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Japanese Girls’ Names
by Kumi Furuichi
It used to be very typical for Japanese girls’ names to end with “ko.” (The trend might have started around my grandmothers’ generation and its peak might have been around my mother’s generation.) “Ko” means “child” in Chinese character. Parents would name their daughters with “ko” attaching to other Chinese characters which have meanings that they want their daughters to become, such as Sachiko – a happy child, Yoshiko – a good child, Yasuko – a healthy child, and so on.
However, I noticed recently that only two out of nine of my Japanese girlfriends at this school have names which end with “ko.” More and more, parents seem to have become creative, modernized, and, sometimes, westernized in naming their children.
I have a feeling that, while 70 percent or more of my mother’s generation would have names with “ko” at the end, the proportion has dropped among my peers. I wrote down all my Japanese friends’, ex-classmates’, co-workers, and acquaintances’ names that I could remember. Below are the names. (Some are repeats.) Test to see if the proportion has dropped for this generation.
Ai, Akemi, Akiko, Ayumi, Chiaki, Chie, Eiko, Eri, Eriko, Fumiko, Harumi, Hitomi, Hiroko, Hiroko, Hidemi, Hisako, Hinako, Izumi, Izumi, Junko, Junko, Kana, Kanako, Kanayo, Kayo, Kayoko, Kazumi, Keiko, Keiko, Kei, Kumi, Kumiko, Kyoko, Kyoko, Madoka, Maho, Mai, Maiko, Maki, Miki, Miki, Mikiko, Mina, Minako, Miyako, Momoko, Nana, Naoko, Naoko, Naoko, Noriko, Rieko, Rika, Rika, Rumiko, Rei, Reiko, Reiko, Sachiko, Sachiko, Sachiyo, Saki, Sayaka, Sayoko, Sayuri, Seiko, Shiho, Shizuka, Sumiko, Takako, Takako, Tomoe, Tomoe, Tomoko, Touko, Yasuko, Yasuko, Yasuyo, Yoko, Yoko, Yoko, Yoshiko, Yoshiko, Yoshiko, Yuka, Yuki, Yuki, Yukiko, Yuko, Yuko.
Phillip’s Wish by Suzanne Osorio
My nephew likes to play
Chasing the girls makes his day.He asked his mother
If it is okayTo get his ear pierced.
She said, “No way!”To poke a hole through your ear,
Is not what I want for you, dear.He argued his point quite well,
Says even my macho pal, Mel,Has gotten this done.
It’s all just for fun.C’mon please, mom, please, what the hell.
Again Phillip complained to his mother,Saying half his friends (including their brothers)
Are piercing their earsAnd they have no fears
He wants to be like the others.She said, “I think it’s much less.
We must do a hypothesis test.And if you are right,
I won’t put up a fight.But, if not, then my case will rest.”
We proceeded to call fifty guys
To see whose prediction would fly.Nineteen of the fifty
Said piercing was niftyAnd earrings they’d occasionally buy.
Then there’s the other thirty-one,Who said they’d never have this done.
So now this poem’s finished.Will his hopes be diminished,
Or will my nephew have his fun? The Craven by Mark Salangsang
Once upon a morning dreary
In stats class I was weak and weary.Pondering over last night’s homework
Whose answers were now on the boardThis I did and nothing more.
While I nodded nearly napping
Suddenly, there came a tapping.As someone gently rapping,
Rapping my head as I snore.Quoth the teacher, “Sleep no more.”
“In every class you fall asleep,”
The teacher said, his voice was deep.“So a tally I’ve begun to keep
Of every class you nap and snore.The percentage being forty-four.”
“My dear teacher I must confess,
While sleeping is what I do best.The percentage, I think, must be less,
A percentage less than forty-four.”This I said and nothing more.
“We’ll see,” he said and walked away,
And fifty classes from that dayHe counted till the month of May
The classes in which I napped and snored.The number he found was twenty-four.
At a significance level of 0.05,
Please tell me am I still alive?Or did my grade just take a dive
Plunging down beneath the floor?Upon thee I hereby implore. 
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