Quote:
Originally Posted by MattWoelfsen
Google translate says Chousentetsu is "Korean iron" whereas Aojiku Yoroidoushi is translated by Orchids Limited, as "Green Axis Dagger" (that is what my plant's label states--I bought this plant from Orchid Limited.)
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Translating Yoroidoshi as "Dagger" is a somewhat simplistic in my opinion, albeit convenient. A yoroidoshi is a specific type of Japanese sword. More information can be found in its wiki page:
Yoroid
In any case, there could have been a reason why Chousentetsu was renamed.
Joseon (Chousen in Japanese) was the name (endonym) of Korea up to and through Japanese occupation (with a brief change just before the occupation). However, after the end of World War 2 and the separation of the country, North Korea reverted back to Joseon while South Korea kept the new name Hanguk
In Japan, the name Chousen and its demonym Chousen-jin is nowadays sometimes used in a derogatory manner to refer to Korea and Koreans as a whole, and sometimes specifically to North Korea and its people. (The safer term for Korea is Kankoku, derived from the South Korean, Hanguk)
Perhaps this, along with maybe a little bit of national pride, drove the change of the name of the plant in its official records.
Nevertheless, both names are still rather common in reference to the plant.