Japanese place names

Japanese place names include names for geographic features, present and former administrative divisions, transportation facilities such as railroad stations, and historic sites in Japan. The article Japanese addressing system contains related information on postal addresses.

Administrative level

Most place names are suffixed with its administrative division. These suffixes are often dropped in common usage when no ambiguation is likely. The suffixes are as follows:

* "-ken" (県) for a prefecture; e.g., Yamanashi-ken (Yamanashi Prefecture)
* "-to" (都), lit. "capital", prefecture-level region name unique to the capital Tōkyō-to (Tōkyō)
* "-fu" (府), lit. "office" or "area", prefecture-level region named so for historical reasons. There are two: Ōsaka-fu and Kyōto-fu (Ōsaka Prefecture, Kyōto Prefecture, respectively)
* "dō" (道), for "administrative circuit", an semi-archaic administrative division used in the past throughout Japan. Modern usage is limited to Hokkaido, but terms like Tōkaidō (東海道, southern portion of eastern Japan) remains in common informal usage.

Because of the above four suffixes, the prefectures of Japan are commonly referred to as "todōfuken" (都道府県).

* "-gun" (郡) sub-prefecture-level, for a district (usually rural - though the Japanese postal service and many other sources translate this as county)
* "-shi" (市) sub-prefecture-level, for a city
* "-ku" (区) sub-prefecture-level, for a ward of a city; e.g., Naka-ku in Hiroshima. Also for one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo: these are separate local governments nearly equivalent to cities

* "-machi" or "-chō" (町) for a town - this can be a local government or a non-governmental division of a larger city
* "-mura" or "-son" (村) for a village; e.g., Kamikuishiki-mura (Kamikuishiki) - this can also be a local government or a nongovernmental division of a larger city or town

Direction

Some names contain a word indicating a direction:
* "chūō" (中央) or "naka-" (中) - central; e.g., Yokosuka Chūō; Naka-Okachimachi
* "higashi" (東) - east
* "kita" (北) - north; e.g., Kita-ku, literally meaning North Ward
* "minami" (南) - south
* "nishi" (西) - west
* "u" (右) ("right") and "sa" (左) ("left"), directions relative to the Kyōto Imperial Palace (and from the viewpoint of the Emperor, who faces south, so that "sa" is east and "u" is west): Sakyō-ku, Ukyō-ku

Relationship

Other names contain a word indicating the relationship of a settlement to another of the same or a similar name:
* "hon" or "moto" (本) - the original; e.g., Fuchu Honmachi; Moto Hachiōji
* "shin" (新) - new

Geographic features

Geographic features figure prominently in Japanese place names. Some examples are
* "hama" for a beach; e.g. Hamamatsu
* "hantō" (半島) for a peninsula; e.g., Izu Hanto
* "ishi" (石) or "iwa" (岩) for a rock; e.g., Ishikawa Prefecture; Iwate Prefecture
* "izumi" (泉) for a spring; e.g., Hiraizumi, Iwate
* "kaikyō" (海峡) for a strait; e.g., Bungo kaikyō
* "kawa" or "-gawa" (川) for a river; e.g., Asakawa
* "ko" (湖) for a lake; e.g., Biwa-ko, Kizaki-ko
* "nada" (灘) for a sea
* "oka" (岡) for a hill; e.g., Fukuoka
* "saki" (崎) or "misaki" (岬) for a promontory; e.g., Miyazaki city
* "san" or "-zan" (山) for a mountain; e.g., Aso-san
* "sawa" or "-zawa" (沢) for a stream; e.g., Mizusawa, Iwate
* "shima" or "-jima" (島) or "tō" for an island; e.g., Ie-shima, Iwo Jima, Okinawa Honto
* "tani" or "-dani" (谷) for a valley
* "wan" (湾) for a headland or bay; e.g., Sagami-wan
* "yama" (山) for a mountain; e.g., Yamanashi Prefecture

