# Yomimap

Yomimap decodes the hidden meanings and disaster history buried in Japanese place names — one canonical, source-cited page per place, written for humans and machines.

## Places

- [Shibuya (渋谷) — the astringent valley](https://yomimap.com/shibuya): Tokyo's busiest crossing sits at the bottom of a valley — the name says so.
- [Akihabara (秋葉原) — the field of the fire god (who was never actually there)](https://yomimap.com/akihabara): The world capital of electronics is named after a fire god — because the whole district burned down first.
- [Tameike (溜池) — the reservoir pond](https://yomimap.com/tameike): The pond was filled in 137 years ago.
- [Tsukiji (築地) — constructed land](https://yomimap.com/tsukiji): The name openly admits it: this land was built, not born.
- [Umeda (梅田) — 'plum field' — or is it 'buried field'?](https://yomimap.com/umeda): "Plum field" — how pretty.
- [Yaesu (八重洲) — looks like 'eightfold sandbar' — actually a Dutch sailor's name](https://yomimap.com/yaesu): Tokyo Station's front yard is named after a shipwrecked Dutch sailor from 1600.
- [Ginza (銀座) — the silver mint](https://yomimap.com/ginza): The world's most expensive shopping street is named after a money factory — which got kicked out for fraud in 1800.
- [Shinjuku (新宿) — the new lodging](https://yomimap.com/shinjuku): It just means 'new lodging.' The 'new' dates to 1699, when five merchants crowdfunded a rest stop for the shogunate.
- [Roppongi (六本木) — six trees — but nobody agrees which six](https://yomimap.com/roppongi): 'Six Trees.' Which six?
- [Asakusa (浅草) — shallow grass](https://yomimap.com/asakusa): 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.
- [Dōtonbori (道頓堀) — Dōton's canal](https://yomimap.com/dotonbori): Dōton spent his fortune digging this canal, then died defending Osaka Castle in 1615 — on the losing side.
- [Gion (祇園) — named after a monastery in India](https://yomimap.com/gion): Japan's most famous geisha district is named — via a shrine and 1,500 years of borrowing — after Jetavana, a monastery in ancient India where the Buddha taught.
- [Jakuzure (蛇崩) — snake collapse](https://yomimap.com/jakuzure): 'Snake Collapse.' An Edo gazetteer says a giant serpent burst from a collapsing cliff during a flood.
- [Kabukichō (歌舞伎町) — kabuki town — for a theater never built](https://yomimap.com/kabukicho): Named for a kabuki theater that was never built.
- [Kichijōji (吉祥寺) — temple of good omens — a temple it doesn't have](https://yomimap.com/kichijoji): Tokyo's most-coveted neighborhood is named after a temple it doesn't have.
- [Tsukishima (月島) — moon island — poetry by committee](https://yomimap.com/tsukishima): Tokyo dredged its bay and piled the mud into an island.
- [Odaiba (お台場) — the honorable gun batteries](https://yomimap.com/odaiba): Tokyo's futuristic bay district means 'the gun batteries' — built in a panic in 1853 after Perry's black ships arrived.
- [Shinsaibashi (心斎橋) — Shinsai's bridge](https://yomimap.com/shinsaibashi): Named after Okada Shinsai, the merchant who bridged the Nagahori canal in 1622.
- [Chiaraijima (血洗島) — blood-washing island](https://yomimap.com/chiaraijima): 'Blood-Washing Island.' A mountain god washed his severed arm here, says the legend.
- [Harajuku (原宿) — field post-town — a name with no address](https://yomimap.com/harajuku): Harajuku isn't an address.
- [Nakameguro (中目黒) — middle black-eye — the middle of three Meguro villages](https://yomimap.com/nakameguro): The characters read 'black eye'.
- [Ikebukuro (池袋) — pond bag — or a bag-shaped hollow](https://yomimap.com/ikebukuro): A pond in a bag, or a bag-shaped hollow?
- [Shirakawa-gō (白川郷) — the white river — and the volcano that whitens it](https://yomimap.com/shirakawago): The name means 'white river'.
- [Kamakura (鎌倉) — sickle storehouse — or a hearth-shaped valley](https://yomimap.com/kamakura): Kamakura's own city hall lists seven origins for its name and endorses none.
- [Nikkō (日光) — sunlight — but the sun is a Buddha's](https://yomimap.com/nikko): The sound of Nikkō is an accident — Futara, the Japanese rendering of the mountain Kannon comes from, read a second way.
- [Ryōgoku (両国) — both provinces — a border the records disagree on](https://yomimap.com/ryogoku): The Edo chronicle puts the 1657 fire's dead at 107,046.
- [Ueno (上野) — upper field — even the shogunate wasn't sure why](https://yomimap.com/ueno): Tokyo's most famous hill means 'upper field'.
- [Ochanomizu (御茶ノ水) — honorable tea water — doubted by its own source](https://yomimap.com/ochanomizu): The Edo gazetteer explains the name by a shogun's tea — then calls the story a stretch.
- [Sapporo (札幌) — tag and canopy — the kanji say nothing](https://yomimap.com/sapporo): In 1891 the Hokkaido government's gazetteer ruled that Sapporo means dry and vast; the city government today lists several explanations and settles on none.
- [Ebisu (恵比寿) — grace, compare, long life — sound borrowed for a god's name](https://yomimap.com/ebisu): One name, three appearances: a beer in the government Gazette by 1894, a station in 1906, a place-name in 1928 — and only the last of them says what it was named for, in the town's own hand.