Highways and Railway Lines
Many highways and railway lines have names that are contractions of the names of their endpoints. For example, 東名高速道路 (Tomei Expressway) takes one kanji 東 (tō) from 東京 (Tokyo) and the other 名 (mei) from 名古屋 (Nagoya; its pronunciation changes from the kun'yomi na to the on'yomi mei). 東急東横線 (Tokyu Toyoko Line) links Tokyo and 横浜 Yokohama), taking part of its name from each city.
Other examples include:
| Contraction | Japanese | Origin | Japanese |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keiyō Line | 京葉線 | Tokyo + Chiba | 東京＋千葉 |
| Saikyō Line | 埼京線 | Saitama + Tokyo | 埼玉＋東京 |
| Senzan Line | 仙山線 | Sendai + Yamagata | 仙台＋山形 |
| Hanshin Main Line | 阪神本線 | Osaka + Kobe | 大阪＋神戸 |
| Seikan Tunnel | 青函トンネル | Aomori + Hakodate | 青森＋函館 |
Sometimes names of this type preserve older place names. For instance, the character 武 is taken from the word 武蔵 (Musashi), which was once the name of the Japanese province in which the city of Tokyo was located, can still be seen in the company names 東武 (Tobu or "East Musashi"), 西武 (Seibu or "West Musashi"), and in the 南武線 (Nanbu Line or "South Musashi Line").
Some other examples:
| Contraction | Japanese | Origin | Japanese |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sōbu Line | 総武線 | Kazusa/Shimousa + Musashi | 下総／上総＋武蔵 |
| Uchibō Line | 内房線 | Inner + Bōsō Peninsula (= Awa + Kazusa) | 内＋房総（＝安房＋上総） |
| Sotobō Line | 外房線 | Outer + Bōsō Peninsula (= Awa + Kazusa) | 外＋房総（＝安房＋上総） |
| Jōban Line | 常磐線 | Hitachi + Iwaki | 常陸＋磐城 |
| Nippō Main Line | 日豊本線 | Hyūga + Buzen/Bungo | 日向＋豊前／豊後 |
| Hōhi Main Line | 豊肥本線 | Bungo + Higo | 豊後＋肥後 |
Read more about this topic: Japanese Abbreviated And Contracted Words
Famous quotes containing the words highways, railway and/or lines:
“That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.”
—A.E. (Alfred Edward)
“Her personality had an architectonic quality; I think of her when I see some of the great London railway termini, especially St. Pancras, with its soot and turrets, and she overshadowed her own daughters, whom she did not understand—my mother, who liked things to be nice; my dotty aunt. But my mother had not the strength to put even some physical distance between them, let alone keep the old monster at emotional arm’s length.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“Sweet fire the sire of muse, my soul needs this;
I want the one rapture of an inspiration.
O then if in my lagging lines you miss”
—Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889)