Ken Lunde chose the penname “Ken Kobayashi” () in 1985, a combination of gikun (, reading of a kanji by meaning) and ateji (, kanji used as phonetic symbol regardless of meaning) concepts.
In 1985, Ken Lunde chose to use the pen name "Ken Kobayashi." This pseudonym was created by combining two Japanese concepts: gikun, which refers to reading a kanji based on its meaning, and ateji, which uses kanji as phonetic symbols regardless of their actual meaning.