4820
While chatting with a friend about meeting up in eastern Tokyo, I typed in
ひがしとうきょう and my Mac dutifully sent 東東京 out the wire. I quickly clarified with
ひがし東京 just so she wouldn't think I had made a weird typo or something.

But is 東東京 actually the correct way to write "eastern Tokyo," or is there a
less ambiguous way to do so? Is there a uniform way to refer to directions
inside of place names which feature directional kanji - could the same rule
apply to "northern Hokkaido" and so on?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-26T02:18:12.240
4819
2012-02-28T17:32:23.560
260
question
kanji direction
How to write "eastern Tokyo" (or "northern Hokkaido")
These should work:

  * eastern Tokyo: 東京(の)東部 or 東東京 (like you mentioned)
  * northern Hokkaido: 北海道(の)北部 or 道北{どうほく} (and some people might even use 北北海道）

## Notes:

  * The neat thing about Hokkaido terms is that one can often cut the name down to:

> **道〜 (something)** if the context is fairly clear that one is talking about
> Hokkaido.  
>
>
> For example:
> [道産子{どさんこ}](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%A9%E3%81%95%E3%82%93%E3%81%93)
> (someone who grew up in Hokkaido.)
>
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-26T02:54:48.333
4820
2012-02-28T17:32:23.560
2012-02-28T17:32:23.560
1188
1188
4819
answer
While 東東京 is correct and is used relatively often....

In most cases you are better off the state the exact area you wish to talk
about.

Remember Japanese people think in terms of Prefecture - City - Station - etc.
If you start talking too geographically you are likely to confuse them.

Many Japanese exchange students in my city say they are confused when people
use absolute directions, despite the fact there is a huge land mark to the
south.

So I would say use 東東京 if absolutely needed, but avoid it whenever possible.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-26T07:12:42.263
4822
2012-02-26T16:32:59.110
2012-02-26T16:32:59.110
1129
1129
4819
answer