This article was reviewed by member(s) of WikiProject Articles for creation. The project works to allow users to contribute quality articles and media files to the encyclopedia and track their progress as they are developed. To participate, please visit the
project page for more information.Articles for creationWikipedia:WikiProject Articles for creationTemplate:WikiProject Articles for creationAfC articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Culture, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
culture on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.CultureWikipedia:WikiProject CultureTemplate:WikiProject Cultureculture articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Japan, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Japan-related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to
participate, please visit the
project page, where you can join the project, participate in
relevant discussions, and see
lists of open tasks. Current time in Japan: 18:39, August 1, 2024 (
JST,
Reiwa 6) (Refresh)JapanWikipedia:WikiProject JapanTemplate:WikiProject JapanJapan-related articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Sociology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
sociology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SociologyWikipedia:WikiProject SociologyTemplate:WikiProject Sociologysociology articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Trains, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to
rail transport on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can visit the
project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the
discussion. See also:
WikiProject Trains to do list and the
Trains Portal.TrainsWikipedia:WikiProject TrainsTemplate:WikiProject Trainsrail transport articles
The following is a closed discussion of a
requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a
move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
Move to
Railfans in Japan. There is nothing special about the foreign-language term (which could be translated literally as "train geek") that would suggest we need to retain it when discussing the topic in English.
Dekimasuよ!06:02, 1 June 2024 (UTC)reply
Oppose alt title. The Japanese language term describes the uniqueness of railway enthusiasm to that country. The history and specific cultural manifestations (such as collecting train jingles or bento boxes) is specific to this context. Also ‘railfan’ is an Americanism which makes the topic title too generic.
Wikociewie (
talk)
08:15, 1 June 2024 (UTC)reply
Disagree with this reasoning. Being generic is the entire point per
WP:COMMONNAME. Using English is per
WP:ENGLISHTITLE. It's an unfortunate reality that this means non-English concepts are being represented by foreign comparisons (densha otaku are not the same as railfans elsewhere), but that's what Wikipedia has decided for the policies. You can see this in action in other places;
Japanese castle is not called "Shiro (castle)". It is being described using an English word that evokes the European concept of a castle (which noncoincidentally is described at
castle, see
Talk:Castle#Castles outside Europe?), when really they're pretty different from shiro.
I have no preference as far as "railfan" vs. "railway enthusiast" vs. "trainspotter", etc., but the main article is at
Railfan, so
Railfans in Japan would be
WP:CONSISTENT. I disagree that the Japanese language term is doing anything in particular here. Densha simply means "train", not "Japanese train". As far as specific cultural aspects of railway enthusiasm in Japan, that's described by the content of the article rather than the title.
Dekimasuよ!14:47, 2 June 2024 (UTC)reply
Minor note from me, but I was more concerned about what "otaku" is doing, not "densha". Otaku carries different connotations to "geek" in the West. While they're fairly close meanings, there is still a semantic difference, similar to castle vs shiro. Still, I generally feel that the differences are small enough and that common name is useful enough that we can just use English-lang analogs in many cases.
104.232.119.107 (
talk)
21:07, 2 June 2024 (UTC)reply
Of the 26 results on Google Scholar, 9 are in foreign languages, 6 are typos for Densha Otoko (capitalized), 1 is a hit for "train (densha) otaku" which is therefore clearly not suggesting the use of "densha otaku" as a phrase, 1 is a hit for the phrase "train otaku or densha otaku", and all of the other hits are directly followed by glosses of either "train fans" or "train geeks". The suggestion
Railfans in Japan is a
descriptive title and not an attempt to make the case that there is a common name for this phenomenon in English. Clearly the Google Scholar hits do not indicate an established use of the phrase "densha otaku" in English. Rather it indicates that the phrase needs to be explained to English audiences every time it is used. I would have no problem with
Train fans in Japan, but as above, note that the parent article is at
Railfan.
Dekimasuよ!09:08, 2 July 2024 (UTC)reply
Supportrailfans in Japan. Per
WP:UE: In deciding whether and how to translate a foreign name into English, follow English-language usage. If there is no established English-language treatment for a name, translate it if this can be done without loss of accuracy and with greater understanding for the English-speaking reader. Dekimasu's analysis of the Google Scholar results convinces me that there is not an established English-language treatment for this topic's name; the responses to Wikociewie's comment convince me that translating the title would improve understanding without meaningfully losing accuracy. Thus,
WP:UE would favor an English-language title, and "railfans in Japan" would be
WP:CONSISTENT with the parent article at
railfans. (Note that, while I prefer to translate this title, I also believe that the lowercased "densha otaku" would be an improvement over the current title.)
ModernDayTrilobite (
talk •
contribs)
20:04, 2 July 2024 (UTC)reply
Opposerailfans in Japan, per Wikociewie. Applying an Americanism to a topic specifically about the Japanese is rather convoluted, especially since there are alternate options. If there was enough information about railway enthusiasts in the UK, I imagine the article would not be "Railfans in the United Kingdom", but rather "trainspotters". Mind you, this isn't a hypothetical, as we do have an article titled
Trainspotters in the United Kingdom. The proposed 'Railfans in Japan' does meet
WP:ENGLISHTITLE but does not meet
WP:COMMONNAME. An actually generic title would be necessary – were the proposed alt title something like "Railway enthusiasts in Japan", it might be more agreeable.
AVNOJ1989 (
talk)
17:48, 8 July 2024 (UTC)reply
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.