Tokyo ( , ; Japanese: , "Tōkyō" ), officially , is the capital and most populous prefecture of Japan. Located at the head of Tokyo Bay, the prefecture forms part of the Kantō region on the central Pacific coast of Japan's main island, Honshu. Tokyo is the political and economic center of the country, as well as the seat of the Emperor of Japan and the national government. In 2019, the prefecture had an estimated population of 13,929,280. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, with more than 37.393 million residents as of 2020.
Introduction
Tokyo
Tokyo | Introduction
Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context. Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context. It was originally known as , a kanji compound of 江 ("e", "cove, inlet") and 戸 ("to", "entrance, gate, door") The name, which can be translated as "estuary", is a reference to the original settlement's location at the meeting of the Sumida River and Tokyo Bay.
when was the idea of an atom first developed describe this theory
user
According to this idea, if one were to take a lump of matter and cut it into ever smaller pieces, one would eventually reach a point where the pieces could not be further cut into anything smaller.
assistant
who talked about this theory for the first time?
user
John Dalton
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apart from this theory, what were his other contributions to science?
user
Colour blindness.
assistant
what happens when someone has this condition?
user
It is the decreased ability to see color or differences in color. It can impair such tasks as selecting ripe fruit, choosing clothing, and reading traffic lights. People may also be uncomfortable in bright environments and have decreased visual acuity.
assistant
how is it diagnosed?
user
"The Ishihara Color Test"
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who is named after?
user
Shinobu Ishihara
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where was he from?
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Tokyo
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how did the city derive its name?
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Tokyo was originally known as , a kanji compound of 江 ("e", "cove, inlet") and 戸 ("to", "entrance, gate, door"). The name, which can be translated as "estuary", is a reference to the original settlement's location at the meeting of the Sumida River and Tokyo Bay. During the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the name of the city was changed to when it became the new imperial capital, in line with the East Asian tradition of including the word capital () in the name of the capital city (like Kyoto (), Beijing () and Nanjing ()). During the early Meiji period, the city was sometimes called "Tōkei", an alternative pronunciation for the same characters representing "Tokyo", making it a kanji homograph.
Tokyo | Etymology
The name comes from Sanskrit root of the word "yoga". The Buddhist temple Shinpuku-ji chose the Sanskrit-derived appellation Yuga-san. The Sanskrit is also the root of the word "yoga" (योग→瑜伽→用賀).
Yōga, Tokyo | Derivation
The name "Palais de Tokyo" derives from the name of this street.
Palais de Tokyo | Introduction
The origin of the name "Kurume" is unclear, but there are several theories: At the time of the founding of the city, the name was changed to "Higashikurume" in order to avoid being confused for Kurume, Fukuoka. Since the new name already had already existed since 1915 as the name of the local train station, the name was already familiar to residents and adopted quickly.
Higashikurume, Tokyo | Etymology of the city name
The name comes from the "kun'yomi" of the first "kanji" in the name of the former town of Shōwa, and the "on'yomi" of the second "kanji" in the name of the former village of Haijima.
Akishima, Tokyo | History
Some surviving official English documents use the spelling "Tokei"; however, this pronunciation is now obsolete.
Tokyo | Etymology
In ancient times, Japanese knew Tokyo Bay as the . By the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600) the area had become known as Edo Bay, a reference to the city of Edo. The bay took its present name of Tokyo Bay in modern times, after the Imperial court moved to Edo and renamed the city Tokyo in 1868.
Tokyo Bay | Names
In 1869, the 17-year-old Emperor Meiji moved to Edo, and in accordance, the city was renamed Tokyo (meaning Eastern Capital). The city was divided into Yamanote and Shitamachi. Tokyo was already the nation's political and cultural center, and the emperor's residence made it a de facto imperial capital as well, with the former Edo Castle becoming the Imperial Palace. The city of Tokyo was officially established on May 1, 1889. Central Tokyo, like Osaka, has been designed since about 1900 to be centered on major railway stations in a high-density fashion, so suburban railways were built relatively cheaply at street level and with their own right-of-way.
Tokyo | 1869–1943
The overall form of the city was an irregular rectangle, and the area of city is more than 25 km.
Heijō-kyō | Introduction
The city's name is thought to originate from the word "koma", referring to migrants, especially Goguryeo from the Korean peninsula who settled here around the 5th century AD. Numerous kofun burial mounds are located within the city borders. The area of present-day Komae was part of ancient Musashi Province. In the post-Meiji Restoration cadastral reform of July 22, 1878, the area became part of Minamiitama District in Kanagawa Prefecture. The town of Komae was created on April 1, 1889 with the establishment of municipalities law. Minamtama District was transferred to the administrative control of Tokyo Metropolis on April 1, 1893.
Komae, Tokyo | History
The name of the district is derived from the Kii clan, the Owari clan, and the Ii clan, which had residences here in the Edo era.
