What does Takeokun mean?

Originally published: 2011-Jan-11

Dr. Chris Nickson (@precordialthump) from Life in the Fast Lane asked me to explain the name and logo for my blog.  I figured that if Chris was wondering then others might be too.

First the name Takeokun.com for the blog.  My middle name is Takeo which is where that comes from.  I grew up in Hawaii where there are a lot of Japanese-Americans where it is common to have a Japanese middle name.  My last name, Nomura, is a common Japanese name and I didn’t want lots of people ending up at the financial company of the same name.

“Kun” is a Japanese honorific attached to the end of a name, usually for males.  There are several honorifics that can be used after a name from the more common “san” to the more formal respectful “sama”.  Several friends during my college years did refer to me at Takeokun with a sense of familiarity and friendship.   Quite a bit to say it is my middle name.

The story behind the logo is a little more involved.  I figured for a branding on the web I needed to get a logo for my website.  I went to Kitamura Kazuaki who works under the name Horitomo.  He was an apprentice to Horiyoshi III of Yokohama, a world famous Japanese tattoo artist.  Tomo-san is a specialist in the tebori form of Japansese tattoo, or traditional hand tattooing.  He is an extraordinary artist in his chosen medium.

The logo is a stylized water pattern that is common in Japanese tattooing.  The water pattern highlights waves which is a reference to the waves involved in Ultrasound, my primary area of specialization and interest in Emergency Medicine.  Also water adapts to its surroundings just like Emergency Medicine specialists.

Hope this satisfies the curiosity surrounding the name and logo for this blog.