Place name - Chimei

Japanese: 地名 - ちめい
Place name - Chimei

A place name is a name given to a piece of land, but in a broader sense it refers to the totality of proper nouns for all geographical entities, including the names of rivers and sea areas. The United Nations Conference on Geographical Names has made the distinction between the totality being called a geographical name, the name of a residential place being called a place name, and the name of a natural place being called a toponym. The term "hydronym" is sometimes used for the names of bodies of water. Like personal names, place names are given to individual pieces of land and indicate the extent of a residential area. Place names are broadly divided into natural place names that express the natural environment, such as mountains, rivers, plants, and trees, and human/historical place names that preserve the history of the place or the names of pioneers. Of these, administrative place names are the names of a certain city or village.

[Kenjiro Fujioka and Akiyoshi Kagami]

Natural place names

Natural place names are those that are named after the natural environment, such as mountains and rivers, climate, living things, and other natural features. The Wamyōshō (Japanese Myo-shō) from the Heian period contains characters related to nature, such as dake, oka, shin, shima, and iwashimizu, which represent mountains and valleys, but the Fudoki (Chinese Topography) from the Nara period, which preceded it, also contained place names that included these characters. For example, the "Harima Province Fudoki" lists Hioka, Tegarioaka, Kusakami, Nagaunegawa, Ono, Tohori, Takase, Sagisumiyama, Shiooka, Takashima, Hagiwara, Mii, Shimizu, Minashigawa, Kaniwayama, and the section on Ibo county explains that "Hagiwara flourished in many places, so it was called Hagiwara," and that the Minashigawa "The river dries up and no longer flows, so it is called Minashigawa." Natural place names include Higashimura, Nishimura, Nishida, Kitayama, Hinata, Hiji, and Hino, which indicate the direction of the sun and the position of the sun, as well as the meteorological phenomena of Ikazuchi and Hyounoyama, and clouds, volcanoes, and hot springs, such as the adjacent volcanoes Futagoyama and the crater-erupting Mount Takuhi (Oki Islands, Shimane Prefecture). Other place names related to living things and minerals include Manazurumisaki (Kanagawa Prefecture) and Washuyama (Okayama Prefecture), and the elephant's trunk-like Cape Zoubigasaki is located on the toridon formed at the tip of the Murozumi Peninsula in Hikari City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Kominato Bay in the Boso Peninsula, Chiba Prefecture, is a sea bream producing area, so it was given the name Tai-no-ura. Similarly, place names related to iron sand, such as Kanna and Kanayama, are found throughout the country, including in the Chugoku Mountains. There are also many place names such as Suzugatake and Iouzan (islands). However, among these place names, care must be taken with katakana and homonyms. For example, Takashima is a katakana version of Takashima, and Iouzan, written as Iouzen, is a Buddhist place name associated with Yakushi Nyorai. There are also many place names in Hokkaido that are of Ainu origin, such as the Ainu word for river, petsu, but Noboribetsu in Hokkaido is nupurupetsu (dark-colored river), and its former name, Horobetsu, means poropetsu (big river). There are many other place names that include the word "island," but when they are inland rather than on the coast, they can refer to the natural levees of old rivers on gently shaped alluvial fans, such as the Tonami Plain in Toyama Prefecture, which is a slight elevation that resembles an island.

In other countries, the "furt" in Frankfurt is a place name that is named after a river, and the "berg" in Heidelberg and Nuremberg is a place name related to a mountain. Other "cape" place names are related to headlands, such as the city of Cape Town, named after the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. There are many places in Northern Europe and the UK that are named after firths, that is, fjords created by glacial action. Furthermore, the Japanese place names "Hyuga" are called "Sonnen Seite" (sunny side) in Germany. In China, the provinces of Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei, and Henan are natural administrative names related to the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, and the prefecture of Guangzhou recalls the Pearl River Delta. In addition, Salt Lake City in the United States is literally a city located on the shores of a salt lake.

