pine Tree Well

Hiroyuki Takagi 高木 浩之: Tall Tree, This Abundance

Yosuke Hiraishi 平石: Peace Stone

Kosuke Noda 野田: Field Paddy, Abundance of help

Satoshi Kuroda 黒田: Black Paddy

Shogo Akada 赤田: Red Paddy

Eiji Kiyokawa 清川: Pure River

Tatsuyuki Uemoto 上本: Top Book

Tatsuya Ozeki 小関: Small Connection

Tatsuya Oishi 大石: Big Rock

Norio Tanabe 田辺: Paddy Border

Hayato Aoki 青木: Green Tree

Hisashi Takayama 高山: Tall Mountain

Shota Nakata 中田: Center Paddy

Shuichiro Osada 長田: Long Paddy

Yuji Onizaki 鬼崎: Demon Peninsula

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Bonus: Foreigners

As a continuous gag, we reverse translate the foreigners to see what their name in Japanese would literally look like, not just katakana sounds. Here is what their names would look like in kanji. Chinese names also included.

Nien Ting Wu 呉: Donor / Zouyosha (贈与者)
While Wu is Taiwanese, his name can also reference being a Giver though it mostly represents a kingdom/dynasty. 

Brian O'Grady: Noble / Koushou (高尚)
O'Grady's name has Gaelic origins being a derivative of the word for noble.

Dietrich Enns: God's Helmet / Kami Kabuto (神兜)
Enns, of Irish origins is short for Anselm of German descent which is God's helmet.

Burch Smith: Strike / Dageki (打撃)
Smith has Old English origins for a strike, the noun for the action of hits with a hammer or another craftsmen tool. 

Jantzen WitteWhite One / Shirojin (白人)
Witte has Dutch and Germ)an origin. Very similar to how Wade LeBlanc has white as his surname with French origin.  

"Bo" Takahashi: To Live / Ikiru (住む)

 While Bo is a nickname, we'll include this name as Scandinavian descent given he goes by this instead of his surname meaning to Live or Dwell. 

Ikusei: 

Romer Cuadrado: Square / Shikaku (四角)

In Spanish, Cuadrado is the word for square. 

Jasier Herrera: Iron Mine / Tetsukouzan (鉄鉱山)

Herrera, with Spanish origin, is an iron mine. Fittingly 鉄 is the same character for Nishitetsu, the former Lions name in Fukuoka. 

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Bonus: Samurai Japan 

Just for fun we've thrown in Samurai Japan's squad for the 2023 World Baseball Classic going beyond Genda and Yamakawa.

Yu Darvish ダルビッシュ: 托鉢 (Takuhatsu たくはつ)

With Darvish having Iranian descent, his family name is a Sufi holy man derived from ‘Dervish’ a member of a Sufi Muslim religious order from Pahlavi driyosh meaning ‘beggar one who goes from door to door’.

托鉢 would count in religious manners of begging or monk's begging. 

Shohei Ohtani 大谷: Large Valley

Shosei Togo 戸郷: Door Village

Yuki Matsui 松井: Pine Tree Well

Roki Sasaki 佐々木: Assistant Tree

Taisei Ota 翁田: Venerable Old Man Paddy

Hiromi Itoh 伊藤: Italian Wisteria

Yoshinobu Yamamoto 山本: Mountain Book

Ryoji Kuribayashi 栗林: Chestnut Grove

Shota Imanaga 今永: Now Eternal

Atsuki Yuasa 湯浅: Hot Water Shallow

Yuki Udagawa 宇田川: Roof Paddy River

Hiroya Miyagi 宮城: Shrine Castle

Keiji Takahashi 高橋奎二: Tall Bridge, Constellation Two. 

Hiroto Takahashi 高橋宏斗: Wide Ladle

Takuya Kai 甲斐: A-Grade Beautiful 

Takumi Oshiro 大城: Big Castle

Yuhei Nakamura 中村: Center Village

Tetsuya Yamada 山田: Mountain Paddy

Shugo Maki 牧: Pasture

Takumu Nakano 中野: Center Field

Kazuka Okamoto 岡本: Hill Book

Munetaka Murakami 村上: Village Above

Kensuke Kondo 近藤: Near Wisteria

Ukyo Shuto 周東: Circuit East

Masataka Yoshida 吉田: Joy Paddy

Seiya Suzuki 鈴木: Bell Tree

Lars Nootbaar: 著名 / ちょめい Chomei

Nootbaar's family name has Dutch descent and references being notable or famous. 

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