How do they sound if the names of Tokyo 23 wards are translated in English?
After reading “Names of Japan’s Prefectures Are Cool in English,” I wondered so. We use those names without thinking of the meanings, but when they are translated into English, it is quite interesting.
For example, Tokyo is written 東京 in kanji characters, and each kanji means East and Capital. In this way, I wrote the wards of Tokyo in English.
[Tokyo 23 wards]
千代田 Chiyoda → Forever Rice Field
中央 Chuo → Center
港 Minato → Port
新宿 Shinjuku → New Inn
文京 Bunkyo → Design Capital
品川 Shinagawa → Article River
目黒 Meguro → Eye Black
大田 Ota → Big Rice Field
世田谷 Setagaya → World Rice Field Valley
渋谷 Shibuya → Bitter Valley
中野 Nakano → Middle Field
杉並 Suginami → Cedar Row
豊島 Toshima → Rich Island
北 Kita → North
板橋 Itabashi → Board Bridge
練馬 Nerima → Train Horse
台東 Taito → Stand East
墨田 Sumida → Ink Rice Field
江東 Koto → Inlet East
荒川 Arakawa → Rough River
足立 Adachi → Foot Stand
葛飾 Katsushika → Arrowroot Decoration
江戸川 Edogawa → Edo River (Inlet Door River)
Since there are some “Rice Field” in the names, you can tell that Tokyo used to have a lot of rice fields before today’s building forests. After all, I found that these names are not so cool in English unlike 47 prefectures, which sound cool in English.
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