P'May! I'm done drinking for this month! My friend got married, finally. And my boss is away on vacation. *whew* No more drinking sprees. Just a lot of work work work work.
In the Official Japanese site, the Q&A portion has a Thai version. It's just the video with the questions that do not have the thai translation. But James answers in Thai. hehehe.
I found two news articles in Asahi Shinbun.
--edit-- here's my translation, based on google translate and the dictionary! hahaha
ARTICLE 1
http://www.asahi.com/articles/DA3S12292181.html
Thailand’s National Star James Jirayu, the leading character in a serial dorama (the Japanese term for a series/lakorn is a “Dorama”) was a sensation (in Thailand), but in Japan?
2 April 2016
Thai National Star, James Jirayu has arrived in Japan. His drama series “Kimi Dake I love You” (Only you, I love you) will be shown on ten days at BS-TBS Broadcasting Network.
Being an Actor, Model and Singer are among the activities of James Jirayu, 22 years old. He has 2.1 Million Followers in Instagram and more than 600,000 followers in Twitter. He was born in the northern part of Phitchit Province, which he describes as “A small province, but is well known domestically.”
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Then the caption right below his picture is “James Jirayu, Thai National Superstar” – and then it says the name of the owners of the copyright to the Photo.
ARTICLE 2
http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASJ3S52K2J3SUCLV00D.html
Thai National Star with 2.1 Million Instagram Followers Visits Japan
2 April 2016
He has 2.1 Million Followers in Instagram and more than 600,000 followers in Twitter. These overwhelming numbers (from Thailand) show that he is no doubt a popular super star, James Jirayu, who has arrived at Japan. Being an Actor, Model and Singer are among the activities of this 22-year old. He plays the leading part in the Dorama “Kimi Dake I love You” (Original Title: “Rakku Ssu Ritto”) will be shown in 10 days at BS-TBS Broadcasting.
You have been informed of the start of the Debut of the Dorama! (I guess this is like, “Do not miss it!”)
It’s a bit small tidbit/fact but, regarding his name, listen up. His stage name is James Jirayu but his real name is Jirayu Tanshiriisukku. What kind of significance does this have?
“James” is an English Nickname. The Name “Jirayu” in Thai language means “To have a long life”. “Tanshriisukku” is his Family Name. “By the way, my family has Chinese lineage. At the beginning, “Tan or “Tang” was the surname (from Chinese origin) then eventually, the Thai word/language “Shurisukku” was added thus resulting in the new name (“Tangsrisuk”)
What is the Kanji of “Tan”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know”.
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as a background, the Japanese (and well, Chinese people too) write their names in characters. In Japanese, the Chinese characters are called "Kanji". While there are many words that have "Tan" in Japanese, the meaning can change depending on the Kanji. One famous word that comes to mind is "Tanjoubi" - which means birthday, so the Tan there can mean "Birth". There are other words like "Tanka", which is a form of poem that is a bit longer than a Haiku, but it means "Short". Apparently, the word for "coal mine" also starts with "Tan" so Tan could also mean "Coal". but interestingly, I searched Tan in google translate and the Chinese words that came up had to do with talking! hahaha maybe James's ancestors were good talkers. Of course it can probably mean a whole lot of other things in Chinese. I'll ask my Chinese friends with a "Tan" surname what it means. But if I remember my Chinese History class correctly, the "Tang Dynasty" - was the Golden Age of Civilization, wasn't it?
Also, you might find the way they spell his name funny - but in Japanese Alphabet, they do not have independent consonants. The consonants are often followed by a vowel, except for "N" So Tangsrisuk became "Tan shi ri sukku" James is actually spelled as "Jemusu"