There is a commonly used term in the world of Japanese massage called “shimei” (指名 in Kanji and しめい in Hiragana). It means to allow a customer to choose a specific therapist rather than getting assigned one randomly based on availability. Unfortunately, Japanese businesses don’t always get a native speaker to check their English translations, as appears to be the case with shimei. Typically, shimei is translated as “nomination” in the English materials provided by Japanese massage businesses.
The first character in 指名 means “finger” but it is also used in the root of the word “point” as in to point at something or someone. The second character means “name.” So together these two characters have a meaning of “point at a name.” If you look 指名 up in a Japanese to English dictionary you’ll get a lot of similar definitions, one of which is “nominating.” That seems to be the one the Japanese have grabbed onto as it is used pretty much exclusively to describe the option to choose your therapist. Other common definitions include “asking for” and “requesting” which seem much more natural here… but, much like the pronunciation of foreign words, once the usage gets ingrained in the culture, there’s no changing it. So, for now, we have to “nominate” our therapist.
Some places offer shimei for your first appointment but it is rare. Usually, you have to go once and get whatever therapist is assigned. Then, if you like them, you can request that therapist again. Or, you can try someone new (though without doing a shimei, you might get that same person again).
There is usually a charge associated with shimei but if you find a therapist you really like, it may be worth the added cost.
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