Kioichō, Chiyoda, Tokyo | Introduction
Edo's demand for human and material resources attracted immigrants, created new markets and marketing patterns, and generated improved standards of performance and new tastes for a higher standard of living.
History of Tokyo | Political system
"This article incorporates information from the Japanese Wikipedia."
Timeline of Tokyo | References
The history of Tokyo shows the growth of Japan's largest urban center. The eastern part of Tokyo occupies land in the Kantō region that together with the modern-day Saitama Prefecture, the city of Kawasaki and the eastern part of Yokohama make up Musashi; one of the provinces under the "ritsuryō" system. The 23 special wards, consisting of the districts of Toshima, Ebara, Adachi and Katsushika, form the central part of Tokyo. Western Tokyo occupies the Tama district. Tokyo's oldest Buddhist temple is Sensō-ji in Asakusa. The village of Edo was established In the Kamakura period.
History of Tokyo | Introduction
The following is a timeline of the history of Tokyo, Japan.
Timeline of Tokyo | Introduction
The city has been known in the past by the names Wiryeseong (, during the Baekje era), Hanyang (, during the Goryeo era), Hanseong (, during the Joseon era), and Keijō () or Gyeongseong () during the period of annexation to Japan. During Japan's annexation of Korea, "Hanseong" () was renamed by the Imperial authorities to prevent confusion with the hanja " (a transliteration of an ancient Korean word "Han" () meaning "great"), which also refers to Han people or the Han dynasty in Chinese and in Japanese is a term for "China". After World War II and Korea's liberation, the city took its present name, which originated from the Korean word meaning "capital city", which is believed to have descended from an ancient word, "Seorabeol" (), which originally referred to Gyeongju, the capital of Silla.
Seoul | Etymology
Before 1903, the school was promoted to Tokyo University of Law (Tokyo Hōgakuin Daigaku) and in 1905, the school expanded itself with the department of economics and renamed itself Chuo University. The origin of its name "Chuo" has not been certain. However, many founders of the university were once students of the Middle Temple, London, United Kingdom before they completed their training and became qualified as Barristers. This is one of the reasons why the university was renamed to "Chuo", which literally means middle, center or central.
Chuo University | Early days: 1885–1920
Many place names in Tokyo derive from Edo Castle. , , , , , and are examples.
Edo Castle | Modern Tokyo
Each ward also retained its own assembly. City and prefectural government were separated in 1898., and the government began to appoint a separate mayor of Tokyo City in 1898, but retained ward-level legislation, which continues to this day in the special ward system. From 1926, the mayor was elected by the elected city council/assembly from its own ranks. The city hall of Tokyo was located in the Yūrakuchō district, on a site now occupied by the Tokyo International Forum. Tokyo became the second-largest city in the world (population 4.9 million) upon absorbing several outlying districts in July 1932, giving the city a total of 35 wards.
Tokyo City | History
In Japanese, Kyoto was previously called Kyō (), Miyako (), or Kyō no Miyako (). In the 11th century, the city was renamed "Kyōto" (, "capital city"), from the Middle Chinese ' (cf. Mandarin "jīngdū"). After the city of Edo was renamed "Tōkyō" (, meaning "Eastern Capital") in 1868 and the seat of the emperor was moved there, Kyoto was for a short time known as "Saikyō" (, meaning "Western Capital"). Kyoto is also sometimes called the thousand-year capital (). The National Diet never officially passed any law designating a capital. Foreign spellings for the city's name have included Kioto, Miaco and Meaco, utilised mainly by Dutch cartographers.
Kyoto | Name
On April 1, 1964, Higashimurayama was elevated to city status.
Higashimurayama, Tokyo | History
The name of the city is written with a single "kanji" character: , a reference to "Quercus dentata", commonly known in English as the Japanese emperor oak or daimyo oak.
Kashiwa | Introduction
Originally a fishing village named Edo, the city became a prominent political center in 1603, when it became the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. By the mid-18th century, Edo was one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population numbering more than one million. Following the end of the shogunate in 1868, the imperial capital in Kyoto was moved to the city, which was renamed Tokyo (literally "eastern capital"). Tokyo was devastated by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, and again by Allied bombing raids during World War II. Beginning in the 1950s, the city underwent rapid reconstruction and expansion, going on to lead Japan's post-war economic recovery.
Tokyo | Introduction
In 1868, the medieval city of Edo, seat of the Tokugawa government, was renamed Tokyo, and the offices of Tokyo Prefecture ("-fu") were opened. The extent of Tokyo Prefecture was initially limited to the former Edo city, but rapidly augmented to be comparable with the present Tokyo Metropolis. In 1878, the Meiji government's reorganization of local governments subdivided prefectures into counties or districts ("gun", further subdivided into towns and villages, later reorganized similar to Prussian districts) and districts or wards ("ku") which were in ordinary prefectures cities as a whole, e.g. today's Hiroshima City ("-shi") was then "Hiroshima-ku"; the three major cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto were each subdivided into several such wards.
