This maybe a repeat thread,but geez, is Cody right when he pronounces Kato as Cat-Oh?
As for me…Kato is …Kay-toe
Hope this doesn’t create a war.
Ok now l’ll go play with my trains and keep quiet.
Tom
I’ve always hear it Kayto The K the same we say Kaydee
Kaa-toe
Well, he is closer than Kayto. I would say the “a” isn’t a straight short a as in “cat”. Just call them up on the phone and listen to how they answer. One would think they would know how to pronounce their own company name. The closest I can come to spell it is, “Hello, Kaot-Oh.” This might be exactly what Jeff W. means above but I don’t know how to pronounce an “aa”… ! 
I’ve been told that the correct pronunciation is caw-toe. Where’s Chuck (Tomikawa)? I’ll bet that he’d know.
Wayne
Thanks a rot! [;)]
The TV series “Tracks Ahead” is sponsored by KAH-toe (or “cotto”). I’ll believe them.
After being stationed in Japan, I can tell you that “Kahto” is correct! The name “Kayto” comes from the TV series “Green Hornet”. That’s what Americans are used to and even though wrong, that’s what they will call it.
Dick
Texas Chief
When Japanese is written in Romaji, English/Roman alphabet, you can come very close by following Spanish pronunciation. In the proper name Kato, the A has an ah sound; hence, “Kah-to.”
For a word to have the long A sound, it would be rendered as E in Romaji. The female name Keiko is pronounced, “Kay-ko.”
Fun, isn’t it. (I’ll leave explaining kanji - pictographs - for another time.)
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
This has been covered before and the answer is yes.
David B
Logic would dictate that an entity like MR or Tracks Ahead would pronounce the name of one of their paid sponsors correctly. To do otherwise would not make the sponsor very happy.
___Ditto. How I’ve heard it time and time again.
quote user="Packers#1
___Ditto. How I’ve heard it time and time again.
Proving only that Americans are ignorant of the Japanese language.
Gentle people, we are not debating opinions here, we are facing a fact. The fact in question - the proper pronunciation of a Japanese name rendered in Romaji as Kato.
There is only one correct pronunciation, no matter how many times you’ve heard it mispronounced. If you don’t say Kah-to, you’ve proven my point.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in its native language)
At the end of the day, does it really matter? A Kato is still a Kato, no matter how you say it.
David B
So it should be aw, like you say in a dentist’s office, and the o in two/to/too
I think it’s more a proof of how few americans don’t speak Japanese or know many people who do (none that I know of in Central Indiana) than pure ignorance.
For those of you who have occasion to hear Spanish now and then, or who do speak it, think of cat…as in “gato”. Now substitute a K for the G, and you are in business.
When is Kato coming out with something new in HO??
Yup.
The mods should make some stickys for topics that have been beaten to death.If you know what it is then you’ve made the right choice.
I matters, and it is worth talking about. After all, it’s not just a company, it is a person’s name. It’s only respectful that we should try to say it properly. Yes, it’s been talked about before, but we all know how well the search function works!
I’ve been saying it wrong for years. Now that I know the correct pronunciation, I am trying to use it, though my success rate isn’t all that great yet. I’ll get there!
The search function is helpful??? 