Digital Great Wall

Guess what these terms mean: Sea Star, Sea Treasure, Sea Brother, and Sorachi Hideaki. Well, the title of the post gave out the clue. Indeed, these are the potential names for a baby gorilla born in the Shanghai Zoo.

Baby gorilla in the Shanghai Zoo

On April 25, @上海动物园 (@Shanghai Zoo) launched a naming campaign for its 11-month old baby gorilla through Sina Weibo, asking the public to vote for their favorite names among the top ten candidates. They can do so by tweeting their favorite name plus @上海动物园, or sending a Weibo message or a physical letter to the zoo’s office.

Nine out of the ten names have something to do with Shanghai. For example, if we translate Shanghai literately, it means “Above Sea.” Thus, the names like “Sea Star” and “Sea Brother” all have Shanghai’s “Sea” in it to remind people that the gorilla’s Shanghai origin. In fact, in 2009, Shanghai Zoo also used crowd-sourcing to name its first local born baby gorilla “Sea Treasure.”

This year, the Japanese name ” 空知英秋” (Sorachi Hideaki) stood out among other conventional names. It is the name of the beloved author of a famous Japanese manga/anime Gin Tama. Sorachi usually draw the gorilla as a self-portrait in Gin Tama.

Gin Tama

Gin Tama’s author Sorachi Hideaki

The author’s self-portrait as a gorilla

Thanks to Gin Tama‘s fans, “空知英秋” (Sorachi Hideaki) made it to the top 10 finalist; more interestingly, the Shanghai Zoo recognized its popularity to shared it with the public. The zoo clarified its intention:

Since our zoo publicized these candidates for the public to vote on, we are prepared to adopt anyone of the winning names and will thoroughly respect netizens’ choices…we launched this naming campaign with the purpose to entertain our followers and increase the awareness of animal protection.

Within a couple of days, the zoo’s tweet has been reposted for more than 27 thousand times and received tens of thousands of votes. Sorachi Hideaki has won in a landslide. So far, it has garnered 10,003 votes; the second most popular name “Sea Star” only got 86. Also, #空知英秋# (#Sorachi Hideaki#) has become one of hottest hastag topics of the week with 268,871 mentions.

Sorachi Hideaki is on the top with 10,003 votes

The fans who advocate for the name feel that Sorachi Hideaki, albeit a Japanese name, is full of “love.” @懿丽莎白 (@Elizabeth) said:

Sorachi Hideaki!!! Look at its alluring stares! It looks exactly like Sorachi Gorilla!

@要变成积极向上的果果 (@Must Become Motivated Guo Guo) thought the same:

Definitely Sorachi Hidaeki@Shanghai Zoo, I beg you. Whenever I hear this name, a gorilla appears in my eyes!

Other fans passionately urged:

The name “Sorachi Hideaki” does not violate peace in any sense…the zoo should decisively conclude the name adoption. What are you waiting for?

Through the Internet, the news about Shanghai Zoo’s naming campaign quickly traveled to Japan and spread to the ear of Gin Tama‘s co-production supervisor Takama Shinji. Founding it amusing, Takama tweeted many times about this story. 

Takama Shiji’s Tweets about the baby gorilla

Takama even analyzed why the name “Sorachi Hideaki” makes sense. He wrote:

The Chinese pronunciation of “Sorachi Hideaki” is “Kong Zhi Ying Qiu.” The word “Kong” certainly sounds like “Kong,” which means gorilla. Hmmm I got it (haha).

Nevertheless, not everyone is thrilled about the Japanese name for the baby gorilla. @哆啦艾梦 (@Duraemon) protested:

Why all the netizens voted for “Sorachi Hideaki?”…I don’t understand why a Chinese gorilla needs a Japanese name?

This tweet resonates with many Weibo users who hold negative views toward Japan. Although the Sino-Japan war ended 78 years ago, the bitter memory is still very much alive among the Chinese citizens. TV dramas and movies about Japan’s invasion have a constant presence in people’s daily lives. Since elementary school, our history textbooks have been filled with Japan’s cruelty. Today, the territorial dispute in regards to Senkaku/Diaoyu Island continues to deteriorate the bilateral relations.

Nevertheless, thanks to the increased commercial and cultural exchanges, Sino-Japan relations have been improving in the non political arenas. A renowned marketing professional @穆峰 (@Mu Feng) sharply pointed out:

The popularity of “Sorachi Hidaeki” indicates the impact of Japanese popular culture on the generations born in the 80s and 90s. The Chinese animation industry has a lot to catch up.

Due to the widespread Japanese popular cultures, many Chinese youngsters have been attracted to Japan. Since Sina Weibo is a place where young, educated, and liberal users congregate, the overwhelming victory of Sorachi Hideaki reflects the increasing feeling of affinity toward Japan among Chinese youth.

Worrying about Japan’s “culture conquest,” the Chinese government has devoted tremendous resources in recent years to promote the domestic animation industry. In this light, I am perhaps a textbook example that has disappointed the Chinese government. When I was in high school, I possessed over 500 DVDs of Japanese animation; my passion in the Japanese pop culture has prompted me to study the language during college years and later worked for a Japanese company.

On April 29, the Shanghai Zoo tweeted its suspicion about the naming campaign being hijacked by certain Weibo users and paused the campaign momentarily. I am curious what name the baby gorilla would eventually adopt on its upcoming May 17 birthday.

Of course, I root for “Sorachi Hideaki.” I also look forward to the day when the little gorilla could wear Sorachi’s signature yellow t-shirt like this.

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