Tokyo City | History
The name "Saitama" originally comes from the of what is now the city of Gyōda in the northern part of what is now known as Saitama Prefecture. "Sakitama" has an ancient history and is mentioned in the famous 8th century poetry anthology "Man'yōshū". The pronunciation has changed from Sakitama to Saitama over the years. With the merger of Urawa, Ōmiya, and Yono it was decided that a new name, one fitting for this newly created prefectural capital, was needed. The prefectural name was changed from "kanji" into "hiragana", thus was born. It is the only prefectural capital in Japan whose name is always written in "hiragana", and belongs to the list of hiragana cities.
Saitama (city) | Name
In Tokyo Prefecture, this created 15 wards (listed below) and six counties/districts. In 1888, the central government created the legal framework for the current system of cities ("shi") that granted some basic local autonomy rights – with some similarities to Prussia's system of local self-government as Meiji government advisor Albert Mosse heavily influenced the organization of local government. But under a special imperial regulation, Tokyo City, like Kyoto City and Osaka City, initially did not maintain a separate mayor; instead, the (appointed) governor of Tokyo Prefecture served as mayor of Tokyo City. The Tokyo city council/assembly ("Tōkyō-shikai") was first elected in May 1889.
Tokyo City | History
With the establishment of the new capital, the name of the city was restored to "Ōtsu".
Ōtsu | Early history
Jeddo and Yedo or Yeddo are anglicisations referring to the town and port of Edo, Japan and the adjacent large bay, and generally to the ruling shogunate of Japan during the 1850s and 1860s, which was based in Edo. After 1868, Edo was renamed as Tokyo. The names Jeddo and Yedo became commonly used by English-speaking people in the mid-1800s, following the expedition of Commodore Matthew Perry, which resulted in the opening of Japan to trade. Neither name is in common use today, as a name of reference for Edo, or the bay, or the Tokugawa shogunate associated with Edo.
Jeddo, Japan | Introduction
The origin of the area name "Asagaya" comes from the combination of two words, the adjective "asai" meaning "shallow" and the geographical noun meaning "marsh" or low wetlands. In 1921 a stop was created on the Sōbū streetcar line running on Ome-kaido from Shinjuku to Ogikubo, which later became the streetcar line, then the present subway Marunouchi line. Service on the Tōden Suginami streetcar ended in 1961. Asagaya Station was built and added to the Kōbu railway line (built 1884; in 1924, which later became the Chūō Main Line. After the exodus from central Tokyo following the Kantō Earthquake of 1923, Asagaya became the home to a literature community beginning with Ibuse Masuji, and eventually including Yosano Akiko, Dazai Osamu, Aoyagi Mizuho, Ima Harube, Miyoshi Tatsuji, Hino Ashihei, and Tokugawa Musei.
Asagaya | History
In 1947, after Japan's defeat in World War II, it re-assumed its original name. With the start of the new university system in 1949, Todai swallowed up the former First Higher School (today's Komaba campus) and the former Tokyo Higher School, which thenceforth assumed the duty of teaching first- and second-year undergraduates, while the faculties on Hongo main campus took care of third- and fourth-year students. Although the university was founded during the Meiji period, it has earlier roots in the Astronomy Agency (天文方; 1684), Shoheizaka Study Office (昌平坂学問所; 1797), and the Western Books Translation Agency (蕃書和解御用; 1811). These institutions were government offices established by the 徳川幕府 Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1867), and played an important role in the importation and translation of books from Europe.
University of Tokyo | History
Prefectural Higher School was established in 1929 locating in the same site of Tokyo First Middle School, as a result of the opposition.
Tokyo Metropolitan University | Origin
The name "Tatsumi" means "South East", and is taken from the area's direction from the Tokyo Imperial Palace.
Tatsumi, Tokyo | Etymology
The vast majority of large companies, financial institutions, and government agencies continue to maintain their headquarters in the old center of the city, mainly in the Marunouchi area in the Chiyoda Ward.
History of Tokyo | 1970s and 1980s
Tokyo Metropolis is referred to as a after the dissolution of Tokyo City in 1943, Tōkyō-fu (Tokyo Prefecture) was upgraded into Tōkyō-to and the former Tokyo City's wards were upgraded into special wards. The Chinese character from which this is derived means "capital".
Administrative divisions of Japan | "To"
Originally, the area's name was read "Takatanobaba" and many Tokyo residents in their 50s or older pronounce it as such. However, younger Tokyoites and residents who have come from outside Tokyo, use the pronunciation "Takadanobaba". The area is also often referred to simply as "Baba". The area was previously and officially known as Totsuka (戸塚). In 1636, the "shōgun" Tokugawa Iemitsu built in the area a "baba", a ground for horseback riding and horse racing. "Takata" was the family name of the mother of Matsudaira Tadateru (the sixth son of Iemitsu's grandfather, the previous shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu) who favored the area as a sightseeing spot.
