A Little About Japanese Hosta Names

The Japanese name giboshi (or sometimes spelled giboushi) came from an ornamental pillar capping on a bridge handrail because the leaf shape resembles it. A woodprint picture by a famous Ukiyoe artist Hiroshige can show you what a pillar capping "giboshi" looks like.

Hostas are native to eastern Asian counties including Japan, Korea and China, especially more varieties are found in Japan. According to W. George Schmid, the author of "The Genus HOSTA - Giboshi Zoku" (Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 1991), Japanese and other foreign names cannot be translated per the ICNCP (International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants) 2004 Edition. There are lots of hostas with tongue twisting names and the names that don't make sense to most of us - 'Sagae' or 'Kifukurin Ko Mame' for example. Well, as a native speaker of Japanese, I'd like to offer you some help with Japanese hosta names so you would understand our favorite plants a little better.

The following is from what I know and my own personal views. It does not cover everything nor is it official. Experts may have different opinions or may not agree with me.

How to Pronounce Japanese Top | Pronunciation | Meaning | Spelling | Menu

Each Japanese sound is accompanied by a vowel, with an exception of "n", and there are 5 vowels:

a, i, u, e, and o.
There is only one way to pronounce a vowel.

a sounds like "ah" just like almond

i sounds like "ee" just like eel, eat

u sounds like "oo" just like wood, wool,

e sounds like "eh" just like echo, pen, Ken

o sounds like "oh" just like oak, over

Once you master the vowels, the rest is easy. You break a word into syllables, and presto! Now I will give you some examples.

Name Syllables Pronunciation

Amime Tachi A - mi - me ta - chi ah - mee - meh tah - chee

Gaijin Ga - i - jin gah - ee - jin

Geisha ge - i - sha gay - shah

Hime hi - me hee - meh

Hirao Hi - ra - o hee - rah - oh

Ko Mame ko ma - me koh mah - meh

Maekawa Ma - e - ka - wa mah - eh - kah - wah

Sagae Sa - ga - e sah - gah - eh

Saishujima Sa - i - shu - ji - ma sigh - shoe - jee - mah

After you practice above, you should have no problem pronouncing the title of this site -- "Giboshi Arekore," right?

Giboshi Gi - bo - shi gee (like geese) - bow - shee

Arekore A - re - ko - re ah - reh - ko - reh

All clear now? It wasn't so bad, was it?

What Does That Japanese Word Mean? Top | Pronunciation | Meaning | Spelling | Menu

Hostas are found growing wild in Japan. Mother Nature plays tricks once in a while and creates something different. Hostas are not exceptions.

Oba Giboshi (H. montana) is a green hosta. But Mother Nature dropped a little yellow color on the leaf edges. Now this giboshi is called "Kifukurin (yellow-edged) Oba Giboshi" instead of a unique "creative" name. As you may have guessed, it is called H. montana 'Aureomarginata' in western countries. By the way, "aureo" means yellow, and "marginata" means margined in Latin.

I'll give you one more example. Ohatsuki Giboshi (H. 'Undulata Erromena') with white edges is called "Fukurin (variegated) Ohatsuki Giboshi" in Japan. Can you guess what it is called here? That's right - it is H. 'Undulata Albomarginata.' Again, "albo" means white in Latin.

Well, anyway, there are many hostas in Japan that were named this way, by "descriptive" words simply added to the parent hosta names. So, if you understand the meaning of descriptive words, lots of Japanese hosta names would make sense.

I have collected some Japanese words that are used in hosta names and describes characteris. Hopefully this list will help you understand Japanese hosta names a little better.

