The title caused immediate wonderment as to why a Japanese product would have a name that they couldn't naturally pronounce. Then I saw your katakana which made me think 'Yakult' was never from Japanese language, and where did Dr. Minoru Shirota get that word?
Very interesting background. It's always amused me to explain to other Americans how Japanese baseball teams are named after corporations rather than cities, like they are here. The only thing I got wrong was that I thought Yakult was a yogurt rather than a drink. Oh well...
From what I have seen, Japanese who didn't get immersed in English when they were kids, have a rough time navigating the "L"s forever. Out in flyover U.S.A., listening to what people from elsewhere do with English is kind of fun, like music. Wonder what they think about what we do with their languages. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Typo: revolving should probably be revolting
Funny that you mentioned Red Bull because energy drinks are a japanese invention taken over and turned global by an austrian brand.
Never actually knew that energy drinks originated in Japan!
The title caused immediate wonderment as to why a Japanese product would have a name that they couldn't naturally pronounce. Then I saw your katakana which made me think 'Yakult' was never from Japanese language, and where did Dr. Minoru Shirota get that word?
Here's a Yakult story about an Esperanto word for yogurt. https://yakult.com.mt/1935-2/
Maybe the English spelling was meant evoke yogurt and culture (both meanings)??
Yaaaa Great marketing! Cool article! Now I'm going to find some.
Thanks for that, never thought about the name- and great point on how it's a difficult word to pronounce in Japanese!
Very interesting background. It's always amused me to explain to other Americans how Japanese baseball teams are named after corporations rather than cities, like they are here. The only thing I got wrong was that I thought Yakult was a yogurt rather than a drink. Oh well...
It's both - a yogurt drink.
Love it. Bonus: mother in law was a Yakult Lady :)
Fascinating! I love Yakult and had no idea it was Japanese!!!!!
Interesting post. The yakult ladies remind me of Redbull. They did something similar with their little cars with a giant can on top.
Yakult with soda water (a home-made Calpis) is my preferred delivery method. :)
From what I have seen, Japanese who didn't get immersed in English when they were kids, have a rough time navigating the "L"s forever. Out in flyover U.S.A., listening to what people from elsewhere do with English is kind of fun, like music. Wonder what they think about what we do with their languages. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