Hakata & Fukuoka's Tricky Place Names: Zassho no Kuma, Kego, Meinohama
How would you read "雑餉隈"? Fukuoka City is home to a surprising number of place names that trip up first-time readers.
Old settlement names, waterside geography, and shrine origins all live on across the city's various wards.
Here we cover representative hard-to-read place names through their readings and backgrounds.
Place Names Found in Urban Areas and Transit
Zassho no Kuma (雑餉隈)
Read as "zassho no kuma," this Hakata Ward place name is considered one of the prime examples of kanji that almost no one can read at first glance. The name survives in the Zassho no Kuma Station on the Nishitetsu Tenjin-Omuta Line. "Kuma" is an old word for a bend in the land, and the area once thrived as a post town along the highway.
Kego (警固)
Read as "kego," this is a place name close to the busy heart of Chuo Ward, preserved in Kego Shrine and Kego Park. It is said to derive from the "Kego-sho" (security garrison) placed there in ancient times to guard the Dazaifu government offices. The area south of Tenjin is also known as a fashionable district lined with stylish shops.
Meinohama (姪浜)
Read as "meinohama" (often contracted to "meihama" in everyday speech), this is a place name in eastern Nishi Ward. Meinohama Station connects the Fukuoka City Subway Airport Line with the JR Chikuhi Line, making it a key transportation hub in the western part of the city. Long established as a port town, it carries memories of fishing and salt-making.
Yakuin (薬院)
Read as "yakuin," this Chuo Ward place name hosts Yakuin Station, where the Nishitetsu Tenjin-Omuta Line and the Fukuoka City Subway Nanakuma Line intersect. The name is said to originate from the herb gardens and medicinal facilities once established here. It is beloved today as a popular residential and dining area close to Tenjin.
Sunoko (簀子)
Read as "sunoko," this is a place name in northern Chuo Ward near the former Hakata Bay shoreline. The characters evoke a slatted mat of woven bamboo or wood, and the name is thought to relate to the coastal topography. It is a corner where old town names still survive, offering the pleasure of decoding place names layer by layer.
Tonin (当仁)
Read as "tonin," this western Chuo Ward place name lives on in Tonin Elementary and Junior High School. A residential area close to Ohori Park, those unfamiliar with the reading often mistakenly say "atarani" or similar. The school district name makes it deeply familiar to residents who grew up in the neighborhood.
Place Names Tied to Faith and Ancient Shrines
Kashii (香椎)
Read as "kashii," this Higashi Ward place name flourished long ago as the approach to Kashii-gu Shrine. Both JR Kashii Station and Nishitetsu Kashii Station are located here, and the area concentrates a large population as a sub-city center. The path from the character "椎" (the chinquapin tree) to the reading "kashii" is not intuitive at first sight.
Hakozaki (箱崎)
Read as "hakozaki," this Higashi Ward place name is renowned as the site of Hakozaki-gu, counted among Japan's three greatest Hachiman shrines. Worth noting is that the place name uses the character "箱" (box) while the shrine itself is written with the rarer variant "筥." It was also an academic area that once housed Kyushu University's main campus.
Maidashi (馬出)
Read as "maidashi," this Higashi Ward place name is also known through the subway stop Maidashi-Kyudai Byoin-mae Station. According to tradition, the name derives from the practice of offering dedicated horses for Hakozaki-gu's ceremonies — and the pronunciation "maidashi" (rather than the expected "umadashi") is precisely where readers tend to stumble.
FAQ
Any tips for memorizing hard-to-read place names?
Connecting the characters to the landscape helps: "kuma" means a bend in the land, "hama" and "sunoko" evoke the coast. For place names like Kego that derive from ancient government offices, pairing the reading with its historical role makes it far easier to retain.
Which train lines are best for visiting multiple hard-to-read place names?
The Fukuoka City Subway Airport Line takes you toward Meinohama and the Hakozaki area, while the Nishitetsu Tenjin-Omuta Line passes through Yakuin and Zassho no Kuma — letting you efficiently visit place names that survive as active station names along each route.