EXPLORING “AICHI,” BY YUYA IWATA

Author: Yuya Iwata

First-year student at the University of Tsukuba

Permission to publish was granted on December 21, 2021.

In the text, the name of “Aichi” is translated into English as “Love Wisdom” and it is explained that it got the name because people because people in Aichi love to seek wisdom. However, I thought that the claim is not enough to explain the origin of the name. There may be another origin that has some historical background for the name “Aichi.”  I am going to explore think about where the name “Aichi” really comes from and how it has become what it is now.

Originally, Aichi prefecture had been called “Mikawa” and “Owari” since the Edo period. Then Owari changed its name to Aichi in Meiji 5 and Mikawa was integrated into Aichi in the same year. This is the history of the name of the prefecture.

In one sentence in Manyoshu, the oldest waka book in Japan, the word “Ayuchigata” appears. The seaside area around Atsuta in Nagoya city was called “Ayuchigata” when Manyoshu was published 1,300 years ago. It is said that the prefecture name “Aichi” derives from Ayuchi, a part of the area’s name Ayuchigata.

Now there are two ideas about the meaning of the word “Ayuchi.” One possible meaning is “the land that has abundant water” and the other possible meaning is “preparing for a journey to the east.” As for the former aspect, there was Ayuchigata, the seaside area in Nagoya and the people there could get abundant spring water, so the word Ayuchi (年魚市) was selected as the origin of the current prefecture name, Aichi. As for the latter one, a lot of people there made a journey to the east areas such as Tokyo and the sea around there began to be called Ayuchigata, so the word Ayuchi (足結道) was selected.  Each idea is believed to some extent, but the former one is considered the most reliable idea now.

As a matter of fact, when the name Aichi began to be used, it had two expressions of kanji. From Kamakura period, in addition to the normal expression “愛知,” the other expression “愛智” had been used as the official name. However, in the late Edo period, the latter expression gradually vanished, and using the former one became common among the people. 

As explained above, the origin of the prefecture name “Aichi” has a complicated history, so we are able to think about it deeply. Researching the origin of prefecture names enables us to learn what the land is like, what the people in the area are like, how the people there live then, and many other facts about the history of the prefectures. It gives us the opportunity to discover new things about the areas we live in and an insight into how we should live as a citizen. These new discoveries and insights are the beginning of casting doubt on what we take for granted, enabling us to consider things from a wider perspective. Therefore, you can start with the place where you live and let us learn the history of it and open the door to great discovery and insight.

Work Cited:

愛知の由来が面白い！ 県名成立1300年の歴史とは？ jouhou-kan.net/archives/887. Accessed 30 Nov. 2021.