Glossary and links
During my research for this website the following historical maps of Edo were a great help:
Often recurring Japanese characters in these maps are:
Character | Reading | Meaning |
丁 | chō | street; ward; town |
町 | chō, machi | town, quarter |
堂 | dō | temple, hall |
同 | dō | idem (i.e., the same) |
橋 | hashi | bridge |
畑 | hata | cultivated field |
堀 | hori | moat; canal |
寺 | ji, tera | temple |
神社 | jinja | Shintō shrine |
川 | kawa | river |
区 | ku | district, ward |
村 | mura | village |
島 | shima | island |
渡 | shito | crossing (of a ferry) |
田 | ta | rice field |
通り | tōri | street, road |
In Japanese, voiceless consonants at the beginning of a word often become voiced when following another word. Sumida river, for example, is pronounced as Sumidagawa; Eitai bridge is pronounced as Eitaibashi; Tsukuda island is pronounced as Tsukudajima, et cetera.
For a view of the Japanese Preface to the first book see my other website here.
Finally, on this page of my Sumidagawa website you can find photos I made of all the first fifteen bridges currently crossing the Sumida river in Tokyo in the order you encounter them when sailing up the river starting from Tokyo bay.
References