I can see your point, but and maybe I'm being fastidious, but I Nagaragawa River also irritates me. It's only born of ignorance - no one calls it Mt Montblanc.

I can see your point, but and maybe I'm being fastidious, but I Nagaragawa River also irritates me. It's only born of ignorance - no one calls it Mt Montblanc. I get it - the original meaning of the word is as relevant to its name as is the combination of the words forming its proper noun. To the Japanese Fujiyama is Fujiyama, and so there goes an argument for transliterating the name. And as point out, good luck communicating with a local when you ask where the "Nagara" is. But look at the converse: Loch Ness 尼斯湖nisihu in Chinese ネス湖 nesuko in Japanese