Takadanobaba | History
Tokyo was originally a small fishing village named Edo, in what was formerly part of the old Musashi Province. Edo was first fortified by the Edo clan, in the late twelfth century. In 1457, Ōta Dōkan built Edo Castle. In 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu was transferred from Mikawa Province (his lifelong base) to Kantō region. When he became "shōgun" in 1603, Edo became the center of his ruling. During the subsequent Edo period, Edo grew into one of the largest cities in the world with a population topping one million by the 18th century. But Edo was Tokugawa's home and was not capital of Japan.
Tokyo | Pre-1869 (Edo period)
He consolidated his government in the village of Edo (modern Tokyo), and required the territorial lords to assemble there in alternate years with their entourages. The demands of the growing capital drew many male labourers from the country, so that males came to make up nearly seventy percent of the population. The village grew during the Edo period (1603–1867) from a population of 1800 to over a million in the 19th century.
Ukiyo-e | Pre-history
the leading schools included Shoheiko (1790) for the study of Confucian classics, Wagakudodansho (1793) for Japanese classics, Kaiseigo (1885) for western learning, and Igakukan (1863) for the study of occidental medicine. In 1877 they merged to form Tokyo University.
History of Tokyo | Schools
After 265 years, the "Pax Tokugawa" came to an end.
Tokyo | Pre-1869 (Edo period)
The city was fully under control in July 1868. During that time, Tokugawa Yoshinobu had been under voluntary confinement at Kan'ei-ji temple. On 3 September 1868, the city was renamed Tokyo ("Eastern capital"), and the Meiji Emperor moved his capital to Tokyo, electing residence in Edo Castle, today's Imperial Palace.
Fall of Edo | Introduction
The neighbourhood is named after its founder, . Originally, parts of the district below the river (excluding ) had been part of the adjoining Pacific Ocean coastline; developed these areas into viable land through the use of landfills. After the loss of roughly 60 percent of the city to the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657, the local shogunate ordered Buddhist temples on the north and west banks of the River and the east bank of the River to be relocated. During this time, the area had been mainly occupied by fishermen, with a population of just over 1000; as of 1695, the area became officially known as the town of "".
Fukagawa, Tokyo | History
Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a "jōkamachi" (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the "de facto" capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. Edo grew to become one of the largest cities in the world under the Tokugawa. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868 the Meiji government renamed Edo as "Tokyo" (, "Eastern Capital") and relocated the Emperor from the historic capital of Kyoto to the city. The era of Tokugawa rule in Japan from 1603 to 1868 is known eponymously as the Edo period.
Edo | Introduction
Another term commonly used to refer to the city in the pre-modern period was , "capital".
Kyoto | Name
Hyuga City took its name from , the historical name of what is now Miyazaki Prefecture. According to Japanese legend in the Nihon Shoki, following the conquest of the Kumaso people, Emperor Keikō watched the sunrise over the ocean and said . From that time, the province was known as Hyuga or Hinata (the country facing the sun) until the Meiji Restoration when it was renamed Miyazaki.
Hyūga, Miyazaki | Origin of name
Japanese and were historically pronounced "niti" (or "jitu", reflecting a Late Middle Chinese pronunciation) and "pon", respectively. In compounds, however, final voiceless stops (i.e. "p", "t", "k") of the first word were unreleased in Middle Chinese, and the pronunciation of 日本 was thus "Nippon" or "Jippon" (with the adjacent consonants assimilating). Historical sound change in Japanese has led to the modern pronunciations of the individual characters as "nichi" and "hon". The pronunciation "Nihon" originated, possibly in the Kantō region, as a reintroduction of this independent pronunciation of into the compound. This must have taken place during the Edo period, after another sound change occurred which would have resulted in this form becoming "Niwon" and later "Nion".
Names of Japan | History and evolution
Several attempts to decidedly determine an official reading were rejected by the Japanese government, which declared both to be correct.
Names of Japan | History and evolution
Shrines and temples grew up nearby, and merchants developed businesses and opened ferry and shipping routes. Hōjō Ujitsuna entered Edo Castle in 1524.
History of Tokyo | Sengoku period
Both Tokyo City and Tokyo Prefecture were replaced in 1943 by a single Tokyo Metropolis (都). In Tokyo's case, the 35 urban wards were merged into 23, which were transferred to the current Tokyo Metropolis along with the outlying "cities" of Tokyo Prefecture, such as Machida, Tokyo as well as towns and village units.
History of Tokyo | Dissolution of Tokyo City
"Nihon chimei gogen jiten" (日本地名語源事典) Shinjinbutsu oraisha Based 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.
Place names in Japan | Origins of Place Names
The city's name was derived from the onyomi reading of the kanji 阪 ("han"), standing for Osaka prefecture (大阪府), and the kanji 南 ("nan"), meaning south. Thus it means "Southern Osaka".
