We will discuss the Katakana uses for "Japan," ジャパン, and "now,'' イマ.
1)
As we can see in the picture on the left, which is a CD album cover design of a musical artist, the word Japan is spelled in Katakana rather than Hiragana, にほん. This initially comes to us as en exceptional use of Katakana in the Japanese language, because Katakana is usually used to spell foreign words or onomatopoeia. The word にほん assumes a more primary and traditional name for Japan, since its Hiragana spelling is based on the kanji, 日本.
One major reason for its use is discussed; Historical globalization.
A further inspection of the context in which this Katakana form is used gives more insight as to its function. First, the album is by a German band, Alphaville, which tells us that the band made a special Japan edition of its album. This is the effect of globalization of the word Japan, over Nihon. Because the word Japan is technically designed externally, it is reasonable that it is spelled in its Katakana form.
Secondly, this gives rise to the examination of the word ''Japan,'' which is not a pronunciation derived from Nihon. According to Dictionary.com, the word is rooted in the globalization of Japan in the 16th century. Japan first took form from the Mandarin word for Nihon country, Rìběnguó, which was then recorded by Marco Polo as Chipangu. Chipangu, was finally taken by Portuguese traders, who spread the word in Europe. The earliest record of the word in English is Giapan.
The root of the word, in a way, qualifies the word Japan as a foreign word. And globalization induced a prevalent use of the Katakana form.
2)
The picture in the right is a advertisement poster for a store sale. The word of interest is イマ, of which its main form is in Hiragana, いま. The meaning of the word is ''now,'' and the word has neither a background in historical derivation from a foreign word, nor it is an onomatopoeia. Therefore, its use is classified as an exception.
There is one major reason for its Katakana use in my opinion: Utilization of design in advertisement.
From the point of the view of the advertiser, it is important to address that the sale is happening now, and that it is better to pick up one of the only 200 items in store sooner than later. To address and emphasize this urgency, the conventional form for ''now,'' いま, is too plain.
From a design perspective, it is important to the draw attention to this word by distinguishing it from its conventional use and other words in the poster. Right next to イマ is ほしい, which is Hiragana, so using the Katakana form, イマ, rather than いま, draws more attention of the customer. Further examination shows that, イマ looks sharper than いま, which can add to its sense of urgency by substituting the round corners and strokes of Hiragana with sharp turns of Katakana.
sources: Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/japan
