Researching Japanese place names

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1 Chimei Jiten (地名事典, Encyclopedias for Japanese Place Names)
2 See also

[edit] Chimei Jiten (地名事典, Encyclopedias for Japanese Place Names)

The following encyclopedias and dictionaries are major research tools for reading and understanding Japanese place names and histories.

[edit] Reading Place Names

Shin Nihon chimei sakuin (新日本地名索引, 1993 New Index Gazetteer of Japan) Abokkusha This is the most comprehensive dictionary for reading place names. Each entry simply lists the reading of place name, its kanji, location, and longitude-latitude coordinate.

[edit] Encyclopedias of Place Names

Kadokawa Nihon chimei daijiten (角川日本地名大辞典) Kadokawa Shoten This is the major encyclopedia for Japanese geographic reference. Each entry includes the history of the place, its population, major happenings in the place, and major buildings such as schools, temples, and churches among others.

Konpakutoban Nihon chimei hyakka jiten (コンパクト版日本地名百科事典, Compact Land Japonica) Shogakukan This is the desktop dictionary for geographic reference. It is designed to be easily comprehensible. It includes color maps of entire Japan and detail maps of major Japanese cities; Tokyo, Kyoto-shi, Nara-shi, Osaka-shi, and Nagoya-shi. The index for hard-to-read place names is included at the back of the dictionary.

[edit] Place Names in History

Kodai chimei daijiten (古代地名大辞典) Kadokawa Shoten This work lists in gojuon order the place names of ancient Japanese history. The periods range from the Asuka period (飛鳥時代, Asuka-jidai, 538-710), Nara period (奈良時代, Nara-jidai, 710-794), and Heian period (平安時代, Heian-jidai, 710-1185). It especially focuses on the place names from the Man'yōshū (万葉集) poetry anthology and the Fudoki (風土記) chronicles.

[edit] Origins of Place Names

Nihon chimei gogen jiten (日本地名語源事典) Shinjinbutsu oraisha Based on the studies of geography and Japanese ancient words, each entry lists a few sentences about the origin and history of place names in gojuon order.