Ooyodo... your writing is too perfect, its almost as if its type on a computer...
Edit: For the matter of fact, do Japanese have those kanji? Edit 2: Actually now I look at it closely, its Ooyodo's writing.
The kanji (hanzi) that are "allowed" to be used for names in Japan include a much larger selection than those used day to day (or even occasionally).
There's an entire science of etiquette in Japan regarding names - it is not impolite to ask someone how their name is written, or if you get their business card, to ask how their is read (if they didn't introduce themselves fully for whatever reason) because it's such a mess er so complicated.
Though using kanji for approximations of pronunciation is a Chinese thing - Japanese simply use kana for that. I think it's just supposed to show that how well educated Ooyodo is that she knows all of the really lesser-known characters.
The kanji (hanzi) that are "allowed" to be used for names in Japan include a much larger selection than those used day to day (or even occasionally).
There's an entire science of etiquette in Japan regarding names - it is not impolite to ask someone how their name is written, or if you get their business card, to ask how their is read (if they didn't introduce themselves fully for whatever reason) because it's such a mess er so complicated.
Though using kanji for approximations of pronunciation is a Chinese thing - Japanese simply use kana for that. I think it's just supposed to show that how well educated Ooyodo is that she knows all of the really lesser-known characters.
Evidently these words follow Chinese grammar, not the Japanese one. First, the Japanese doesn't use the suffix 號 when referring to the name of a ship(besides the Japanese uses the simplified word 号). Second, when dealing with foriegn names like Graf Zepplin, Japanese will simply use katagana to spell its pronunciation. In this case it will be グラフ・ゼッペリン
Bismarck
Written in Chinese characters that are approximations of the original sounds.
Akagi
Count Zeppelin
Graf Zeppelin, with Graf translated to Count (in Japanese) and Zeppelin written in Chinese characters.
Prince Eugen
Prinz is translated (Ouji), while Eugen is written using Chinese characters with similar sounds.