Have you ever been sightseeing in Kyoto, and when you find a Japanese restaurant or cafe you are looking for, the length of the address makes you think, "What? Have you ever had that experience?
In other cities, addresses consist of town names and street numbers, but some addresses in Kamigyo, Nakagyo, Shimogyo, and Sakyo wards in the center of Kyoto City include words such as "agaru (up) and sagaru (down)" or "higashiiru (east) and nishiru (west)".
In this issue, we will tell you about this mysterious word!
What is up and down?
Let's start with the reading!
It is read as "up" or "down."
Sometimes, some people say "going up" or "going down," but if you tell the cab driver where you are going by saying "up at XX (intersection)," he or she will say, "He or she knows what he or she is doing," and you will not have to take the long way around.... Maybe he/she will understand... (laughs).
Streets in Kyoto City are developed in a grid pattern with east-west and north-south streets intersecting.
When the Heian-kyo Capital was built, it was modeled after Chinese urban planning and called the joubou system.
The term "up and down" is a simple way of referring to the traffic on this grid of streets.
The meaning is actually simple: "going up" means going north, and "going down" means going south.
It can be written in katakana, such as "上ル," but "上る" is said to be correct.
East entrance, West entrance
East Entrance and West Entrance are also as the saying goes.
With north on the map at the top, "Higashi-iriru" refers to going to the right and "Nishi-iru" refers to going to the left, indicating whether one should go west or east from the intersection of the vertical and horizontal streets.
Sometimes "West Entry" is written as "West Entry" and "East Entry" is written as "East Entry" and "Le" is sometimes not written.
Practice: Kyoto Prefectural Government
Now, let's take Kyoto Prefectural Office as an example to understand the location!
The address is "Yabunouchi-cho, Shimotachiuri-dori Shinmachi Nishi-iru, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto.
Let's look at the "Shimodachiuridori Shinmachi Nishi-iru" section with the street name. It is an indication to go west (left) at the intersection of Shimotachiuri Dori and Shinmachi Dori.
When people in Kyoto explain the location of a place, they sometimes say something like, "Go down this suji (street) a little bit...",
It is useful to remember.
Kyoto junior high school students are said to be required to sing straw songs on their tests.
The other day, my daughter sang a warabeka song called "Marutake Ebisu Oshioke~.
You may have heard this song, which is an acronym for Marutamachi Dori, Takeya-cho Dori, Isikawa Dori, Nijo Dori, Oshikoji Dori, Oike Dori, etc., from the north (top) of the east-west streets.
And another song called "Teragokofu Yacho to Miya Naginasakai~".
It is a north-south street song that takes its name from the initials of Teramachi Dori, Gokomachi Dori, Fuyamachi Dori, Tominokoji Dori, Yanagiba Dori, and Sakaicho Dori.
To my surprise, I heard that the lyrics would be on the music test, and I was trying hard to memorize them (laughs).
You may not be familiar with North-South street songs, but you can find information on these songs by searching the Internet.
Once you learn it, it may be easier to figure out where to go when sightseeing.
summary
How was it?
If you can remember how to read addresses and street names, I think you will feel a little closer to Kyoto than you do now.
Please remember this article when you are sightseeing and share it with the people you go around with.
