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Sort of hinted by a recent question How would one express an opinion from the perspective of an inclusive group? .

Japanese titles in books, songs, shows, etc. are accompanied with a title (status) or an apposition when there is a name. It happens so often, as if it is a rule.

三年B組金八先生
おじゃまんが山田くん
機動戦士ガンダム
超時空要塞マクロス
宇宙戦艦ヤマト
キャプテンハーロック
電子戦隊デンジマン
太陽戦隊サンバルカン
科学忍者隊ガッチャマン
元祖天才バカボン
プロゴルファー猿
オバケのQ太郎
忍者ハットリくん
Dr.スランプアラレちゃん
めぞん一刻
釣りキチ三平
男あばれはっちゃく

Sometimes, it is accompanied with an onomatopoeia, an interjection, or some short word.

ハローサンディーベル
ゲゲゲの鬼太郎
こちら葛飾区亀有公園前派出所

Why did it happen to be like this?

Community
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    Dr.スランプアラレちゃん is different from the other titles listed, because Dr.スランプ (a nickname for 則巻千兵衛) and アラレちゃん are two different people. – Tsuyoshi Ito Jun 09 '12 at 23:54
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    It happens in other languages as well, though, right? For example, these type of titles can be found in English... often used when trying to honor (or criticize) a certain person. It seems to be something that is used for some sort of humorous effect. – summea Jun 10 '12 at 06:00
  • What is おじゃまんが? Is it a title? Anyway, do you ask this type of question with expecting that you will get the "correct" answer? Do you think the language makes the naming trend and it can be explained linguistically and objectively in this forum? – Gradius Jun 16 '12 at 09:34
  • @Gradius I do not know whether I will get a correct answer. I think the naming trend is linked to the language. I do not think the explanation necessarily will be linguistic, but perhaps it can be socillinguistic. This site is not only for linguistic facts. –  Jun 16 '12 at 11:13
  • @sawa I mean, probably no one can provide a reliable answer to this "why", so I doubt that it works as an "question". If someone presents a subjective hypothesis here, what should we do? Can we believe it without reliable sources? Native speakers can answer questions about usage like which expression sounds more natural, but it is generally very difficult to answer "why"-type questions. Actually, some possible explanations came up in my head, but I don't write them as my answers. There are no evidences. Probably even scholars don't have a reliable, objective answer in this case. – Gradius Jun 17 '12 at 09:33
  • @Gradius You are right. But that applies to all questions asking about the etymology of an expression. Etymology can be at best a hypothesis. And, it also applies to any explanation or rule that has some level of generalization/abstraction. You are right about deciding whether an answer is correct or not, but that applies to all the votes and acceptance given by non-native speakers as well. –  Jun 17 '12 at 09:39
  • @sawa Indeed I don't like some explanations posted by users in this site. Some topics are still being discussed by experts, but there are non-native speakers who "understand" apparently reasonable explanations. In this case, we should compare titles of various materials in various genres for various ages in various languages before answering the question. It will need at least 10 pages. How about Popeye the Sailor Man, Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, Mickey Mouse, Curious George, The Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles, and so on. – Gradius Jun 17 '12 at 10:50
  • @Why do you need to compare various languages in talking about Japanese, and why do you need ten pages? I do not get what you mean. –  Jun 17 '12 at 12:17
  • @sawa まず、あなたは「なぜ日本語のタイトルは…」と質問していますが、これが日本語に特有なことなのかどうかが分かりません。これが他の言語にも共通することで日本語に特有のことでないなら、Why do japanese titles oftenという質問の前提が崩れます。さらに、あなたはほとんど子供向けの作品のタイトルしか例に挙げていません。これが全年代・全ジャンルに共通するJapnese titlesの一般的傾向なのか、例が偏り過ぎていて分かりません。もし仮に、世界中の子供向け作品に当てはまるなら、「なぜ子供向けの作品のタイトルは…」と質問すべきことになります。そもそも、日本語について、一般学習者のレベル以上の細かいニュアンスや日本社会での使われ方を議論するなら、専門家も含めた多くの日本人が参加できる日本語でやるべきなんです。私のような素人が下手な英語で独自の仮説を回答したとして、それを信じるなら信じる人に問題があります。他人に理由を説明するなら、きちんとした調査や出典が必要です。 – Gradius Jun 17 '12 at 18:53
  • @Gradius　I didn't write anywhere (including the title) that it is specific to Japanese, to particular genre, or to the target reader's age. Whether or not it is, that does not make any difference to what I am asking. I don't understand why you say that that does not satisfy a presupposition. And I don't expect a very academic answer to this question. However, if a specialist in Japanese with enough academic background were to answer this question, that person will most likely be able to write in English. It does not make sense to me why you say it has to be discussed in Japanese. –  Jun 17 '12 at 19:16
  • @Gradius And I am not asking particularly you to answer the question. If you cannot, that is fine. Do not answer it. Actually, I prefer not to be bothered with non-constructive comments. –  Jun 17 '12 at 19:17
  • @sawa You say "often", but we can find lots of counterexamples instantly and easily: ドラゴンボール, ワンピース, ドラえもん, 怪物くん, デビルマン, ベルサイユの薔薇, ルパン三世, シティハンター, パタリロ, 美味しんぼ, ポケットモンスター, パックマン, マリオブラザーズ, ドラゴンクエスト, 水戸黄門, 遠山の金さん, 必殺仕掛人, 白馬童子, 月光仮面, タイムボカン, ヤッターマン, ウルトラマン（初代）, 仮面ライダー（初代）, ゴジラ, 浦島太郎, 桃太郎, おむすびころりん, かさじぞう, 平家物語, 太平記, 南総里見八犬伝, 伊豆の踊り子, 坊ちゃん, 舞姫, その他多くの文学作品. – Gradius Jun 17 '12 at 19:32
  • @Gradius "Often" does not mean "all". Nor is it a relative notion. I didn't state anything as absolute rule. Hence, there is no "counterexamples" to it. By the way, some of the examples do have short words (not necessarily a title but some kind of a modifier) before the core part of the title as I mentioned: 必殺仕事人、南総里見八犬伝. –  Jun 17 '12 at 19:44
  • @sawa Before answering your question, I doubt the proposition in it. If we don't share a question, we can't answer the question. Your observation may be correct but may be incorrect. I don't want to spread wrong information about the Japanese language. I think you should show the fact reliably that Japanese titles often start with titles/appositions. – Gradius Jun 17 '12 at 19:44
  • @Gradius I do not know what presupposition you are talking about. And since we do not share the question, you cannot answer it. Nor do I want you to. –  Jun 17 '12 at 19:47
  • @sawa I think 必殺 is not a modifier. If you say 南総里見八犬伝 follows your rule, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland also follows the rule. The Canterbury Tales also follows the rule. I can't answer the question, so I doubt the question itself. – Gradius Jun 17 '12 at 19:48

