The Japanese writing system contains a syllabary called katakana which “is used for transcription of foreign language words into Japanese”, meaning it’s the syllabic alphabet you use when you want to write an English term in Japanese.
So California becomes Karifurunya, which sounds easy enough, but the Japanese know how to make things difficult when it comes to language.
So if they try to say English words like “sharpened pencil” with one word using katakana the whole thing becomes quite confusing.
Think you can figure it out? What do you think the word "baiking" means when used in a restaurant's advertisement?
They're not baking cookies, and the food isn't being made "by a king", it actually translates to "viking", and means the restaurant offers a buffet.
Read 12 "Made-In-Japan" English Terms That Might Confuse English Speakers at mental_floss