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Death Note news articles

Why is Light Yagami's Name Read as Yagami Tsuki? (Guest Post by Amaryllis)

7/2/2016

5 Comments

 
Start of Death Note Chapter 1 Ryuk and moon

Ryuk, clouds and full moon at the
start of Death Note
So the funny thing about Japanese is that it uses three different systems of writing: kanji, hiragana, and katakana.

Kanji was borrowed from China a long time ago and applied to Japanese words (although the sounds it represented had to be tweaked along the way) and is now used in combination with hiragana for native Japanese words. Since kanji had to be tweaked and adapted for convenient use, several different readings (or pronunciations) exist for each one.

Japanese names in modern times are typically written in kanji, though there are exceptions.  Light’s name is written using these kanji: 夜神月 (ya gami raito).
Kanji Yagami Tsuki - Light Yagami kanji Raito Yagami
Each of the kanji in his name have different possible pronunciations and common meanings, with “Yagami” using the kanji for “night” and “god”, and “Raito” using “moon/month”.

Interestingly there are no readings for 月 that sound anything like “raito”. The existing readings are “tsuki” (moon) and “getsu/gatsu” (month).
End of Death Note - Kira worshippers with moon
End of Death Note Kira worshippers and the moon

Kira worshippers and moon at the
end of Death Note
So why is a kanji, that is usually read as “tsuki” on its own, pronounced with a very English sounding “raito”, or “Light”? Simple answer: because Ohba-sensei told us that’s how it’s to be pronounced.

Complex answer: a naming phenomenon exists in Japan, utilising kanji that looks cool, in order to write names that would typically be written a different, more common way.

It is not so strange for parents to want their children to have unique names, nor for manga authors to name their characters using these conventions. It enables them to give their main characters names that are not used in other manga. Ohba-sensei chose the kanji that means moon to represent a new meaning of “light”, stretching the meaning of the original just enough to still be understood.

Why Light Continues to be Called Tsuki Yagami or Raito Yagami by Fans Today

This explains why Light Yagami's name is sometimes read as Tsuki Yagami and/or Raito Yagami too.  After all, we're being asked to render a common word in kanji in an uncommon way.

Then - back when Death Note was first released - and now - with each new person picking up the tale - every Japanese reader would assume that Ohba-sensei intended his protagonist to be called Yagami Tsuki. They have no reason not to, until Light himself explains in the manga how to pronounce his name.  That doesn't happen until, I believe, chapter twelve.

During his encounter with Naomi Misora, Light goes to great lengths to spell out precisely how his kanji is meant to be read.  It seems a little strange in context; too long-winded an explanation over a simple name pronunciation.  Particularly in conversation with a lady whom Light is about to kill, concerning kanji that she can't even see written down.
Yagami Raito kanji explanation between Light Yagami and Naomi Misora
But this was the way that Ohba-sensei got to tell his manga's readers too how to say his main character's name. En masse the whole fledging Death Note fandom suddenly had to teach themselves not to say Yagami Tsuki (or Yagami Raito) as assumed, but the now familiar Yagami Light.  Some still got it wrong - misunderstanding the correction as being from Tsuki to Raito - like in the panels above, produced by an unofficial early translator of Death Note manga chapters into English.

All proving how unusual it is for a Japanese schoolboy to be called Light, spelled as tsuki kanji and pronounced raito.  So uncommon and strange that some readers still opt for what the kanji is more obviously telling them, hence all three names continue to be prevalent throughout the fandom and even the rarest of them - Tsuki Yagami - may still be heard.

It may be that Ohba-sensei waited so long before (literally) spelling out how he wanted Light's name to be known, because the author hadn't quite decided the issue for himself.

Not until Death Note 13: How to Read was more insight divulged on the subject.  In the interview with Tsugumi Ohba, it's stated that he struggled with Light's name, unable to settle upon the right one.  Then his editor suggested 'Yagami' and it sparked enough inspiration in the writer that he went on a quest to find the kanji.
When I looked through the Japanese name registry, I found the Kanji for 'star' and 'light'.  At first, I wasn't too concerned about it. But the final scene in the manga gave his name deeper significance. I liked that.
- Tsugumi Ohba, Death Note author, How to Read: Death Note 13, p 61.
Reading between the lines, it's quite possible to imagine Ohba-sensei merely enjoying the duality of 'star', 'moon' and 'light' inherent in his protagonist's Kanji.  Then, as the story grew and the characterisation became more fixed, future scenes might flash eradescent through a storyteller's mind.  As yet unformed, but filling him with glee enough to shift away from that lack of concern into a sudden conviction that it should be Light, not Raito, nor Tsuki, that readers saw in that Kanji.

The writer had found the right name for Death Note's central character. Now he just needed the manga reading public to switch tracks with him, and that last scene would be beautifully full of symbolism.

Yet he kept the moon there too - in the first pages and penultimate ones too, as evidenced by the twin images shown at the top of this article; in situ bookmarking hundreds of pages across 108 chapters.  The Yagami Tsuki people were able to feel validated in stubbornly retaining that original presumed moniker for their character.

But then turn the page and that light upon the worshipper's face could just as easily be cast from a star.  At least metaphorically, with the star of hope. There's a nod to the editor's name registry book and the dual meaning of the star-light Kanji found inside.  The moment when Ohba-sensei could breathe life into his creation; for no persona lives on the page, until its name is known.

And again, turn a page to the manga's final word - a simple candle and its glow burning bright.  No celestial being this, nothing so divine.  Just Light, casting shadows, and the nothingness beyond.  Great final scene.  Good name.
Death Note Kira worshippers

Tsuki? Moon glow in the background; seemingly stars bright in their hands
Kira-sama Worshipper Death Note

Turning away from stars and the moon to a candle's small 'light' - this is Kira-sama
Final page of Death Note manga

Just a Light - the final word in
Death Note from its creators
See also:
Death Note Names: The Kanji of Light Yagami (Guest Post by Renchan)


Amaryllis's analysis of why Light Yagami may be called Tsuki Yagami by some fandom members, was posted as part of Death Note Month of Kira. 

Running throughout February 2016, anyone may contribute Kira related content for this event.  That includes you, and your mate.

To find out more about it, visit Death Note Month of... Home; to send in articles, art, recipes, queries, fan-fiction, tutorials, opinion pieces or any other wonders you're moved to share, please visit our sparkly new Month of... Reader Submission Page.

Cosplayers, you now have your very own Death Note costumers' questionnaire, as another option for inclusion in the Month of... focus.  Other groups, you'll get one soon, if you're an artist, writer and - if there's demand enough for it - role-player. Nudge us to request more community surveys for any other category of Death Note fan expression not yet counted.

Just want to read more on Death Note's Light Yagami?  Lay on, MacDuff.


Death Note News Month of Light Yagami banner


5 Comments
Joshua Moran link
17/10/2017 15:28:06

This is such an amazing write up, I'm surprised that there are no comments yet.. What an incredible new thing to know about the character Light in Death Note. What's interesting too is that it's also pronounced somewhat like the English word Ratio. Also, that Yagami is close to the Hebrew parallel of Yahweh, also known as God.

Reply
K
23/1/2022 10:43:00

How is ratio pronounced similarly to raito.. like really not

Reply
June
30/7/2020 07:35:29

Thanks for the explanation!

Reply
Z
22/8/2021 13:09:02

Beautifully written !

Reply
Northridge Boilers link
18/7/2022 20:20:32

Thank you for writing this

Reply



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