Jugemu

A couple could not think of a suitable name for their newborn son. The father went to the local temple and asked the chief priest to think of an auspicious name. The priest suggested "Jugemu" (寿限無), and several other names. The father could not decide which name he preferred, and therefore, gave the baby all of the names.

Jugemu's full name is:

(the NHK Nihongo de asobō version,^[2] partially replaced with kanji)

In one version of the tale, Jugemu got into a fight with a friend one day, and the friend suffered a large bump on his head. In protest, he went crying to Jugemu's parents. However, due to the amount of time it took to recite his name, by the time he finished, the bump on his head had already healed.^[3]

Another version states that Jugemu fell into a well and drowned; everyone who had to pass along the news spent a lot of time reciting his entire name.^[4] In yet another variant, Jugemu fell into a lake, and his parents barely arrived in time to save him.

Each part of Jugemu's name that the priest had suggested has an auspicious meaning:

Jugemu

"limitless life".^[2]

Gokō-no Surikire

"five kō of rubbing off (the rock)". In Japanese Buddhist lore, a heavenly maiden would visit the human world once in every three thousand years, leaving friction marks on a huge rock with her dress. Eventually, the rock would wear down to nothing^[2] in the span of one kō, or 4 billion (4×10⁹) years. The priest thus blesses the child to live at least 20 billion (2×10¹⁰) years, essentially for eternity.

Kaijarisuigyo

"gravel in the sea and fish in water". The amount of gravel and number of fish in the world is meant to represent the degree of the child's luck and fortune.

Suigyōmatsu

"where water eventually goes". Because water is free to go anywhere, the child is blessed with boundless well-being wherever he goes.

Unraimatsu

"where clouds originally come". Because clouds come from anywhere, this is similar to the above.

Fūraimatsu

"where wind originally comes". Similar to the above.

Kuunerutokoro

"places to eat and sleep".^[2] It is fortunate to have both food and shelter at any time.

Sumutokoro

"places to live".^[2] Same as above.

Yaburakōji-no burakōji

"Ardisia japonica (marlberry) bushes in Yabura Trail". The plant's modern Japanese name is yabukōji, and it is considered to be imbued with energy year-round.^[2] Yabura has no inherent meaning, but is inferred to be yabukōji with the pluralizing –ra suffix.

Paipo, Shūringan, Gūrindai, Ponpokopī, Ponpokonā

These are invented names of a kingdom and royal family in Ancient China. Paipo was a rich and peaceful kingdom, where King Shūringan and Queen Gūrindai reigned. They gave birth to Princess Ponpokopī and Princess Ponpokonā, and all of them enjoyed longevity.^[2]

Chōkyūmei

"long and lasting life".^[2]

Chōsuke

"blessed for a long time".

Japanese folklore studies classify "Jugemu" as a variant of tale type The Child with a Long Name.^[5] In the English speaking world, children's literature of this type is known by the titles "Tikki Tikki Tembo" and "Nicki Nicki Tembo".

An early version of this type is "Yoku kara shizumu fuchi" ('Sunk down the waters for greed'), in a book of jokes published in 1703, created by rakugo comedian Yonezawa Hikohachi.^[6] In it, a stepmother renames her sons. The stepson whom she hates is given a short name Nyozegamo, and her precious own son given a long Anokutarasambyakusambodai. One day, Nyozegamo falls into a river, but people swiftly rescue him. Another day, the mother's own son is swept by the river. She cries "Somebody, please! Anokutarasambyakusambodai is drowning!", but the boy is lost to the river as no-one comes to save him due to the time it takes her to say his name.^[6][7] Both names are garbled forms of phrases taken from Sino-Japanese readings of Chinese Buddhist sutras.^[8][9] The punchline is a Japanese pun involving the word sambyaku.^[6]

A book of horror stories published in 1805 contains "Isshini imyōo tsukete kōkai seshi hanashi" ('A tale of a man who named his son with a strange name, and regretted it'). In it, a man wishes to name his first son with a unique and long name. He consults a Confucian scholar, who recommends the name Daigaku shuki shouku shi teishino iwaku daigakuwa kōshino ishonishite shogaku tokuirunomon hyōe. A tutor of Japanese poetry sneers at this, opposing such use of foreign language to name a Japanese's son. The tutor proposes Nagakiyono tōnonefurino minamezame naminaminori funeno otono yoshibē, a traditional poem of good fortune. The scholar and the tutor starts quarrelling, so the father decides to make the name by himself. He solemnly declares it will be Tekitekini tekisuru onbō Sōrinbō sōtaka nyūdō Harimano bettō chawan chausuno hikigino Hyokosuke.

