Yomimap · Place dossiers
Every place name is a message.
BETA — spot something off? Tell us
- 渋谷Shibuyathe astringent valley
- 秋葉原Akihabarathe field of the fire god (who was never actually there)
- 溜池Tameikethe reservoir pond
- 築地Tsukijiconstructed land
- 梅田Umeda'plum field' — or is it 'buried field'?
- 八重洲Yaesulooks like 'eightfold sandbar' — actually a Dutch sailor's name
- 銀座Ginzathe silver mint
- 新宿Shinjukuthe new lodging
- 六本木Roppongisix trees — but nobody agrees which six
- 浅草Asakusashallow grass
- 道頓堀DōtonboriDōton's canal
- 祇園Gionnamed after a monastery in India
- 蛇崩Jakuzuresnake collapse
- 歌舞伎町Kabukichōkabuki town — for a theater never built
- 吉祥寺Kichijōjitemple of good omens — a temple it doesn't have
- 月島Tsukishimamoon island — poetry by committee
- お台場Odaibathe honorable gun batteries
- 心斎橋ShinsaibashiShinsai's bridge
- 血洗島Chiaraijimablood-washing island
- 原宿Harajukufield post-town — a name with no address
- 中目黒Nakameguromiddle black-eye — the middle of three Meguro villages
- 池袋Ikebukuropond bag — or a bag-shaped hollow
- 白川郷Shirakawa-gōthe white river — and the volcano that whitens it
- 鎌倉Kamakurasickle storehouse — or a hearth-shaped valley
- 日光Nikkōsunlight — but the sun is a Buddha's
- 両国Ryōgokuboth provinces — a border the records disagree on
- 上野Uenoupper field — even the shogunate wasn't sure why
- 御茶ノ水Ochanomizuhonorable tea water — doubted by its own source
- 札幌Sapporotag and canopy — the kanji say nothing
- 恵比寿Ebisugrace, compare, long life — sound borrowed for a god's name