Washington: Ahead of a series of important international events in Japan, including a visit from US President Donald Trump this weekend, Japan's foreign minister has issued a request to the English-speaking world: Call our Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, not Shinzo Abe.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, also known as Shinzo Abe. Credit:Kyodo News

"The new Reiwa era was ushered in and we are hosting the Group of 20 summit. As many news organisations write Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, it is desirable for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's name to be written in a similar manner," said Foreign Minister Taro Kono at a news conference on Tuesday, according to the Mainichi Shimbun.

Or perhaps we should say, Kono Taro said that? Kono is the minister's family name, just as Abe is the Prime Minister's family name. The Japanese diplomat says that the family name should be first when referred to in English, as it is when it is written or spoken in Japanese.

Chinese and Korean names have their family names first in English - for example, in the cases of Xi and Moon, as Kono noted.