[Kenjiro Fujioka and Akiyoshi Kagami]

Humanities and Historical Place Names

Place names other than natural place names. These include administrative place names. For example, Kibougaoka, Fujimidai, Heiwa-dori, and Highland (Yokosuka City) are examples of housing complexes built after the war. On the other hand, historical place names are the most numerous, and in particular, the majority of Japanese place names originate from ancient or medieval times. Many jori-jobo place names such as Kunotsubo and Sanjo remain in rural areas throughout the country. There are also many market and city names. The place name Gobo (Wakayama Prefecture and others) is also the name of a temple town centered around a Shinshu temple in the late Middle Ages. Other administrative place names such as Kokufu, Fuchu, Soja, Kori, Kokubu, and Kokubunji City have their origins in the Ritsuryo period. Place names such as Misono and Sho are also widely distributed throughout the country and are of medieval origin. On the other hand, Sange, Negoya, and Mandokoro are castle town place names from the late Middle Ages and early times. In contrast, early modern place names are common in castle towns, post towns, and newly developed areas. Otemachi, Tenmamachi, Tonomachi, Jochichi, Marunouchi, Ninomarumachi, Ryogaemachi, Ginza, Zaimokumachi, Yoneyamamachi, Uoyamachi, Gofukumachi, Yaoyamachi, and Kanamonomachi are castle town place names from the early modern period, and in Okinawa Prefecture, castles are called "gusuku," as in Tomigusuku. Other place names such as Babamachi and Hatagomachi are common in former post towns. Generally, towns that serve as both castle towns and post towns tend to have commercial place names. Furthermore, place names such as Ginzanmachi and Dozamachi remain in mining towns. On the other hand, newly reclaimed land in coastal areas and inland basins often has place names such as Shinkai, Hiraki, Shinchi, Dejima, and Shinhata, while in Osaka there are many new fields contracted by townspeople, and place names beginning with the family name such as Kagaya Shinden and Konoike Shinden remain. In the Saga Plain there are place names such as Karami and Komori (both of which are attached to reclaimed land), and in the Suo-Nada region of Yamaguchi Prefecture there are many reclaimed place names. Karami is a reclamation method in which mud is trapped at high tide using fences made of bamboo or wood, and then turned into farmland. Komori is newly reclaimed land resulting from the redevelopment of rivers, swamps, etc. Additionally, in Yamagata Prefecture, new fields are called Kouya. In addition, Demura means a new village, and in the sand dune area of ​​Kujukuri Beach, there are place names that tell of the Oka and Naya settlements. The Naya settlement was formed when the residents of Oka moved to the site of a former barn for storing fishing equipment. In addition, there are many prefectures where the names of counties and villages in the "Wamyo-sho" still remain as administrative place names. For example, in Omi Province (Shiga Prefecture), there were 12 counties: Shiga, Kurimoto, Koga, Yasu, Gamo, Kanzaki, Aichi, Inukami, Sakata, Asai, Ika, and Takashima. Until the great Heisei mergers that took place from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, all of these remained as county names (however, Kurimoto became Kurita, Aichi became Aichi, and Asai became Higashiasai). There are also many village names that remain. However, in the Meiji era, new prefecture names were born to replace the old country and feudal domain names. In addition to administrative names such as the Kinki region, Kanto region, and Kyoto Prefecture, new city names were also born. In Kyoto Prefecture, new cities such as Joyo City and Nagaokakyo City are postwar administrative place names, and administrative names written in hiragana or katakana are increasing, such as Minami-Alps City in Yamanashi Prefecture, Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture, Tsukuba City and Hitachinaka City in Ibaraki Prefecture, and Akiruno City in Tokyo. In foreign countries, road names such as Roman Road tell of a long history, and there are many castle names such as Newcastle. In Germany, place names such as Hamburg and Augsburg are castle town names.

[Kenjiro Fujioka and Akiyoshi Kagami]

Place names and personal names

The question is which is older, a place name or a person's name, and there are cases where a person's name is used as a place name and cases where the other way around. For example, the area where the ancient powerful Soga clan lived was called Soga River, and similarly, the places where the Wani and Ono clans lived remain as place names in Shiga Prefecture. Also, names such as Koraibashi in Osaka City and Karatsu in Saga Prefecture tell of places where immigrants lived. Other examples include Higashimura, Nakamura, Ogawa, Furukawa, Izumi, Koshimizu, Shimamura, Yanaka, Ikemoto, Oshima, Kojima, and Moriyama, many of which are natural place names that have been used as personal names, and many of these are newer. There are also personal names that are based on land use or scenery, such as Tamura, Numata, Kuwabara, Hashimoto, and Bamboo Forest. Among the names of cities, towns, and villages, Kesennuma, Numazu, and Okawa are derived from natural names, while Yokkaichi and Odate are derived from historical place names.

