<p><em>Yona of the Dawn</em> is based on Chinese culture, Chinese hanfu, Chinese Manchu clothing, Chinese architecture, and Chinese landscapes. The background is a fictional Chinese-style country. <em>Yona of the Dawn</em> uses a large number of Chinese elements, the ED song even uses Chinese instruments and Chinese lyrics.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-21T04:30:11.213Z
Welcome to the Q&A site Anime & Manga Stack Exchange. While this might be a valid answer to a different question (e.g. "What cultures inspire this series?"), I'm not sure if this answers the question asked: *Why do the characters have Korean names?* Did you mean that everyone is Chinese but the mangaka decided to use Korean names? Could you [edit] the answer and address that?
Aki Tanaka
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-21T03:37:41.947Z
2023-10-21T04:12:42.723Z
2023-10-21T04:12:42.723Z
Young Rainie
<p>The setting for Akatsuki no Yona is loosely based on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms_of_Korea">Three Kingdoms of Korea</a> period. The <a href="http://akatsukinoyona.wikia.com/wiki/Kouka_Kingdom">Kouka Kingdom</a> is inspired by the Goguryeo Kingdom. Its neighbor Sei and Xing are based on Baekje and Silla respectively. You can also see that the three kingdoms are located in a peninsula in the manga and that they almost have the same layout as their real-life counterparts.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-18T16:37:11.830Z
2015-01-26T15:36:01.250Z
2015-01-26T15:36:01.250Z
Hydromast
<p>When I watch the anime and hear the names of the characters (Soo-won, Son Hak), I thought that the manga is written by a Korean and published in Japan - like in the case of <em>Freezing</em>.</p>

<p>I couldn't have been more wrong to assume that. When I check <a href="https://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=46331">Akatsuki no Yona</a> on mangaupdates, it was written by <a href="https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=2181">Kusanagi Mizuho</a>, whose profile suggests that he is a native Japanese.</p>

<p>Foreign names are common in Japanese manga. It's very common to introduce a foreigner (main character or not) to join the rest of the Japanese cast. Apart from those cases, we have stories where the setting is in a land foreign to Japan, or in an alternate universe where the names of the character are made foreign like in the case of <em>Akatsuki no Yona</em>. However, in most of the manga I have read that falls into this category, the names are dominantly Western and I have never seen any other shows with all the characters having Korean names.</p>

<p>Why does the author go to the trouble to use Korean names for the characters? Why not Japanese?</p>

<yona-of-the-dawn>
Why do the characters in Akatsuki no Yona have Korean names?
# Why do the characters in Akatsuki no Yona have Korean names?
Posted by: username_0 on 2014-10-18
When I watch the anime and hear the names of the characters (Soo-won, Son Hak), I thought that the manga is written by a Korean and published in Japan - like in the case of *Freezing*.

I couldn't have been more wrong to assume that. When I check [Akatsuki no Yona](https://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=46331) on mangaupdates, it was written by [Kusanagi Mizuho](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=2181), whose profile suggests that he is a native Japanese.

Foreign names are common in Japanese manga. It's very common to introduce a foreigner (main character or not) to join the rest of the Japanese cast. Apart from those cases, we have stories where the setting is in a land foreign to Japan, or in an alternate universe where the names of the character are made foreign like in the case of *Akatsuki no Yona*. However, in most of the manga I have read that falls into this category, the names are dominantly Western and I have never seen any other shows with all the characters having Korean names.

Why does the author go to the trouble to use Korean names for the characters? Why not Japanese?
**Tags:** yona-of-the-dawn
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## 2 answers
### Answer by username_3 on 2014-10-18. Score: 14 | Accepted answer
The setting for Akatsuki no Yona is loosely based on the [Three Kingdoms of Korea](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms_of_Korea) period. The [Kouka Kingdom](http://akatsukinoyona.wikia.com/wiki/Kouka_Kingdom) is inspired by the Goguryeo Kingdom. Its neighbor Sei and Xing are based on Baekje and Silla respectively. You can also see that the three kingdoms are located in a peninsula in the manga and that they almost have the same layout as their real-life counterparts.
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### Answer by username_1 on 2023-10-21. Score: -1
*Yona of the Dawn* is based on Chinese culture, Chinese hanfu, Chinese Manchu clothing, Chinese architecture, and Chinese landscapes. The background is a fictional Chinese-style country. *Yona of the Dawn* uses a large number of Chinese elements, the ED song even uses Chinese instruments and Chinese lyrics.
> **Comments:**
> **username_2** (2023-10-21): Welcome to the Q&A site Anime & Manga Stack Exchange. While this might be a valid answer to a different question (e.g. "What cultures inspire this series?"), I'm not sure if this answers the question asked: *Why do the characters have Korean names?* Did you mean that everyone is Chinese but the mangaka decided to use Korean names? Could you [edit] the answer and address that?  
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