Origin of Fukui prefectural name
FUKUI – Good Fortune Well 福井県 Fukui Prefecture was named after a water well named “Fuku-no-i” or “Good Fortune Well” (福の井) at Fukui Castle in central Fukui city. This well…
Japan Blog by Philbert Ono
FUKUI – Good Fortune Well 福井県 Fukui Prefecture was named after a water well named “Fuku-no-i” or “Good Fortune Well” (福の井) at Fukui Castle in central Fukui city. This well…
ISHIKAWA – Stone River 石川県 Ishikawa was named after Tedori River (手取川) whose ancient name was “Ishikawa.” The upper reaches of the river was known to have many rocks and…
TOYAMA – Bountiful Mountain 富山県 “Toyama” first appeared in writing as early as 1398. At the time, the kanji characters were 外山 meaning “Outer Mountain.” The document was a donation…
GIFU – Crossroads Hill 岐阜県 The leading theory or popular belief is that warlord Oda Nobunaga, during his unsuccessful quest to conquer and unify Japan, renamed the castle town of…
AICHI – Beloved Wisdom 愛知県 “Aichi” is another prefectural name whose origin of the verbal word (pronunciation) and written word (kanji characters) stem from different histories. They don’t match up,…
SHIZUOKA – Quiet Hill 静岡県 During the samurai era, present-day Shizuoka had a major city and samurai domain named Fuchu (府中). However, the new Meiji government didn’t like the name…
KANAGAWA – Kana River 神奈川県 Like many prefectural names, Kanagawa has multiple theories as to its origin and meaning. Although Kanagawa sounds like the name of a river, there’s no…
YAMANASHI – Mountain Pear 山梨県 Japan’s only fruity prefectural name! There are multiple theories regarding the origin of the name “Yamanashi.” ・Theory 1: According to the prefecture’s website, one theory…
NAGANO – Long Field 長野県 “Nagano” refers to the long (nagai 長い) or “flowing” (nagareru 流れる), gently sloping field (almost like a delta) on the Nagano Basin (also called Zenkoji-daira)…
TOKYO – East Imperial Capital 東京都 Out of all the 47 prefectural names, Tokyo (東京) and Kyoto (京都) are the easiest to understand in meaning. The 京 (kyo) kanji character…