In foreign countries, many places are named after explorers or pioneers. For example, Mount Cook and Cook Strait in New Zealand are named after the British explorer J. Cook, and Tasmania is an island named after the Dutch navigator A. Tasman. Washington is a city named after President G. Washington, and the Bismarck Archipelago in Papua New Guinea was a former German protectorate and was named after General Bismarck. Leningrad, the name of St. Petersburg during the Soviet era, was named after the revolutionary Lenin, and during the imperial era it was founded by Peter I and was also called Petersburg and Petrograd.

Other notable examples include Stanley Falls in Africa, which commemorates the British explorer HM Stanley, and Rio de Janeiro, meaning January River in South America, which is named after the month of the year the Portuguese explorer reached the country.

[Kenjiro Fujioka and Akiyoshi Kagami]

Changing and preserving place names

Place names that have been given are often changed due to political upheaval or other reasons. In African countries that gained independence after World War II, not only place names but also country names were changed to the traditional names of the land. The former Belgian Congo became the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1964, and after 1971 it became the Republic of Zaire, and the capital was the old Leopoldville, which became Kinshasa, but in 1997 it returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There was also the People's Republic of the Congo, whose capital was Brazzaville, but in 1991 it became the Republic of the Congo. The name of the Congo Basin remains the same, and the Congo River is also called the Zaire River. In addition, British Southern Rhodesia became independent as the Republic of Zimbabwe in 1980. Similarly, the former British Bechuanaland became the Republic of Botswana, and the capital was newly established as Gaborone. In addition, in the former Soviet Union, place names named after Stalin were renamed after the war, Stalingrad became Volgograd, and Stalino became Donetsk. Furthermore, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, place names named after revolutionaries are increasingly being restored to their old names, such as Leningrad reverting to its old name of St. Petersburg. In Japan, Edo became Tokyo during the Meiji period, Shizuoka City was originally called Sunpu (Suruga Fuchu) or Fuchu but became Shizuoka after the Meiji Restoration, and Kameyama, a castle town in Tanba (Kyoto Prefecture), became Kameoka.

In recent years, while there has been a movement to preserve old historical place names, many difficult place names have been changed, or changed with the implementation of the "Law on Addressing of Residences" since 1962 (Showa 37). Place names, for better or worse, are intangible cultural heritage given by our ancestors, and tell the social environment of each era when they were named. However, after 1953, the concept of wide-area urban areas was launched, and new administrative place names were born through the merger of cities, towns, and villages. In some places, these events prompted the creation of administrative names written in katakana or hiragana. It is true that we have the right to change the names of the areas where we live to suit the current situation. For example, feudal names such as Rōya-cho (Rōya Town) and Keisei-cho (Keisei Town) may not be suitable as modern town names. In such cases, or particularly difficult city, town, and village names, they may need to be changed. However, in such cases, the original place names should be made known to the public in some way. Interpreting difficult place names can provide valuable information for shedding light on the area's past history.

In addition, cadastral maps and land registers that record place names and village names, as well as old maps that record place names, should be carefully preserved in town halls and community centers to ensure that local residents have knowledge of place names. In this sense, it is good that the movement to preserve place names has become more active in recent years. Research on place names is also indispensable and valuable material for research in linguistics, history, geography, folklore, and other fields.

Incidentally, the Act on Residential Addresses underwent a fundamental revision in 1985, and the revised supplementary provisions stipulated that "when new town or village areas are designated, the names of those towns or villages must conform as closely as possible to the existing names."

[Kenjiro Fujioka and Akiyoshi Kagami]

