Talk:Iwaki, Fukushima

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[edit] Taira

Is this city also known as Taira? WhisperToMe 05:51, 22 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Yes, the main downtown area was and still is. Until December 1994 the main JR train station was also still referred to as Taira Station. RJCraig 09:18, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

Actually Taira encompasses quite a large area within Iwaki-shi, much larger than just the downtown area.

You'll notice that there is no "only" in my earlier comment. To be more precise then, yes, the original area covered by Taira was much larger. It stretched from Taira Kami-Hirakubo in the north, south through Taira Akai down to Taira Kami-Arakawa, east from there through Taira Kami-Yamaguchi and on to Taira Kabeya-saku on the ocean, then north along the shoreline to Taira Hara-Takano (I'm assuming that's the pronuciation, I've never heard it used; next to Yotsukura), and then back west through Taira Manome to Taira Kami-Hirakubo. The main urban sprawl south of the station is pretty much in the center of the area described. The next time I'm out in Tamachi I'll ask some of the longtime native inhabitants what they mean when they use "Taira". (Not that I'll add to the main article, since that would constitute original research.) RJCraig 19:01, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

My wife is from Taira and we lived there for many years, mostly in Hirakubo, or rather Shimo-Hirakubo. Going to Taira meant to me going to the Iwaki Station area (I still think of it as Taira Station) even though as I said it I was already in Taira. That being said, I could be standing on the coast and still be in Taira.

Well, being married to someone from here naturally trumps my ten years of residency! : )

I'd kind-of forgotten about this until the other night (Tuesday, to be exact) when I finally got around to asking the friends (also all natives) I was with about it. They basically confirmed that they use "Taira" the same way we do in English, to indicate the downtown area around the station.

I dare say that if you asked a Japanese to go to Taira with you and then drove to some point within geographical/administrative/historical Taira (like your spot on the coast) and stopped, you would be regarded with more than a bit of confused curiosity. But maybe you don't mind being a 変な外人 either? : )

(By the way, any reason for not creating an account here?) RJCraig 02:42, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

We must have met as I was there most of the time from '91 to '05.

Not necessarily; I've been fairly reclusive most of my years here. I taught at the Kousen from '95 to '99, then part-time at Meisei and Higashi Nihon for 2 years. I used to hang out at Roxy Pub for a while; was also a regular customer at Purnima (and helped Baba-ji out several years with his anniversary celebrations in November). Ring any bells? RJCraig 01:32, 6 May 2006 (UTC)