Hannan, Osaka | Etymology
The study of law developed rapidly at Tokyo University, making the university then (and now) foremost supplier of bureaucratic office. Thus by the 1880s the university had become an invaluable political instrument to the government bureaucracy.
History of Tokyo | Education
For his services, Jan Joosten was granted a house in Edo (now Tokyo) in an area that came to be called "Yayosu Quay" (Yaesu) after him — his name was pronounced "yan yōsuten" in Japanese (short version: "Yayōsu" (耶楊子)) — the Yaesu side of Tokyo Station is also named for him. Yaesu-dōri (Yaesu Avenue) has a monument dedicated to Jan Joosten and his life after his arrival in Japan on "De Liefde" with his shipmate William Adams. In 1999 his home town of Delft named Jan Joostenplein (Jan Joosten Square) after him (it is off Van Lodensteynstraat, which is named for a relative).
Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn | Memorials and legacy
The katakana ア derives, via man'yōgana, from the left element of kanji . The hiragana あ derives from cursive simplification of the kanji .
A (kana) | Derivation
He restored the Ajito Castle, which was the inspiration for the name "Asahi." As the governor of the region, he became a popular and respected politician. When poet Nonoguchi Takamasa visited the area in 1852, he wrote a poem about the general, from which the name "Asahi," which can mean "rising sun," was taken: "from Shinano / adoring the rising sun / he came to the eastern land / and there remains the evidence of his earthly life" In the Edo period, various agricultural changes in the region occurred. The first was the reclamation of the "Sea of Camellias", a vast lake, which was drained into the Pacific Ocean to create the fertile Higata Hachiman-goku.
Asahi, Chiba | History
In time, these characters began to be read using Sino-Japanese readings, first "Nippon" and later "Nihon," although the two names are interchangeable to this day.
Names of Japan | History
The name of Ximending was derived from its position outside the west gate of Taipei City. In the beginning of Japanese rule, the area was still wilderness, through which there was a road connecting the west gate to the town of Bangka (now called Wanhua).Later, the Japanese decided to follow the example of Asakusa in Tokyo to set up an entertainment and business area. The earliest entertainment facilities constructed included the Taihokuza (臺北座) in 1897, Eiza (榮座, now called New Wanguo Market) in 1902, and the Red House Theater in 1908.
Ximending | Origin
When initially creating prefecture suffixes, the "Seitaisho" proclaimed all areas with a "" (castle minder), namely Osaka, Sunpu and Kyoto, the "shoshidai" or a "bugyō" were given the prefectural suffix "fu", while any other area was designated "ken". The first two were created on June 14, 1868: Kyoto-fu and Hakodate-fu. By the end of 1868, ten "fu" had been established: Kyoto, Hakodate, Osaka, Nagasaki, Edo (later Tokyo), Kanagawa, Watarai, Nara, Echigo (later Niigata) and Kōfu. Due to some prefectures gaining non-urban land or being amalgamated into other territories, in 1869 three remained: Kyoto-fu, Osaka-fu and Tokyo-fu. This remained the same until 1943, when Tokyo-fu and Tokyo-shi were merged to form Tokyo-to.
Fuhanken sanchisei | Establishment of urban prefectures
From then on the mayor of Tokyo city was appointed independently from the governor and prefectural and city administration were separated. Finally, beginning in the 1920s, the mayor was elected by the city council from among its members. Tokyo's Politics changed drastically during the 1950s when the U.S. completely redid the Gov. of Japan, turning it into a Democracy and rearranging the entire Edu. system, Government(as it was formerly an Empire), and more.
Politics of Tokyo City | Historical background
In 1887, founded the company in Yumi, Hongō, Tokyo (now part of Hongō, Bunkyō, Tokyo). The company was named after Itō Hirobumi, based on an alternate pronunciation of his given name. Hakubunkan began publishing the magazine in 1887 as well. One of the most famous stories to appear in the magazine was (also known as "The Golden Demon") by Ozaki Kōyō, who based two of the characters in the play on (son of the founder of the company) and Tomiyama Tadatsugu. Hakubunkan then established Tōkyōdō (the predecessor of Tōkyōdō Shoten and Tohan Corporation) in 1891. The following year, Tōkyōdō moved to Hongoku, a neighborhood of Nihonbashi in Tokyo (now located in Chūō).
Hakubunkan | History
In 1903 the gate became the entrance for the University of Tokyo.
Akamon (Tokyo) | History
The ward was founded on March 15, 1947 with the merger of the old Asakusa and Shitaya wards when Tokyo City was transformed into Tokyo Metropolis. During the Edo period, the Yoshiwara licensed quarter was in what is now Taitō. Taitō shares the same Chinese characters, "台東" with Taitung, a city in Taiwan.
