indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Type Surname (from location)
Usage Japanese
Meaning & History
Topographic name meaning ‘(one who lives) near where gold (or any metal) is found’. Found in the island of Okinawa, where it is variously written. A famous bearer is Tomoaki Kanemoto, the manager of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). In his career as a player he spent 11 years with the Hiroshima Carp before moving to the Tigers in 2003, where he spent another 10 years. He holds the world record for consecutive games played without missing an inning (1492, ending on April 18, 2010).