is an ancient

Japanese given name in modern times consist of a family name (surname) followed by a given name, in that order. Nevertheless, when a Japanese name is written in the Roman alphabet, ever since the Meiji era, the official policy has been to cater to Western expecta ...

for men. The name originally came from the word which is the right guardhouse of the gates of Heian-kyō imperial palace during the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 (or 592 to 645), although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after ...

and

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

. In addition to

hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' literally means "flowing" or "simple" kana ("simple" originally as contrast ...

and

katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived f ...

, ''Iemon'' can be written using different

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

characters ( or ).

People

*Iemon (伊右衛門 or 猪右衛門), an alternate name of

Yamauchi Kazutoyo , also spelled Yamanouchi (1545/1546? – November 1, 1605). He was retainer of Oda Nobunaga and later Toyotomi Hideyoshi. His father Yamauchi Moritoyo, was a descendant of Fujiwara no Hidesato, a senior retainer of the Iwakura Oda clan (op ...

Fictional characters

*Tamiya Iemon (伊右衛門), a main character in ''

Yotsuya Kaidan , the story of Oiwa and Tamiya Iemon, is a tale of betrayal, murder and ghostly revenge. Arguably the most famous Japanese ghost story of all time, it has been adapted for film over 30 times and continues to be an influence on Japanese horror ...

'', a ghost story **The main character in ''

Crest of Betrayal ''Crest of Betrayal'', known in Japan as , is a 1994 Japanese film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. Written by Motomu Furuta and Fukasaku, it combines two enduring Japanese legends; ''Chūshingura'', which tells the story of the historical forty-seven ...

'', a 1994 Japanese film adaptation of ''Yotsuya Kaidan'' **A main character in '' Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales'', an animated horror anthology television series featuring an adaptation of ''Yotsuya Kaidan'' *Iemon, a minor character who appears in the video game and subsequent anime series ''

Tales of the Abyss is an action role-playing game developed by Namco Tales Studio as the eighth main title in their '' Tales'' series in celebration of the series' 10th anniversary. Originally released for the PlayStation 2, the game was published by Namco in Japan ...

Other uses

* Iemon (伊右衛門), a brand of green tea drink released by Suntory and tea company Fukujyuen *Yemon (イエモン), an abbreviation of the Japanese rock band

The Yellow Monkey The Yellow Monkey, sometimes abbreviated as , is a Japanese rock band originally active from 1988 to 2001, before officially disbanding in 2004. They announced their reformation in 2016. The band's name was derived from the ethnic slur that J ...

{{given name Japanese masculine given names Masculine given names