In Japan, although the Japanese government's basic position is to use , often media organisations indicate in parentheses afterwards. "Biruma" may be used more often in the spoken language, while "Myanmā" is more common in written language. Popular Japanese fictional works such as "The Burmese Harp" ("Biruma no tategoto") mean that the name "Biruma" may have more of an emotional resonance to readers. Historically Japan used the Chinese characters of "Menden" (緬甸) to refer to Burma. This form remains in contemporary usage in abbreviations; for example, the World War II-era Burma-Thailand Railway is still referred to almost exclusively as the "Tai-Men Tetsudō" (泰緬鉄道).