カタカナ commentary

(Wait for the very end where they say どうもありがと、さよんなら).

This video shows how Katakana's usage fluctuates depending on its context. In the most textbook sense, Katakana provides a way to express and distinguish foreign words and names. At the end of the video, however, we see that a phrase in Japanese (どうもありがと、さよんなら) is transcribed into Katakana, rather than writing it in Hiragana and Kanji. It's somewhat amusing to listen to the cast of Harry Potter struggling through reading Romaji transcriptions of Japanese on the teleprompter, especially with domo arigati said by Emma Watson (Hermione Granger). The Katakana at this point, therefore seems to highlight the cast's foreign accent, demonstrating the multiple uses of Katakana that are not usually found in the traditional textbook. It therefore seems that the rules on using Katakana are less rigid and more flexible.

Another interesting Katakana was found when browsing through the photos I took this summer. At a JR Station in Tokyo, I saw the sign written 御茶ノ水, which uses the Katakana ノ instead of the Hiragana の. This is quite interesting for the fact that Ochanomizu is an established neighborhood of Tokyo. It would seem likely that they would use Hiragana for an area that is local in Tokyo. My interpretation a this point is it may seem likely that the Katakana usage is to emphasize how the place is special. It gives the place a unique naming structure that makes the name pop out. If you know an exact reason why, I would appreciate the commentary.