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I think there is some truth in your assertion. However, I do think that the answer is not simple as there are many factors involved:

  1. I know for a fact that Japanese titles strive to be easily understandable and try to help give the reader hints about what the story is about. It is true that you can see examples in other languages also, however I would argue that there is a greater tendency to do this in Japanese culture. For example, there was a Disney film titled Up in English. When this was localized in Japan, the title was changed to カールじいさんの空飛ぶ家. In English, you can maybe guess a little bit about the movie, but the Japanese title definitely gives you a much clearer picture. I also guess that in English, there is greater tendency to leave the reader to guess what the story is about to make them curious, whereas in Japanese culture, people may be more inclined to ignore something if they don't know what it is about right away.

  2. Also, another cultural phenomenon is Japanese culture tends to focus more on individuals more than other cultures. For example, even to this day Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu, etc. are very popular historical figures, and there are countless moves, books, video games about them. Now, it is true that all cultures have a notion of this, however, I would argue that this is more prevalent in Japanese culture. I realize that all the examples do not fit this pattern, but most of the titles have a name of a person in them which I think shows that the stories often focus on individuals.

Jesse Good
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  • I would go further: if it's been done like that until now, then don't do it differently. As for *why* it started, I guess it's because of the importance the Japanese culture seems to attach to specialisation (i.e. status, group membership, etc). – Axioplase Jun 25 '12 at 02:33
  • I agree that Japanese titles tend to be explanatory and descriptive and to have a kind of proper noun. However, actually, I couldn't find enough examples starting a title (status) of a person or group, except for anime/manga and kids stuffs. How many adult novels do you find that follow this rule? – Gradius Jun 25 '12 at 06:35
  • カールじいさんの空飛ぶ家 is work for children. That is a point. Here is a [listing](http://vote3.ziyu.net/html/houga.html) of famous Japanese movies. [This](http://www.channelcinema.com/ranking/hougabest.html) is another. I can hardly see such a rule. Can you? – Gradius Jun 25 '12 at 16:49
  • [日本文学50選](http://zatugaku.jp/lj-50.htm), [名作小説ランキング](http://2chrank.web.fc2.com/novel/b-meisaku.html), [戦後歴代ミリオンセラー](http://millionseller.sakura.ne.jp/a100/index.html)... – Gradius Jun 25 '12 at 17:47
  • @Gradius: I agree with you that there is no rule. Rather, on a very deep level, Japanese titles tend to be more easily understandable and also focus on individuals more. Also, you are right in that I don't see this trend in adult novels, perhaps because they are directed towards a more sophisticated audience. – Jesse Good Jun 25 '12 at 21:13