Taitō | History
Many highways and railway lines have names that are contractions of the names of their endpoints. For example, (Tomei Expressway) takes one kanji ("tō") from (Tokyo) and the other ("mei") from (Nagoya; its pronunciation changes from the kun'yomi "na" to the on'yomi "mei"). (Tokyu Toyoko Line) links Tokyo and Yokohama, taking part of its name from each city. Other examples include: Sometimes names of this type preserve older place names. For instance, the character is taken from the word ("Musashi"), which was once the name of the Japanese province in which the city of Tokyo was located, can still be seen in the company names (Tobu or "East Musashi"), (Seibu or "West Musashi"), and in the (Nanbu Line or "South Musashi Line").
Japanese abbreviated and contracted words | Highways and railway lines
The name "Hirano" probably goes back to the end of the Heian period, and was formally known as Hirano-shou in Sumiyoshi-gun (district) of the Settsu province. The second son of Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, Sakanoue no Hirono, was the feudal lord in charge of the development of Hirano and was called "Hirano-tono" ("tono" being the title given to noblemen). There are a couple of theories as to the origin of the name "Hirano". One is that it is a corruption or mispronunciation of the word "kouya" (広野). Another theory is that it comes from the time when many lakes and marshes were reclaimed and the fields (野) were widened (平らになった) making the kanji combination 平野.
Hirano-ku, Osaka | History
The was adopted on June 1, 1989, under the . The design was selected by the from 20 candidates. The winning design was created by , a professional graphic designer. The vivid green symbol consists of three arcs combined to resemble a leaf of the ginkgo, the metropolitan tree, and represents "T" for Tokyo.
Symbols of Tokyo | Metropolitan symbol
The name "Japan" is based on the Chinese pronunciation and was introduced to European languages through early trade. In the 13th century, Marco Polo recorded the early Mandarin or Wu Chinese pronunciation of the characters as "Cipangu". The old Malay name for Japan, "Japang" or "Japun", was borrowed from a southern coastal Chinese dialect and encountered by Portuguese traders in Southeast Asia, who brought the word to Europe in the early 16th century. The first version of the name in English appears in a book published in 1577, which spelled the name as "Giapan" in a translation of a 1565 Portuguese letter.
Japan | Etymology
It's said that the city's name is derived from the current that runs through Heule, namely the Heulebeek. Another opinion is that it's derived from the words "geul" or "geule" which is the ditch in which the current flows.
Heule | Name
The or are the brackets at the corner of a roof, having a particularly complex structure. The regular brackets between two "sumisonae" are called or .
Tokyō | Sumisonae
The following history includes the former institution of Tokyo Metropolitan University.
Tokyo Metropolitan University | History
When Hakata and Fukuoka decided to merge, a meeting was held to decide the name for the new city. Hakata was initially chosen, but a group of samurai crashed the meeting and forced those present to choose Fukuoka as the name for the merged city. However, Hakata is still used to refer to the Hakata area of the city and, most famously, to refer to the city's train station, Hakata Station, and dialect, "Hakata-ben".
Fukuoka | Formation of the modern city (1889)
The name change began in Japan in February, followed by Singapore and Korea the following month.
Mevius | History
In 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu established himself in Edo.
History of Tokyo | Momoyama period
It is a former ward (四谷区 "Yotsuya-ku") in the now-defunct Tokyo City. In 1947, when the 35 wards of Tokyo were reorganized into 23, it was merged with Ushigome ward of Tokyo City and Yodobashi suburban ward of Tokyo-fu to form the modern Shinjuku ward.
Yotsuya | Introduction
The term "core city" was created by the first clause of Article 252, Section 22 of the Local Autonomy Law of Japan.
Core cities of Japan | History
The area was named after the 17th century Dutch adventurer Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn, or simply Jan Joosten. For his services to Tokugawa Ieyasu he was granted a house in Edo (now Tokyo) in an area that came to be called "Yayosu Quay" after him — his name was pronounced "yan yōsuten" in Japanese (short version: Yayōsu (耶楊子)) — the Yaesu side of Tokyo Station is also named for him. Yaesu Avenue has a monument dedicated to Jan Joosten and his life after his arrival in Japan on "De Liefde" with his shipmate William Adams. Ukiyo-e artist Andō Hiroshige was born in the Yayosu barracks in the Yaesu area in 1797.
Yaesu | History
The name of the ward means "plank bridge" and derives from the wooden span over the Shakujii River that dates from the Heian period. Such a bridge was remarkable at the time, and the name has lasted since. In the Edo period, the Nakasendō crossed the nearby Shimo Itabashi, and the name came to apply to that area as well. Itabashi was one of the Four Edo Post Towns, and travellers first lodged there after leaving the shogunal capital. Kaga Domain had a mansion there. The shogunate maintained the Itabashi execution grounds at Itabashi. On October 1, 1932, nine towns and villages of Kita-Toshima District were merged and became part of Tokyo City as Itabashi Ward.
Itabashi | History
The name of the industrial zone is formed from two kanji characters. The first, , means "capital city" and refers to Tokyo. The second, , meaning "leaf", is the second kanji in "Chiba" and refers to Chiba Prefecture, and the compound refers to the Tokyo-Chiba region.