"Study of Place Names" by Kunio Yanagita (1936, Kokin Shoin)"Japanese Place Name Studies" by Kanji Kagami (1957, Japan Place Name Research Institute)"The Origin of Place Names" by Keiichiro Yamaguchi (1967, Tokuma Shoten)"Supplemented Japanese Place Name Dictionary" by Togo Yoshida, 8 volumes (1969-71, Tomiyama Publishing)"The Etymology of Place Names" by Kanji Kagami and Akikatsu Kagami (1977, Kadokawa Shoten)"The Tradition of Japanese Place Names" by Suenori Ikeda (1977, Heibonsha)"Kadokawa Japanese Place Name Dictionary Editorial Committee, 47 volumes by prefecture and 2 supplementary volumes (1978-90, Kadokawa Shoten)""The Encyclopedia of Japanese Historical Place Names" (1979-2004, Heibonsha)""The Dictionary of Japanese Historical Place Names" edited by Fujioka Kenjiro (1981, Tokyodo Publishing)""The Dictionary of the Etymology of Japanese Place Names" by Yoshida Shigeki (1981, Shinjinbutsu Oraisha)""Introduction to Place Name Studies" by Kagami Akikatsu (1984, Taishukan Shoten)""The Dictionary of the Etymology of Place Names" by Yamanaka Shota (1989, Azekura Shobo)""New Research on Place Names" by Chiba Tokuji (1994, Kokin Shoin)""The Encyclopedia of Japanese Place Names: Land Japonica" edited by Ukita Noriyoshi, Nakamura Kazuo, and Takahashi Nobuo (1996, Shogakukan)" ▽ "Japanese Place Names" by Fujioka Kenjiro (Kodansha Gendai Shinsho)""Japanese Place Names" by Kenichi Tanigawa (Iwanami Shinsho)

[Reference item] | Ainu place names

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

地名は土地に名づけられた名称であるが、広義には地理的なすべての存在に対する固有名詞の総体をさすから、河川、海域などの名も含まれる。国連地名会議では、総体をgeographical name、居住地名をplace name、自然地名をtoponymという区別を定めている。水域の名称には「水名hydronym」という語を使うこともある。地名は人名のように、それぞれの土地に冠せられた名称で、居住地域の範囲を示す。地名は山川草木など自然的環境を表現する自然地名と、その場所の歴史や開拓者名を残す人文・歴史地名とに大別される。うち行政地名とは何々市、何々村の名称のことである。

[藤岡謙二郎・鏡味明克]

自然地名

自然地名とは地名のなかで、山河や気候、生物その他の自然的環境を地名としたものである。平安時代の『和名抄(わみょうしょう)』には山や谷を表す嶽、丘、峯、嶋、石清水(いわしみず)などの自然に関する文字が出ているが、それ以前の奈良時代の「風土記(ふどき)」にも、すでにこれらの文字を冠した地名が出ている。たとえば『播磨国(はりまのくに)風土記』では日岡(ひおか)、手苅丘(てがりおか)、草上(くさかみ)、長畝川(ながうねがわ)、大野(おおの)、堀(とほり)、高瀬(たかせ)、鷁住山(さぎすみやま)、塩阜(しおおか)、高嶋(たかしま)、萩原(はぎわら)、御井(みい)、清水(しみず)、无水川(みなしがわ)、鹿庭山(かにわやま)などがあげられ、萩原については揖保(いぼ)郡の条で「萩多く栄えき。故(かれ)、萩原といふ」、无水川については「川の水絶えて流れず。故、无水川と號(なづ)く」と説明している。自然地名のうちには、東西南北などの方位や太陽の位置を示す東村、西村、西田、北山、日向(ひなた)、日出(ひじ)、日野のほか、気象現象の雷(いかずち)、氷(ひょう)ノ山、また雲、火山、温泉に関しては相接した火山を双子(ふたご)(両子)山、火口から噴火する焼火(たくひ)山(島根県隠岐島前(おきどうぜん))などがある。そのほか生物や鉱物地名では真鶴(まなづる)岬(神奈川県)、鷲羽(わしゅう)山(岡山県)などがあり、山口県光(ひかり)市の室積(むろづみ)半島先端部に形成された陸繋砂嘴(りくけいさし)には象の鼻に似た象鼻(ぞうび)ヶ岬がある。千葉県房総半島の小湊(こみなと)湾は鯛(たい)の産地であるため鯛ノ浦の名がつけられている。同様に中国山地はじめ砂鉄に関係のある鉄穴(かんな)や金山(かなやま)の地名は全国各地に分布する。そのほか錫(すず)ヶ岳、硫黄(いおう)山(島)の地名も多い。ただし、これらの地名のうち、当て字や同音異義の地名には注意が必要である。たとえば、鷹(たか)島のなかには高島を当て字にしたものがあるし、医王山(いおうぜん)と書く「いおう山」は薬師如来(やくしにょらい)による仏教地名である。また北海道ではアイヌ語源の地名も多く、アイヌ語で川はペツというが、北海道の登別(のぼりべつ)はヌプルペツ(色の濃い川)で、その旧称幌別(ほろべつ)はポロペツ(大きい川)という意味である。そのほか島のつく地名も多いが、海岸ではなく内陸の場合では、たとえば富山県の礪波(となみ)平野にみるように緩扇状地上の旧河川の自然堤防、すなわち島のようになった微高地を意味する場合もある。

