4 ms·

I'm surprised the article didn't mention one of the most popular names for the "Seven Sisters," Subaru, the Japanese name and vehicle manufacturer whose logo co

I'm surprised the article didn't mention one of the most popular names for the "Seven Sisters," Subaru, the Japanese name and vehicle manufacturer whose logo contains six of the stars.

progre 6y ago
Subaru does not translate to "seven sisters" (or even six sisters) so bringing up Subaru would undermine the claim of the article
- reducesuffering 6y ago
  Not directly. Translation would be "to govern" or "gather together", but Subaru is one of the constellation's names in Japan, like it would also be called Pleiades in the West, deriving from "plein", meaning "to sail."[0] [0]https://web.archive.org/web/20100411083646/http://www.subaru-global.com/origin_name.html https://web.archive.org/web/20100411083646/http://www.subaru...
  - fireattack 6y ago
    I think his point is while Subaru does mean Pleiades in Japanese (actually came from Chinese), it (the name) has nothing to do with "seven sisters".
    - dannyw 6y ago
      I don't follow. The logo literally has six stars, which is the subject of what we are discussing here.
      - jeofken 6y ago
        They’ve identified the same stars, but do the Han or Korean or Japanese have a story about 7 sisters?
        szatkus 6y ago
        Doesn't look like. According to Japanese Wikipedia they used to be also called 六連星 ("group of 6 stars", I think?).
        nulbyte 6y ago
        Subaru itself cited[1] Kojiki literature from the 8th century when talking about the origin of its name. [1]: https://web.archive.org/web/20100411083646/http://www.subaru-global.com/origin_name.html https://web.archive.org/web/20100411083646/http://www.subaru... Unfortunately, trying to find anything more online, such as what exactly the Kojiki says about them, doesn't seem to yield much.
        jhvkjhk 6y ago
        Chinese have a story called 天仙配, where a fairy maiden married to a mortal. That girl is called seventh fairy, as she’s the last of 7 sisters. So it is very similar to the lost Pleiad, but the seventh fairy is taken back by her god father.
    - jcims 6y ago
      >nothing to do with "seven sisters" I don’t see anyone claiming that Subaru means seven sisters. It’s just another name for the same constellation.
- washadjeffmad 6y ago
  No, but the radicals in 昴 (pleiades) are "sun", repeat, and "at same time". So even if we're being very literal, "the one with the two stars at the same time" is an accurate description of both the hidden sister story and the cluster.
jug 6y ago
“The six of the stars” are in fact all the stars. :)
dade_ 6y ago
This has made the brand very popular with lesbians. Subaru has capitalized on it well. https://medium.com/th-ink/how-subarus-became-the-car-for-lesbians-ec1d5f4754fa https://medium.com/th-ink/how-subarus-became-the-car-for-les...
- samatman 6y ago
  That is a decent writeup of how Subaru marketed to lesbians, and covers broadly the same grounds as others I've encountered over the years. Nowhere, of course, does it reference Subaru meaning the Pleiades being one of those reasons, because it isn't.
  - dade_ 6y ago
    It actually is, the Subaru logo is the 7 sisters. It created the affinity for the brand. Market research identified it, and it has of course grown with marketing. It was something I looked into back in the 90’s when I noticed such a high correlation between the two. I find it very difficult to believe that any car company in the 90’s targeted the market before they realized they were already winning it.
- kepler1 6y ago
  I hope the legend of how the Pleiades sold Subarus to lesbians also endures for 100,000 years.

I'm surprised the article didn't mention one of the most popular names for the "Seven Sisters," Subaru, the Japanese name and vehicle manufacturer whose logo contains six of the stars.

progre 6y ago

Subaru does not translate to "seven sisters" (or even six sisters) so bringing up Subaru would undermine the claim of the article

reducesuffering 6y ago
Not directly. Translation would be "to govern" or "gather together", but Subaru is one of the constellation's names in Japan, like it would also be called Pleiades in the West, deriving from "plein", meaning "to sail."[0] [0]https://web.archive.org/web/20100411083646/http://www.subaru-global.com/origin_name.html https://web.archive.org/web/20100411083646/http://www.subaru...
- fireattack 6y ago
  I think his point is while Subaru does mean Pleiades in Japanese (actually came from Chinese), it (the name) has nothing to do with "seven sisters".
  - dannyw 6y ago
    I don't follow. The logo literally has six stars, which is the subject of what we are discussing here.
    - jeofken 6y ago
      They’ve identified the same stars, but do the Han or Korean or Japanese have a story about 7 sisters?
      - szatkus 6y ago
        Doesn't look like. According to Japanese Wikipedia they used to be also called 六連星 ("group of 6 stars", I think?).
      - nulbyte 6y ago
        Subaru itself cited[1] Kojiki literature from the 8th century when talking about the origin of its name. [1]: https://web.archive.org/web/20100411083646/http://www.subaru-global.com/origin_name.html https://web.archive.org/web/20100411083646/http://www.subaru... Unfortunately, trying to find anything more online, such as what exactly the Kojiki says about them, doesn't seem to yield much.
      - jhvkjhk 6y ago
        Chinese have a story called 天仙配, where a fairy maiden married to a mortal. That girl is called seventh fairy, as she’s the last of 7 sisters. So it is very similar to the lost Pleiad, but the seventh fairy is taken back by her god father.
  - jcims 6y ago
    >nothing to do with "seven sisters" I don’t see anyone claiming that Subaru means seven sisters. It’s just another name for the same constellation.
washadjeffmad 6y ago
No, but the radicals in 昴 (pleiades) are "sun", repeat, and "at same time". So even if we're being very literal, "the one with the two stars at the same time" is an accurate description of both the hidden sister story and the cluster.

jug 6y ago

“The six of the stars” are in fact all the stars. :)

dade_ 6y ago

This has made the brand very popular with lesbians. Subaru has capitalized on it well. https://medium.com/th-ink/how-subarus-became-the-car-for-lesbians-ec1d5f4754fa https://medium.com/th-ink/how-subarus-became-the-car-for-les...

samatman 6y ago
That is a decent writeup of how Subaru marketed to lesbians, and covers broadly the same grounds as others I've encountered over the years. Nowhere, of course, does it reference Subaru meaning the Pleiades being one of those reasons, because it isn't.
- dade_ 6y ago
  It actually is, the Subaru logo is the 7 sisters. It created the affinity for the brand. Market research identified it, and it has of course grown with marketing. It was something I looked into back in the 90’s when I noticed such a high correlation between the two. I find it very difficult to believe that any car company in the 90’s targeted the market before they realized they were already winning it.
kepler1 6y ago
I hope the legend of how the Pleiades sold Subarus to lesbians also endures for 100,000 years.