Language desk
< July 4	<< Jun \| July \| Aug >>	July 6 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Language Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

July 5

Japanese place names outside Japan

Assaí is a Brazilian municipality whose name is derived from the Japanese word 朝日 Asahi. Are there other instances of place names (villages, towns, cities, provinces etc..., not street names or restaurants) outside of Japan (modern and historical, thus excluding, for example, Karafuto] with a Japanese etymology or with an outright Japanese name? I'm particularly curious about South America, with its large Japanese diaspora. Thanks! 82.48.30.149 (talk) 14:13, 5 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

There's Okinawa Uno, Bolivia. Nardog (talk) 12:50, 6 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

There are several places (either tiny communities or ghost towns) in the U.S. and Canada named Tokio or Togo, which the study Names on the Land attributes to the pro-Japanese sentiment in some circles during the 1905 Russo-Japanese War. There is also Japan, Missouri in the Missouri Ozarks, which was named after the local Roman Catholic church, the Church of the Holy Martyrs of Japan. --Orange Mike | Talk 12:34, 15 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

There are four U.S. places named Satsuma. These were named after the Satsuma orange, which was itself named after the former Satsuma Province. Lantzy : Lantzy 21:39, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

In line with what Orange Mike mentioned above, see Oyama, British Columbia, Togo, Saskatchewan, Mikado, Saskatchewan. See [1] --Soman (talk) 11:32, 19 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"It is interesting to find the state of Texas bearing the most Japanese-named spots. The total is four . Aside from the two given in the foregoing paragraphs , there is Mayekawa , a place named after the Japanese pioneer Mayekawa . A railway station and a school are located in the town . Then there is Satsuma , a place a Japanese pioneer named Satsuma helped to develop . A fairly large sized town , the village and vicinity still produce the Satsuma oranges ." (Japanese vignettes, p. 17, published 1939). --Soman (talk) 11:36, 19 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]