 これを外国についていっても、フランクフルトのフルトfurtは川にちなむ地名、ハイデルベルクやニュルンベルクなどのベルクbergは山の関係地名である。そのほかケープは岬関係の地名で、アフリカ南端の喜望峰Cape of Good Hopeにちなむ都市ケープ・タウンがある。またファースfirthすなわち峡湾や氷河作用によるフィヨルドfjordが地名となっているものは北欧やイギリスに多い。さらに日本の日向地名はドイツではSonnen Seite(日の当たる側)の名でよばれる。中国でも四川(しせん/スーチョワン)、湖南、湖北、河南などの各省名は黄河や長江(ちょうこう/チャンチヤン)に関連する自然的行政名であり、広州(こうしゅう/コワンチョウ)市の州は珠江デルタを想起する。そのほかアメリカ合衆国のソルト・レーク・シティSalt Lake Cityは文字どおり鹹(かん)(塩)湖畔に位置する市町である。

[藤岡謙二郎・鏡味明克]

人文・歴史地名

自然地名以外の地名。このなかには行政地名も含まれる。すなわち戦後誕生した団地における希望ヶ丘、富士見台、平和通り、ハイランド(横須賀市)などである。一方、歴史地名はその数がもっとも多く、とりわけ日本の地名は古代・中世起源のものがもっとも多い。九ノ坪や三条などの条里条坊地名はいまも全国の農村地域に多く残っている。また市場や市(いち)地名も多い。御坊(ごぼう)という地名(和歌山県ほか)もまた中世末の真宗寺院を中心とした寺内町(じないまち)地名である。ほかにも国府や府中、惣社(そうじゃ)、郡(こおり)、国分、国分寺(こくぶんじ)市などの行政地名はその起源を律令(りつりょう)時代に有している。また御園(みその)や荘(しょう)地名も全国にその分布が多く、中世起源の地名である。一方、山下(さんげ)や根古屋(ねごや)、政所(まんどころ)は中世末、初期の城下町地名である。これに対して近世地名は城下町や宿場町、新田開発地域に多い。大手町、伝馬(てんま)町、殿(との)町、城地、丸ノ内、二ノ丸町、両替町、銀座、材木町、米屋町、魚屋町、呉服町、八百屋(やおや)町、金物町などは近世の城下町地名であり、沖縄県では豊見城(とみぐすく)など城のことを「グスク」とよんでいる。そのほか馬場町や旅籠(はたご)町は旧宿場町に多い地名である。一般に城下町と宿場町を兼ねた町では、商業地名が多い。また鉱山町では銀山町、銅座町などの地名も残る。一方、臨海や内陸盆地の新開地では新開とか開(ひらき)、新地、出島、新畑などの地名が多く、大阪では町人請負新田が多く、加賀屋新田や鴻池(こうのいけ)新田などの屋号を冠した地名が残る。佐賀平野では搦(からみ)、籠(こもり)(ともに干拓地に付される)など、また山口県の周防灘(すおうなだ)地域では開作地名が多い。搦は竹・木などの柵(しがらみ)により満潮時の泥土をため、耕地化する干拓法である。籠は河川や沼などの改修による新開地である。そのほか山形県では新田を興屋(こうや)とよんでいる。ほかにも出村(でむら)とは新しい子村のことであり、九十九里(くじゅうくり)浜の砂丘地帯では岡集落や納屋(なや)集落を物語る地名がある。納屋集落は、もと漁具を入れる納屋のあった場所に岡の住民が移住したものである。そのほか行政地名には『和名抄』の郡や郷地名がいまもなお残存する府県が多く、たとえば近江(おうみ)国(滋賀県)では、滋賀、栗本(くりもと)、甲賀、野洲(やす)、蒲生(がもう)、神崎(かんざき)、愛智(えち)、犬上(いぬかみ)、坂田、浅井、伊香(いか)、高島の12郡があったが、1990年代なかばから2000年代なかばにかけて行われた平成の大合併までは、そのいずれもが郡名として残っていた(ただし栗本は栗太、愛智は愛知、浅井は東浅井(ひがしあざい)郡となっていた)。そのほか郷名が現存するものはきわめて多い。ところが明治になると、従来の国名や藩名にかわって新しい府県名が誕生するのである。近畿地方や関東地方、京都府などの行政名のほか、市名にも新しいものが誕生した。京都府下の場合、ことに城陽市、長岡京市などの新市は戦後の行政地名であり、山梨県の南アルプス市、福島県のいわき市、茨城県のつくば市、ひたちなか市、東京のあきる野市など平仮名や片仮名の行政名も増えてきた。外国の場合もローマンロードといった道路名は歴史の古さを物語るし、ニューカッスルなどの城地名も多い。ドイツでは、ハンブルクやアウクスブルクなどブルクburg地名が城下町名である。

