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As the title asks. Is it ok to use terms in a non-English language, in this case Japanese, in a story aimed at English speaking audiences? In particular, I want to use various Youkai from Japanese mythology and want to directly call them by their Japanese names. "Foxfolk" just doesn't have the same sound and connotation as "Kitsune" and so on. As a result, if at all possible I really want to directly use the Japanese names of these Youkai monsters. Even further, I don't want to have "wizards" and "clerics/priests" but instead use the arctypes of the "Onmyoji" "Kannushi" and "Miko" to fill similar roles, using those distinct Japanese terms to label them. However, I'm not sure if Japanese terms in a fantasy story would be too much of a turn off for English-speaking audiences?
Is there a "line in the sand" for just how much Japanese I can include and if so where is it drawn? Can I only get away with relatively well-known Japanese terms like ninja, samurai etc..? Or can I get into some more obscure Youkai names and stuff like the Onmyoji and Kannushi/Miko? Is using Japanese terms to describe traditional Japanese clothing articles that don't have an exact western equivalent ok as well?
Any thoughts/advice on how much Japanese is ok in a narrative written for English-speaking audiences would be great.
Also, if your wondering, the story using these terms would be set either directly in Japan or a secondary world based heavily on Japanese mythology, and the characters would in fact be Japanese rather then westerners.
Is there a "line in the sand" for just how much Japanese I can include and if so where is it drawn? Can I only get away with relatively well-known Japanese terms like ninja, samurai etc..? Or can I get into some more obscure Youkai names and stuff like the Onmyoji and Kannushi/Miko? Is using Japanese terms to describe traditional Japanese clothing articles that don't have an exact western equivalent ok as well?
Any thoughts/advice on how much Japanese is ok in a narrative written for English-speaking audiences would be great.
Also, if your wondering, the story using these terms would be set either directly in Japan or a secondary world based heavily on Japanese mythology, and the characters would in fact be Japanese rather then westerners.
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