One day, the boy falls into a well. People panic to rescue the boy, but for every message they recite the long name. The boy dies, "blue and swollen".^[10][a][11]

The name by the Confucian is taken from a translated Chinese Confucian textbook about Great Learning.^[12] The poem that the tutor referred to, in its original form nakakiyono tōnonefurino minamesame naminori funeno otono yokikana, is a palindrome^[13] of Japanese morae (similar to syllables). The story gives no explanation of the origin or meanings of "Tekitekini[...]". The book was written by a storywriter and storyteller with pen name Tozuisha.^[11]

The name "Jugemu" appears in a 1884 magazine article,^[14][b] and the full story in a 1912 book.^[3] Another 1912 document suggests that the rakugo story of "Jugemu" may have existed by the mid-19th century.^[15]

According to a memoire published in 1927, there was another rakugo performed around the 1880s.^[16][c] In it, the first child is named by a Shinto priest, but dies in infancy; the parents ask a Buddhist priest to name their second child. The name is Animanimanimamane shiresharite shyamiyashyai taisentemokutemokute aishabisoishabi shaeashae shamiyaarokyabashabishyani abendaranebite atandahareshite ukuremukure arareharare shugyashiasanmasanbi budabikkiridjitchi darumaharishude sogyanekushane bashabashashudaimandarā,^[17][d] taken from a dharani (Buddhist chant) in chapter 26 of the Lotus Sutra. One day the child falls into a well and drowns; the punchline is dark humor relating Buddhist chants to Japanese funerals.^[17][18][19] This version is titled "Nagana (長名)".^[20] By the mid-20th century, it was no longer performed.^[20]

"Jugemu" is performed not only in yose (rakugo theaters), but also to other audiences and on mass media, especially for children.

"Jugemu" was on a 1926 newspaper's radio broadcast program, with the full name printed.^[21] There was another broadcast in 1932, this time for children, and the name printed on newspaper again.^[22] The story is told in children's magazines from as early as 1926.^[23] Even a prominent Japanese dictionary Kōjien describes the full name, since its 1991 edition.^[24] Television stations broadcast it also in children's programs.^[25] In 2003, NHK children's TV program Nihongo de Asobō ("Let's play with Japanese language") featured a game of reciting the name from memory. The program proved popular.^[26] There were schools that make all pupils memorize and recite it.^[27]

Since 2005, several elementary school textbooks include "Jugemu".^[28]

• Japanese folktale
• Non-fictional persons with long Jugemu-esque names:
  • Mary Abigail Kawenaʻulaokalaniahiʻiakaikapoliopele Naleilehuaapele Wiggin Pukui, a Hawaiian scholar, author, composer, hula expert and educator
  • Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegel­steinhausen­bergerdorff­welche­vor­altern­waren­gewissenhaft­schafers­wessen­schafe­waren­wohl­gepflege­und­sorgfaltigkeit­beschutzen­vor­angreifen­durch­ihr­raubgierig­feinde­welche­vor­altern­zwolfhundert­tausend­jahres­voran­die­erscheinen­von­der­erste­erdemensch­der­raumschiff­genacht­mit­tungstein­und­sieben­iridium­elektrisch­motors­gebrauch­licht­als­sein­ursprung­von­kraft­gestart­sein­lange­fahrt­hinzwischen­sternartig­raum­auf­der­suchen­nachbarschaft­der­stern­welche­gehabt­bewohnbar­planeten­kreise­drehen­sich­und­wohin­der­neue­rasse­von­verstandig­menschlichkeit­konnte­fortpflanzen­und­sich­erfreuen­an­lebenslanglich­freude­und­ruhe­mit­nicht­ein­furcht­vor­angreifen­vor­anderer­intelligent­geschopfs­von­hinzwischen­sternartig­raum Sr., American typesetter who held the record for the longest personal name ever used.
  • Leone Sextus Denys Oswolf Fraudatifilius Tollemache-Tollemache de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache, British Army captain in World War I.
  • Alfonso María Isabel Francisco Eugenio Gabriel Pedro Sebastián Pelayo Fernando Francisco de Paula Pío Miguel Rafael Juan José Joaquín Ana Zacarias Elisabeth Simeón Tereso Pedro Pablo Tadeo Santiago Simón Lucas Juan Mateo Andrés Bartolomé Ambrosio Geronimo Agustín Bernardo Candido Gerardo Luis-Gonzaga Filomeno Camilo Cayetano Andrés-Avelino Bruno Joaquín-Picolimini Felipe Luis-Rey-de-Francia Ricardo Esteban-Protomártir Genaro Nicolás Estanislao-de-Koska Lorenzo Vicente Crisostomo Cristano Darío Ignacio Francisco-Javier Francisco-de-Borja Higona Clemente Esteban-de-Hungría Ladislado Enrique Ildefonso Hermenegildo Carlos-Borromeo Eduardo Francisco-Régis Vicente-Ferrer Pascual Miguel-de-los-Santos Adriano Venancio Valentín Benito José-Oriol Domingo Florencio Alfacio Benére Domingo-de-Silos Ramón Isidro Manuel Antonio Todos-los-Santos de Borbón y Borbón, Spanish nobleman with 88 forenames
• Cneoridium dumosum (Nuttall) Hooker F. Collected March 26, 1960, at an Elevation of about 1450 Meters on Cerro Quemazón, 15 Miles South of Bahía de Los Angeles, Baja California, México, Apparently for a Southeastward Range Extension of Some 140 Miles, record holder for the longest article title on Wikipedia