[藤岡謙二郎・鏡味明克]

地名と人名

地名と人名はどちらが古いかが問題となるが、人名を地名とした場合と、反対の場合とがある。たとえば古代豪族蘇我(そが)氏の居住した地域を曽我(そが)川とよび、同様に和邇(わに)氏や小野氏などの居住地が滋賀県では現存地名として残っている。また大阪市の高麗(こうらい)橋や佐賀県の唐津(からつ)などの名称は渡来人の居住地を物語る。ほかに、その数の多い東村、中村、小川、古川、泉、小清水、島村、谷中(やなか)、池本、大島、小島、森山などは自然地名を人名としたものが多く、その年代も新しいものが多い。また田村、沼田、桑原、橋本、竹林など土地利用や景観をとって人名としたものもある。また市町村名では気仙沼(けせんぬま)、沼津、大川などは自然名、四日市、大館(おおだて)市などは歴史地名を市名としたものである。

 外国では、探検者や開拓者名を地名としたものが多い。たとえばニュージーランドのクック山やクック海峡はイギリス人探検家のJ. Cookの名をとったもの、タスマニアはオランダ人航海家A. Tasmanの名を冠した島である。そのほかワシントンは大統領G. Washingtonの名を冠した都市であり、パプア・ニューギニアのビスマーク諸島はもとドイツの保護領で将軍ビスマルクBismarckの名をとったものである。サンクト・ペテルブルグのソ連時代の名称レニングラードLeningradは革命家レーニンの名をとったもので、帝政時代にはピョートル1世が建設、ペテルブルグ、ペトログラードPetrogradともよばれた。

 このほかアフリカにはイギリスの探検家スタンリーH. M. Stanleyを記念してスタンリー滝があり、南米の1月の川を意味するリオ・デ・ジャネイロRio de Janeiroは、ポルトガルの探検家が到達した年の月を都市名としたものである。

[藤岡謙二郎・鏡味明克]

地名の改変と保存

一度名づけられた地名は政変その他によって改名されることが少なくない。第二次世界大戦後独立したアフリカの諸国では地名だけでなく国名までがその土地古来のものに変わっている。旧ベルギー領コンゴは1964年コンゴ民主共和国となり、71年以後はザイールZaire共和国となり、首都も古いレオポルドビルがキンシャサとなったが、97年コンゴ民主共和国に戻った。ほかにもなおブラザビルを首都とするコンゴ人民共和国があったが、91年コンゴ共和国となった。コンゴ盆地の名はそのままで、コンゴ川はザイール川ともよんでいる。またイギリス領南ローデシアは1980年にジンバブエZimbabwe共和国として独立した。同様に旧イギリス領ベチュアナランドはボツワナBotswana共和国となり、首都もハボローネとして新設された。そのほか旧ソ連では戦後スターリンにちなむ地名は改名され、スターリングラードはボルゴグラード、スターリノはドネツクとなった。さらに1991年のソ連崩壊後はレニングラードが旧称のサンクト・ペテルブルグに戻るなど、革命家にちなむ地名の旧称への復帰が進んでいる。日本の場合も、明治になって江戸が東京に変わったほか、静岡市はもと駿府(すんぷ)(駿河(するが)府中)または府中とよばれていたのが明治維新後静岡となったし、丹波(たんば)(京都府)の城下町亀山が亀岡となったごとき例は多くある。