Natural world

Other words that express the natural world or agriculture often appear in place names:
* "ki" or "-gi" (木) for a tree; e.g., Tochigi Prefecture
* "matsu" (松) for a pine tree; e.g. Takamatsu
* "mori" (森) for a forest; e.g., Aomori Prefecture
* "sugi" (杉) for a sugi tree; e.g., Suginami
* "ta" or "-da" (田) for a rice paddy; e.g. Ōda

Former provinces

Names and parts of names of former provinces appear in many modern place names:
* Yamato: Yamato-Koriyama, a city in Nara Prefecture
* Hitachi: naka, a city in Ibaraki Prefecture
* Sagami River in Kanagawa Prefecture
* Tango: Tango Peninsula in Kyoto
* Chūetsu, part of Niigata Prefecture and location of the 2004 Chūetsu earthquake: its name incorporates a kanji from Echigo Province (as do many other place names in the region)

Medieval Japan

Medieval Japan had many towns that fell into three categories: castle towns, post towns, harbor towns. In addition, the rise of commerce contributed to some place names. Here are some parts of names connected with medieval Japan:
* "ichi" (市), a market; e.g., Yokkaichi: "fourth-day market"
* "-jō" (城), a castle. Place names giving directions relative to a castle, such as Jōhoku (North of the Castle), Jōsai (West of the Castle) or Jōnan (South of the Castle), are common throughout Japan.
* "minato" (港) for a harbor; e.g., Minato
* "shuku" or "-juku" (宿), a post or station town on a traditional highway; e.g., Shinjuku

Hokkaido

Many names in Hokkaidō originated from words in the Ainu language, as people from mainland Japan conquered and colonized Hokkaidō in the Edo period and the Meiji period. Examples of geographic features are "-nai" and "-betsu" meaning "river", as in the names Wakkanai and Noboribetsu. The name Esashi comes from the Ainu word "esaushi", meaning "cape." Some other names come from places in other parts of Japan because in the past people migrated as a group to Hokkaidō, and they give the new settlement a name reminiscent of their old home. Examples include Hiroshima and Date, Hokkaido.

During the rule of the Shoguns (1185-1867), families of samurai often adopted place names as their surnames. Examples are the Ashikaga clan and the Taira clan.

Chimei Jiten (地名事典, Encyclopedias for Japanese Place Names)

The following encyclopedias and dictionaries are major research tools for reading and understanding Japanese place names and histories.

Reading Place Names

"Shin Nihon chimei sakuin" (新日本地名索引, 1993 New Index Gazetteer of Japan) AbokkushaThis is the most comprehensive dictionary for reading place names. Each entry simply lists the reading of place name, its kanji, location, and longitude-latitude coordinate.

Encyclopedias of Place Names

"Kadokawa Nihon chimei daijiten" (角川日本地名大辞典) Kadokawa Shoten This is the major encyclopedia for Japanese geographic reference. Each entry includes the history of the place, its population, major happenings in the place, and major buildings such as schools, temples, and churches among others.

"Konpakutoban Nihon chimei hyakka jiten" (コンパクト版日本地名百科事典, Compact Land Japonica) ShogakukanThis is the desktop dictionary for geographic reference. It is designed to be easily comprehensible. It includes color maps of entire Japan and detail maps of major Japanese cities; Tokyo, Kyoto-shi, Nara-shi, Osaka-shi, and Nagoya-shi. The index for hard-to-read place names is included at the back of the dictionary.

Place Names in History

"Kodai chimei daijiten" (古代地名大辞典) Kadokawa ShotenThis work lists in "gojuon" order the place names of ancient Japanese history. The periods range from the Asuka period (飛鳥時代, "Asuka-jidai", 538-710), Nara period (奈良時代, "Nara-jidai", 710-794), and Heian period (平安時代, "Heian-jidai", 710-1185). It especially focuses on the place names from the Man'yōshū (万葉集) poetry anthology and the Fudoki (風土記) chronicles.

Origins of Place Names

"Nihon chimei gogen jiten" (日本地名語源事典) Shinjinbutsu oraishaBased on the studies of geography and Japanese ancient words, each entry lists a few sentences about the origin and history of place names in "gojuon" order.

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