1. loan word, オーレド ボーイ、Old boy, manga (comic book)
The title of the manga, "old boy," is written in romaji and in katakana. Why might the author have written the title with both alphabets? Why did he write in Katakana instead of the Japanese translation in hiragana?
This is a US edition of an originally Japanese comic book is (http://www.mania.com/old-boy_mangaseries_1038.html). This particular cover is the cover of the English edition. So, the title is in English, large. However, keeping the transliteration in Katakana, helps the comic relate back to its Japanese roots. Katakana helps to bridge the gap between English and Japanese.
2. coinage term/loanword, ユニコロ, uniqlo, advertisement
-"Uniqlo is a word made up by the company. It borrows words from English, yet is a contraction of them. It is a contraction of "unique clothing" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniqlo).
-"ユニコロ" is Aesthetically pleasing and simple. Every letter is square-like.
Uniqlo prides itself on its simple, high quality clothes. On the companies website, they describe themselves as "a new-style Japanese firm making good casual clothes available for all to wear....our reputation for high-quality, basic casual wear is growing steadily year by year"(Uniqlo website). The katakana characters mimic the company's clothing style. They are simple, because they are geometric. To a person who lives in New York, the geometric letters seem more straightforward than curly hiragana. The brand name is useful because it has a catchy name, Seeing this logo, consumers get an over all feel for the style of this company.
The textbooks may be sure to describe Katakana's proper use to maintain the integrity of its original usage, and the use of Hiragana and Kanji as is properly systematized by the language. Katakana is used so often in popular culture, even in the US to some extent, like with the UNIQLO signs, that people may mistake it for "Japanese." Teaching the language, the textbooks are sure to explicitly describe their proper purpose.
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