 近年では古い歴史地名を保存しようとする運動がある一方、難解地名を改変したり、1962年(昭和37)以後「住居表示に関する法律」の実施に伴ってかえられた地名が少なくない。地名はよきにせよ悪(あ)しきにせよ祖先が名づけた無形の文化遺産であり、各時代に命名された当時の社会的環境を物語っている。ところが1953年以後、広域都市圏構想が打ち出され、市町村合併によって新しい行政地名が誕生した。これらに刺激されて片仮名や平仮名の行政名が誕生した所もある。確かにわれわれは自己の居住地域の名称を、現状にふさわしいものとして改変しうる資格を有している。たとえば封建時代の牢屋(ろうや)町や傾城(けいせい)町などの名称は現在の町名としてはふさわしくないかもしれない。こんな場合や、とくに難解の市町村名は改変すべきかもしれない。しかしこの場合、もとの地名はなんといったかを、同時になんらかの形で国民にあわせ示すべきである。難解な地名の解釈が過去のその地域の歴史を解明する貴重な資料となるからである。

 また地名や字(あざ)名を記した地籍図や土地台帳、さらに地名を記した古地図類も役場や公民館にたいせつに保存し、その土地住民の地名に関する知識を知らしめなければならない。この意味で近年地名の保存運動が盛んになっていることはけっこうなことである。また地名の研究は言語学や歴史学、地理学、民俗学などの研究上でも欠かすことのできない貴重な資料である。

 ちなみに「住居表示に関する法律」は1985年に抜本的な改正が行われ、その改正附則では、「新たな町又は字の区域を定めた場合には、当該町又は字の名称は、できるだけ従来の名称に準拠して定めなければならない」と規定した。

[藤岡謙二郎・鏡味明克]

『柳田国男著『地名の研究』(1936・古今書院)』『鏡味完二著『日本地名学』(1957・日本地名学研究所)』『山口恵一郎著『地名の成立ち』(1967・徳間書店)』『吉田東伍著『増補 大日本地名辞書』全8巻(1969~71・冨山房)』『鏡味完二・鏡味明克著『地名の語源』(1977・角川書店)』『池田末則著『日本地名伝承論』(1977・平凡社)』『「角川日本地名大辞典」編纂委員会著『角川日本地名大辞典』県別全47巻、別巻全2巻(1978~90・角川書店)』『『日本歴史地名大系』(1979~2004・平凡社)』『藤岡謙二郎編『日本歴史地名辞典』(1981・東京堂出版)』『吉田茂樹著『日本地名語源事典』(1981・新人物往来社)』『鏡味明克著『地名学入門』(1984・大修館書店)』『山中襄太著『地名語源辞典』(1989・校倉書房)』『千葉徳爾著『新・地名の研究』(1994・古今書院)』『浮田典良・中村和郎・高橋伸夫監修『日本地名大百科 ランドジャポニカ』(1996・小学館)』『藤岡謙二郎著『日本の地名』(講談社現代新書)』『谷川健一著『日本の地名』(岩波新書)』

[参照項目] | アイヌ語地名

出典 小学館 日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について 情報 | 凡例

<<:  Babbler (English spelling)

>>:  Chimura Heiemon

Recommend

Ryusei Kishida

Western-style painter. Born on June 23, 1891 at R...

Hot rolling

...the production of films for wraps and small co...

Kerman - Kermān (English spelling)

A city in southeastern Iran. The capital of Kerma...

Centripetal hypertrophy

… refers to the thickening and enlargement of the...

International Softball Federation

…The following year, in 1934, the United States S...

"Jeude la feuillée" (English: "Jeude la feuillée")

...The carnival-like anti-world of the fool's...

Where to - Where to

A representative short story from Masamune Hakuch...

Diomedea nigripes (English spelling) Diomedeanigripes

…[Hiroshi Aramata]. … *Some of the terminology th...

Glubb Pasha

1897‐1981 John Bagot Glubb was a British soldier w...

Amylopectin

…Refined starch is a white powder that is tastele...

Chiropractic - chiropractic

A treatment method that aims to alleviate and cur...

Rubus microphyllus (English spelling) Rubus microphyllus

… [Matsui Jin]. … *Some of the terminology that m...

Anabuki Bridge

...Over 80% of the area is forested, producing hi...

Karakalpak language - Karakalpak (English spelling)

It is one of the Turkic languages ​​spoken by app...

Date Musume Koi no Hikanoko - Date Musume Koi no Hikanoko

Ningyo joruri. Sewamono. Eight volumes. Kakugaki (...