There are some kanji that even Japanese people find it’s hard to decipher. Some names of places or stations are especially hard to comprehend. Needless to say, those hard to read kanji that even native Japanese speakers find it’s hard to decipher, can be extremely hard for those who don’t speak Japanese as a first language to comprehend. If you still want to give it a shot, don’t take a look at the answers until you finish all the quizzes.
This time, we are going to introduce hard to read names of places and stations in the Kansai region in a quiz format.
The selection of 7 quizzes on hard to read names of places and stations in the Kansai region
Let us give you some quizzes regarding hard to read names of places and stations in the Kansai region from now on. The answers can be found at the bottom of the article, so please check it out later. While you are working on the quizzes, we’ll also give you some hints including information about the place and areas nearby.
吹田
This concerned place is located in the northern part of Osaka Prefecture, and its southern end is contiguous with Osaka-city. It’s also famous as a city that hosted “Expo ‘70” in 1970.Somehow, the name reminds us of a brass band club, “SUIsougakubu” in japanese.
宇陀
This one is located in the northeast part of Nara prefecture. The name of the place made an appearance in Chronicles of Japan as a place where the story of Japanese national foundation myth took place. This name can be easier to remember if you replace “Monku wo iuna”, don’t complain in Japanese, with another expression.
放出
This is a name of stations you can find on JR Gakkentoshi Line or Osaka Higashi Line. This station was once featured in an automobile commercial on TV, and with its unique pronunciation, it has become very famous. At least it’s not pronounced “Hoshutsu”.
喜連瓜破
This one is a name of a station you can find on the Osaka Metro Tanimachi Line. Originally, the station was located on the boundary between 喜連 ward and 瓜破 ward, and that caused a major dispute when they had to name the new station, and at the end, they decided to just conjoin both of the names to settle it down. It sounds like a four-character compound word of two names, doesn’t it?
膳所
This is a station on the JR Tokaido Line located in Otsu-city Shiga prefecture. The inside of the station itself doesn’t look too different from any other stations, but the area used to be called “Hamada”. The name might be historic and have something to do with serving dishes for a great person such as Japanese emperor.
私市
This is a name of a place located in Katano-City, Osaka Prefecture. The origin of the name is, 私部, “Kisabe”. However, it’s not pronounced “Shi-ichi” nor “Shishi” at least.
河堀口
This is a name of a station you can find on the Kintetsu Minami Osaka Line. Once you step out of this urbanized station, Tennoji is not far off, and Abeno Harukas is also located near enough to drop by anytime. The name sounds like something is about to overflow from a river.
Answers
In a order of quizzes・・
吹田→Suita
宇陀→Uda
放出→Hanaten
喜連瓜破→Kire-uriwari
膳所→Zeze
私市→Kisaichi
河堀口→Koboreguchi
That’s all the answers, thank you all for participating.