4330
I was a little confused after reading this on Wikipedia article for
[宇部港](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%87%E9%83%A8%E6%B8%AF), a harbor in
Ube, Yamaguchi:

> 港湾法{こうわんほう}上の重要港湾...に指定されている。

I'm really not used to reading very technical writing, so there is a (pretty
good) chance that I'm way off the mark, but I figured it means something like:

> "It is designated as an Important Port under the Harbor Act" (or however the
> legalese works out).

What got me stuck was the use of the kanji `上` (which I, for lack of a clear
reference, am reading as `じょう`). Is it saying that the `港湾法` is _above_ the
Ube Harbor, or vice-versa? It may be how English has wired my brain, but I
think of things "under a law"? Is this simply the way it's said in Japanese?
Does it have another meaning?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-18T16:30:43.143
4329
2012-01-19T01:00:35.313
2012-01-19T01:00:35.313
921
921
question
definitions
What does it mean to be "over a law"?
Without knowing the entire sentence, this looks like a `〜上` meaning "from the
viewpoint/standpoint of 〜". I talked about the meaning of this [in this
thread](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/3174/jlpt-n1-question-
why-isnt-a-large-amount-of-money-a-good-enough-reason-to-kill), so I'll defer
you there for a more complete explanation.

Basically sounds like "From the viewpoint/In terms of the Harbour Act 〜".
Actually, in this case, I think "Under the Habour Act" (as you mentioned)
would be correct English also.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-18T16:48:21.733
4330
2012-01-19T00:06:37.940
2017-04-13T12:43:48.447
-1
78
4329
answer
From [goo](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/srch/jn/%E4%B8%8A/m1u/):

> ［接尾］名詞に付いて、…に関して、…の面で、…の上で、などの意を表す。
>
>   * 「一身 **上** の都合」
>   * 「経済 **上** の理由」
>   * 「行きがかり **上** そうせざるを得なかった」
>

As istrasci said, it has a meaning of "from the viewpoint/standpoint of 〜"
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-18T17:08:51.273
4331
2012-01-18T17:08:51.273
903
4329
answer