浅草
Asakusaあさくさ
shallow grass
- 浅asa — shallow / sparse
- 草kusa — grass
The two characters say 'shallow grass' — but in the record of 1181, Kamakura is sending to Asakusa for a carpenter, having no craftsman of its own fit for the work.
The Azuma Kagami, as quoted in the Tokyo City history, sets down the third day of the seventh month of 1181: for the building of the Wakamiya shrine, 'in all of Kamakura there is no craftsman fit for it.' An order goes out for a carpenter from Asakusa in Musashi province, byname Gōji. Five days later — 'the Asakusa carpenter having come up, work on the Wakamiya was begun.' The two characters read 'shallow grass.' What the record carries is the man they sent for.
Modern proof
The two readings coexist to this day: Asakusa (the native Japanese reading) is the district, Sensō-ji (the Sino-Japanese reading) is the temple — the same two characters.
Lowland on the west bank of the Sumida river.
Sources
- 『東京市史稿』産業篇第一 頁192-193「大工郷司」(東京市 編・昭和10年。『吾妻鏡』治承五年七月三日丁丑の条「若宮營作事有其沙汰。而於鎌倉中、無可然之工匠。仍可召進武藏國淺草大工字郷司之旨、被下御書於彼所沙汰人等中。昌寛奉行之」および同七月八日壬午の条「淺草大工參上之間、被始若宮營作」を引くこと。綱文は「鶴岡若宮ヲ營作スルニ方リ、名匠ヲ求メ、淺草ノ大工郷司ヲ召シ、工事ヲ管セシム」、割注に「七月十四日改元。養和元年」)[primary]
- 『東京市史稿』産業篇第一 頁194-195(同上。編者の按として「當年淺草大工ノ名聲遠近ニ聞エタルヲ推スベク」、また「淺草ノ地久シク觀音堂在リ、住民亦稍多ク、寺社營作等ニ慣レタル良匠此ニ居住シタルニ依ルベク」「郷司ハ實名ニ非ズ、其地ニ郷司タルヨリノ稱ナラム」と推量すること)[primary]