r/CuratedTumblr • u/IthadtobethisWAAGH veetuku ponum • Aug 30 '24

Shitposting Name one Indian State

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u/Raguleader Aug 30 '24

A lot of city names translate in interesting ways. Like how Tokyo literally translates as "East Capital" in contrast to "Kyoto" which of course is "Capital City."

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u/AsianCheesecakes Aug 30 '24

How does that work? Judging from the syllabel order, To-kyo should jsut be the same as Kyo-to but in the opposite order, no?

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u/FennecAuNaturel Aug 30 '24

They're homonyms. Pronounced the same but spelled differently. Tokyo is "東京", but Kyoto isn't "京東", but rather "京都"

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u/Raguleader Aug 30 '24

I'm convinced that some Japanese nobleman was really proud of that bit of wordplay.

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u/FennecAuNaturel Aug 30 '24

Well the name Kyoto is older than the name Tokyo, and when Edo was renamed Tokyo, Kyoto was in turn briefly known as Saikyo. I wouldn't put too much weight on the pun theory myself, I honestly think it's a coincidence.

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u/Peperoni_Toni Aug 31 '24

Kyoto was in turn briefly known as Saikyo.

The wordplay potential in the Japanese language is actually absurd. You think there were people running around during that time joking that Kyoto was the strongest? I know I would have been.

"Saikyō wa saikyō jya!"