Keiyō Industrial Zone | Etymology
The origin of Tokyo Metropolitan University was Prefectural Higher School, under the old system of education, established by Tokyo Prefecture in 1929 as the third public higher school. The School was modeled on Eton College, with three years of advanced course and four years of regular course. The seven-year system had an advantage to assure the entrance to Imperial universities at the age of Middle School, and the typical passway for academic elites before the end of the Pacific War was to enter Tokyo First Middle School, proceeding First Higher School and Tokyo Imperial University. Since the jurisdiction control of Tokyo First Middle School and First Higher School were different, however, Tokyo First Middle School attempted to originally establish the prefectural higher school, whereas the other Middle Schools opposed to the said attempt.
Tokyo Metropolitan University | Origin
The name "Nasuno" is derived from the and areas located alongside the Tōhoku Shinkansen between Utsunomiya and Kōriyama.
Nasuno | Origin
The Nipparts name derives from the word Nippon, a native name for Japan.
Nipparts | Origins of Name
When the prefecture was established with the merger of the two shogunate city administrations in the Meiji restoration in 1868, Tokyo initially consisted only of the former city area of the shogunate capital Edo. Beginning in 1871, the territory of Tokyo was expanded beyond Edo in several steps to reach roughly its present extent with the Tama transfer in 1893. The surrounding former shogunate domain (incl. hatamoto fiefs) in Musashi province was initially administrated by Musashi governors, but then split up between the prefectures Shinagawa, Kosuge and Ōmiya/Urawa. In 1871/72, the surrounding rural areas from these three prefectures and the Setagaya exclave of Hikone ex-domain/prefecture were merged into Tokyo.
Tokyo Prefecture | History
Kuhonbutsu-mae Station was renamed to Jiyūgaoka Station around the same time. The "Jiyūgaoka" name was formally adopted for addresses in the area in 1932. Following World War II, the area grew quickly as a suburb of Tokyo, with its central business district taking its current form around the 1970s. The spelling of the area was changed from the original 自由ヶ丘 to the current 自由が丘 (replacing the small "ke") in 1965, with the station following in 1966.
Jiyūgaoka | History
In informal speech, intervocalic is often changed to or sokuon so "okaerinasai" becomes "okaen'nasai" ("welcome back home") and "sō suru to" becomes "sō sutto" ("then, and so").
Tokyo dialect | Phonology
Before the band made their formal debut they were originally known as , in homage to the textile company which former band drummer, Takayuki Watanabe's, father owned. Just before moving to Tokyo and reforming the band, the spelling was changed to .
Fujifabric | Name origin
Until the Meiji Restoration, Japanese common people (people other than kuge and samurai) had no surnames, and when necessary, used a substitute such as the name of their birthplace. For example, Ichirō born in Asahi-mura (Asahi village) in the province of Musashi would say "Ichirō from Asahi-mura of Musashi". Merchants were named after their stores or brands (for example, Denbei, the owner of Sagamiya, would be Sagamiya Denbei), and farmers were named after their fathers (for example, Isuke, whose father was Genbei, would be "Isuke, son of Genbei"). After the Meiji Restoration, the government ordered all commoners to assume surnames in addition to their given names, as part of modernization and Westernization; this was specified in the Family Register Law of 1898.
Japanese name | Customs
The site location was chosen mainly because the Ukiyo-e painter Katsushika Hokusai was born in the Sumida ward, and Edo culture was born and flourished in Ryogoku. Kyoto roofs reflecting sunlight inspired the whitish silver color of the outside. Likewise, the roof-like shape that defines the building derives from the distinctive roofs of old Japanese temples. The roofs of these monuments, Kikutake says, differentiate them from other structures while simultaneously cohering with the landscape. The four legs were erected first, followed by the cantilevers. The first elevated floor is supported on the legs' 19.7' deep bottom chords, while a second set of chords supports the other floors.
Edo-Tokyo Museum | Design and Architecture
On December 25, 1929, the station opened as Nakamaruyama Station. On April 1, 1933, the station name was changed into Midorigaoka Station (緑ヶ丘駅). On January 20, 1966, the station name in Japanese script was changed into the present name. Romanized name did not change.
Midorigaoka Station (Tokyo) | History
The name Tsudanuma came from kanji characters of three villages: , , and .
Tsudanuma | Etymology
い comes from the left part of the Kanji 以, while イ originates from the left part of the Kanji 伊.
I (kana) | Origin
When Tokyo Shiden (Tokyo City Streetcar, the current Tokyo Toden) lines were damaged by the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923, Tokyo City Electricity Bureau started 2 bus routes, originally as an emergency measure. They became the origin of Tokyo City Bus. In 1942, Tokyo City bought over 8 rivaling bus companies, including of , of , and others. In 1943, TCEB changed to the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation, as the city changed to the metropolis. Right after the World War II, there were only 12 routes still in operation. 400 surplus buses from U.S. force were sold to TMBT, helping its recovery.
