the thought of my name

My art name, dosankodebbie, seems to confuse a lot of people. I am thrilled when my name and my work are introduced on other sites, but the dosanko and the debbie are often separated, or capitalized, or reversed in order. People sometimes address me as "Dosanko" as though it were my first name, or Ms.Dosanko as though it were my last name. Neither is the case. My legal name-- the name I use as a translator-- is Deborah Davidson (boooring). So, naturally, you are wondering why I chose dosankodebbie as my art name.

Dosanko, as most Japanese people can tell you, is a word that means "native to Hokkaido." Hokkaido is the northern frontier of Japan, the beautiful (but cold) northernmost island/prefecture of the Japanese archipelago. Japan has been my home since birth, and the greater part of my life has been lived in Hokkaido.

As a non-Japanese living in Japan, I am usually treated with the kind of courtesy one would show a guest. There is an underlying assumption in almost every conversation I have ever had, with all but a handful of people, that I have a "home" in another country, and that I will eventually return there. Which I don't, and I won't.  My art name is my way of claiming this as home; claiming a right to claim that I belong here in Hokkaido.

Well, that's one mystery solved, right? The words on the etegami are a quote from the poem The Naming of Cats from the book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S.Eliot.