Japanese word Meaning Examples

Species / Cultivars

Iwa H. longipes Kofuki Iwa Giboshi

Koba H. sieboldii 'Fukurin Mishima Koba', 'Ogon Koba'

Oba H. montana 'Ogon Oba'

Renge H. 'Fortunei' 'Kifukurin Renge'

Tachi H. rectifolia 'Amime Tachi', Ginbuchi Tachi'

Descriptive Words

Aoba green leaf 'Aoba Komachi', 'Aoba Tsugaru'

Chirifu speckled montana 'Chirifu'

Fukurin variegation, variegated rohdeifolia 'Fukurin'

Ginbuchi silver-edge(d), white-edge(d) 'Ginbuchi' Tachi

Hakurin white-edge(d) sieboldii spathulata Hakurin

Hime small 'Hime Tokudama'

Hosoba narrow leaf 'Hosoba Mizu Giboshi'

Kifukurin
Ki Fukurin yellow-edge(d) 'Kifukurin Ko Mame', 'Kifukurin Otome',
rectifolia Kifukurin'

Kin yellow / gold 'Kinbotan', 'Kinba'

Kinakafu
Ki Nakafu yellow-center(ed) 'Kinakafu Hosoba Mizu', 'Ki Nakafu Otome'

Kinbuchi gold-edged, yellow-edged 'Kinbuchi tachi'

Maruba round leaf 'Maruba Iwa', Maruba Tama-no-Kanzashi

Nakafu medio-variegated longissima 'Nakafu', 'Nakafu Kiyosumi'

Ogon gold, yellow 'Ogon Sagae', 'Ogon Tachi'

Shiro white 'Shiro Kabitan', rectifolia 'Shirofukurin'

Shirobana white flower kiyosumiensis 'Shirobana'

Shirofukurin
Shiro Fukurin white-edge(d) 'Shirofukurin Hime Iwa'

Shironakafu
Shiro Nakafu white-center(ed) 'Shironakafu Saikoku Iwa'

Urajiro white back, white underside longipes 'Urajiro', 'Urajiro Hachijo'

I have been going through hundreds of Japanese hosta names and collecting Japanese words that appear in hosta names more than once. I hope to complete the page Japanese Words in Hosta Names in the near future.

I have been also compiling English/Japanese Hosta Names Cross-Reference. Hopefull I will also be able to finish this page shortly.

But I Saw Some Words Spelled Differently... Top | Pronunciation | Meaning | Spelling | Menu

At the beginning of this page, I wrote "giboshi" is sometimes spelled "giboushi." Although there are guidelines, converting certain Japanese sounds into Roman alphabet depends on personal preference.

Not only spellings, some names are pronounced differently. Let's take H 'Saikoku Iwa' for an example. Saikoku() means western region, or Kyushu Island in particular. It is pronounced "saigoku" by many Japanese, but "saikoku" is also correct. Per George Schmid, the Japanese botanist Noboru Fujita spelled "Saikoku" in his 1976 monograph The Genus Hosta (Liliaceae) in Japan. "Saikoku," therefore, is considered the correct spelling for this hosta name.

Am I confusing you? Here is a list of some spelling variations to help you out. These are the actual spellings that I found in Japanese articles.

Widely Used Variation Examples

chi ti Hachijo, Hatijo; Ginbuchi, Ginbuti

e (long vowel) ei, ee Reiho, Reho, Reeho

fu hu Shirofukurin, Shirohukurin

ji di, zi Kisuji, Kisuzi

jo jyo Hachijo, Hachijyo

o (long vowel) ou, oo

wo, oh, ow (rare) giboshi, giboushi, gibooshi; Oba, Ooba, Ouba;
Hakuyo, Hakuyou, Hakuyoo
ogon, ougon, oogon, wogon; Hachijo, Hachijyow

shi si giboshi, gibosi

tsu tu Tsubomi, Tubomi; Tsugaru, Tugaru

u (long vowel) uu Tenryu, Tenryuu; Seiryu, Seiryuu

Saikoku Saigoku 'Saikoku Iwa', 'Saigoku Iwa'

Top | Pronunciation | Meaning | Spelling

a	sounds like "ah" just like almond
i	sounds like "ee" just like eel, eat
u	sounds like "oo" just like wood, wool,
e	sounds like "eh" just like echo, pen, Ken
o	sounds like "oh" just like oak, over