Toei Bus | History
The Kantō Plain was settled by the 3rd millennium BC; modern Tokyo still carries some local names of former villages. Hirakawa-mura, a farming and fishing village on the shores of the Hira river, had a strategic location, commanding land, sea, and river routes along the Kanto plain. In the Kamakura period (c. 12th century), Edo Shigenaga, the military governor of a large Kantō province, erected his castle there, calling it Edojuku. The construction of Edo Castle by Ōta Dōkan, a vassal of Uesugi Mochitomo, began in 1457 during the Muromachi period in what is now the East Garden of the Imperial Palace.
History of Tokyo | Sengoku period
It increased the power of the government, while providing relief for poor city dwellers and low-interest loans to landowners.
History of Tokyo | Local land ownership and administration
The name of Chiba in the Japanese language is formed from two "kanji" characters. The first, , means "thousand" and the second, means "leaves". The name first appears as an ancient "kuni no miyatsuko", or regional command office, as the . The name was adopted by a branch of the Taira clan, which moved to the area in present-day Chiba City in the late Heian period. The branch of the Taira adopted the name and became the Chiba clan, which held strong influence over the area of the prefecture until the Azuchi–Momoyama period. The name "Chiba" was chosen for Chiba Prefecture at the time its creation in 1873 by the , an early Meiji-period body of prefectural governors that met to decide the structure of local and regional administration in Japan.
Chiba (city) | Etymology
One phenomenon the theory attempts to explain, for example, is the Japanese word for snail, particularly prior to the Meiji period. In Kyoto, the capital of Japan around the time of the Edo period, there were as many as four different words for snail: "dedemushi" (ででむし), "maimai" (まいまい), "katatsumuri" (かたつむり), and "tsuburi" (つぶり). In the areas outside the capital, not all of these words existed. As one traveled farther from the capital, the number of synonyms employed decreased. In the farthest reaches of Japan in the North and the South, typically only one word for "snail" was used. Coincidentally, often the same single word existed in both places (in this case "tsuburi" (つぶり)), despite the great distance between the regions.
Center versus periphery | Example
The total area was 50.90 km.
Itsukaichi, Tokyo | Introduction
From October to November 2007, suggestions were collected from the general public for the name to be given to the tower. On 19 March 2008, a committee chose six final candidate names: , , , , , . The official name was decided in a nationwide vote, and was announced on 10 June 2008 as "Tokyo Skytree". The name received around 33,000 votes (30%) out of 110,000 cast, with the second most popular name being "Tokyo Edo Tower". The height of was selected to be easily remembered. The figures 6 (mu), 3 (sa), 4 (shi) stand for "Musashi", an old name of the region where the Tokyo Skytree stands.
Tokyo Skytree | Naming and height
During the Edo period, Aoyama was home to various temples, shrines, and samurai residences. The name Aoyama derived from a samurai named Aoyama Tadanari who served the Tokugawa Shogunate and held his mansion in this area. Today, along with Shibuya and Harajuku, it is one of the most popular entertainment and shopping areas "Omotesandō", for young people in Tokyo. It is well known for its fashion houses, restaurants, and shopping. Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium is in the North part of Aoyama.
Aoyama, Tokyo | Introduction
Due to some prefectures gaining non-urban land or being amalgamated into other territories in 1869, three remained: Kyoto-fu, Osaka-fu and Tokyo-fu. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese Government wished to tighten control of the local autonomy of the different areas of Tokyo. The Home Ministry published a plan to rename Tokyo to a , but the special wards of Tokyo (35 in 1938) objected to the plan. In 1943 the plan was implemented, and Tokyo-fu and Tokyo-shi were merged to become the current Tokyo Metropolis. This brought the number of fu in Japan to its current number of two: Kyoto-fu and Osaka-fu.
Fu (country subdivision) | Japan
At present the Asagaya area is divided latitudinally into North and South by the Chūō-Sōbu Line. Boundaries for this area are roughly the same as those for , dating back to the Edo Period. Longitudinally, the Japanese Zelkova serrata tree-lined boulevard, , divides Asagaya, running from Ome-kaido in the south to Waseda-dōri in the north. From around the Taishō period people began moving from the Yamanote area (central Tokyo) into the suburbs including Asagaya. At present, the area around the station is considered upper-level Tokyo suburban housing due to its space, greenery, convenience to central Tokyo—and numerous Shōtengai, the largest of which originates from the South exit of Asagaya Station.
Asagaya | Geography
In the late Edo period, the present-day Uchiwaisaichō area was a part of the Hibiya area with many "daimyō"s mansions and was located within the outer moat of the Edo Castle. After the Meiji Restoration, it was known for a time as before the name "Uchisaiwaichō" was adopted after its location between on the Outer Moat and . It was the original home of the Tokyo National Museum.
Uchisaiwaichō | Etymology
お and オ originate, via man'yōgana, from the kanji 於.
O (kana) | Derivation