The dealer near here says it the second way. But we are midwesterns, so maybe that's a regional thing?

I asked this question a long time ago and found out I had been mispronouncing it for years. It is the 3-syllable version:

2. jä-'nō-mē (Three syllables)

with the emphasis on the middle syllable.

Definitely 3 syllables.

This is from a Janome website: In Japanese, the word Janome (pronounced Ja-NO-me) means "eye of the snake." The company earned the name in the 1920s when founder Yosaku Ose, a pioneer in Japanese sewing manufacturing, began to use a round metal bobbin system instead of the traditional long shuttle. The Japanese thought the new round bobbin looked like a snake's eye, and from the innovative design, a name was born.

I left in the info about the name because i though it was interesting. The site is: http://content.janome.com/index.cfm/AboutJanome

The Japanese pronunciation has three syllables. I guess it wouldn't be the only foreign word that gets mispronounced....

i had always pronounced it with 3 syllables

3 syllables and a great machine!

It's three!!!

"In Japanese, the word Janome (pronounced Ja-NO-me) means "eye of the snake." The company earned the name in the 1920s when founder Yosaku Ose, a pioneer in Japanese sewing manufacturing, began to use a round metal bobbin system instead of the traditional long shuttle. The Japanese thought the new round bobbin looked like a snake's eye, and from the innovative design, a name was born."

I found this on their website. Ja is "snake", no is "of", and me means "eye." Same meaning as eye of snake, but different word order.


Deborah

That's how my Janome dealer says it...and that's how I do too.