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I've noticed that there are 2 ways (at least, maybe more) of writing ふるさと
(home town, birthplace):

  * 古里

  * 故郷

Am I correct? Are they interchangeable? Is one used more often than another?
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2014-04-13T11:44:55.243
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2014-04-15T09:54:20.490
2014-04-15T09:54:20.490
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question
words kanji spelling
ふるさと (home town, birthplace) uses which kanji - 古里 or 故郷?
I am going to say that this is more a matter of personal preference than
anything.

I hate to disappoint the (many) kanji-lovers on here but 「ふるさと」 in kana would
be the most-often used way to write the word. 「故郷」 may be used just as often
but it is read 「こきょう」 instead at least half the time.

「古里」 looks pretty corny and you will not see it as often as you will the two
above these days. If you are from a big or even a mid-size city like I am,
this word would look and feel "off" in referring to your hometown.

The latest "official" term containing the word in question is
「ふるさと[納税]{のうぜい}」. This new system allows you to make a donation to any
prefecture, city, town, village, etc. of your choice and do so tax-deductibly.

<http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%B5%E3%82%8B%E3%81%95%E3%81%A8%E7%B4%8D%E7%A8%8E>

In case anyone is mistaken, I want to add that 「ふるさと」, however it is written,
is NOT the word native speakers usually use in sentences like "Where is your
hometown?" or "My hometown is ~~~." We use 「[出身]{しゅっしん}」、「いなか」 and 「[生]{う}まれ」
for that.
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2014-04-13T21:06:29.143
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2014-04-14T02:32:46.243
2014-04-14T02:32:46.243
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answer
Just to confuse things, there is a compilation series released by Columbia
Records Japan that seem to use all 3 spellings (I assume deliberately).
Although the original album used the spelling 故郷 so read into that what you
will. I have mainly come across it as ふるさと personally.

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/m3X9Y.jpg)

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/XKNe1.png)

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/RPHhD.png)!
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2014-04-14T00:46:45.243
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2014-04-14T00:46:45.243
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answer