Name	Syllables	Pronunciation
Amime Tachi	A - mi - me ta - chi	ah - mee - meh tah - chee
Gaijin	Ga - i - jin	gah - ee - jin
Geisha	ge - i - sha	gay - shah
Hime	hi - me	hee - meh
Hirao	Hi - ra - o	hee - rah - oh
Ko Mame	ko ma - me	koh mah - meh
Maekawa	Ma - e - ka - wa	mah - eh - kah - wah
Sagae	Sa - ga - e	sah - gah - eh
Saishujima	Sa - i - shu - ji - ma	sigh - shoe - jee - mah

Giboshi	Gi - bo - shi	gee (like *gee*se) - bow - shee
Arekore	A - re - ko - re	ah - reh - ko - reh

Japanese word	Meaning	Examples
Species / Cultivars
Iwa	H. longipes	Kofuki Iwa Giboshi
Koba	H. sieboldii	'Fukurin Mishima Koba', 'Ogon Koba'
Oba	H. montana	'Ogon Oba'
Renge	H. 'Fortunei'	'Kifukurin Renge'
Tachi	H. rectifolia	'Amime Tachi', Ginbuchi Tachi'
Descriptive Words
Aoba	green leaf	'Aoba Komachi', 'Aoba Tsugaru'
Chirifu	speckled	montana 'Chirifu'
Fukurin	variegation, variegated	rohdeifolia 'Fukurin'
Ginbuchi	silver-edge(d), white-edge(d)	'Ginbuchi' Tachi
Hakurin	white-edge(d)	sieboldii spathulata Hakurin
Hime	small	'Hime Tokudama'
Hosoba	narrow leaf	'Hosoba Mizu Giboshi'
Kifukurin Ki Fukurin	yellow-edge(d)	'Kifukurin Ko Mame', 'Kifukurin Otome', rectifolia Kifukurin'
Kin	yellow / gold	'Kinbotan', 'Kinba'
Kinakafu Ki Nakafu	yellow-center(ed)	'Kinakafu Hosoba Mizu', 'Ki Nakafu Otome'
Kinbuchi	gold-edged, yellow-edged	'Kinbuchi tachi'
Maruba	round leaf	'Maruba Iwa', Maruba Tama-no-Kanzashi
Nakafu	medio-variegated	longissima 'Nakafu', 'Nakafu Kiyosumi'
Ogon	gold, yellow	'Ogon Sagae', 'Ogon Tachi'
Shiro	white	'Shiro Kabitan', rectifolia 'Shirofukurin'
Shirobana	white flower	kiyosumiensis 'Shirobana'
Shirofukurin Shiro Fukurin	white-edge(d)	'Shirofukurin Hime Iwa'
Shironakafu Shiro Nakafu	white-center(ed)	'Shironakafu Saikoku Iwa'
Urajiro	white back, white underside	longipes 'Urajiro', 'Urajiro Hachijo'

Widely Used	Variation	Examples
chi	ti	Hachijo, Hatijo; Ginbuchi, Ginbuti
e (long vowel)	ei, ee	Reiho, Reho, Reeho
fu	hu	Shirofukurin, Shirohukurin
ji	di, zi	Kisuji, Kisuzi
jo	jyo	Hachijo, Hachijyo
o (long vowel)	ou, oo wo, oh, ow (rare)	giboshi, giboushi, gibooshi; Oba, Ooba, Ouba; Hakuyo, Hakuyou, Hakuyoo ogon, ougon, oogon, wogon; Hachijo, Hachijyow
shi	si	giboshi, gibosi
tsu	tu	Tsubomi, Tubomi; Tsugaru, Tugaru
u (long vowel)	uu	Tenryu, Tenryuu; Seiryu, Seiryuu

Saikoku	Saigoku	'Saikoku Iwa', 'Saigoku Iwa'