Japanese place names

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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.

Each name usually ends with a suffix specific to a kind of place, as follows.

-fu (府) for an "urban prefecture." There are two: Ōsaka-fu and Kyōto-fu (Ōsaka Prefecture, Kyōto Prefecture, respectively)
-gun (郡) for a district (usually rural - though the Japanese postal service and many other sources translate this as county)
-shi (市) for a city
-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
-ken (県) for a prefecture; e.g., Yamanashi-ken (Yamanashi Prefecture)
-to (都) for Tōkyō-to (Tōkyō)
-ku (区) 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

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

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 Hachioji
shin (新) - new

Geographic features figure prominently in Japanese place names. Some examples are

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
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

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. Tajima Province

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 Chuetsu Earthquake: its name incorporates a kanji from Echigo Province (as do many other place names in the region)

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, Tokyo
shuku or -juku (宿), a post or station town on a traditional highway; e.g., Shinjuku

Many names in Hokkaido originated from words in the Ainu language, as people from mainland Japan conquered and colonized Hokkaido 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 Hokkaido, 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.

Japanese place names

See also