While walking around, have you come across any plates listing the names of streets? This is actually quite a recent development. This area is known as "Rokuhara" and there are many side roads and alleys, but until recently it was normal for these roads to be unmarked. However, with so many roads, if something were to happen it would be nearly impossible to call an emergency vehicle. “Uh, take a right at that street and then it’ll be right by the end of this other street…” Sounds fun right? They didn’t think so either, so now each street has its own sign.

It is said that the people living here chose the names of their own streets. Some examples are “Kita-muke Jizo Street” which means “Northward Facing Jizo” or “Nanten Street” where a plant called Nanten is said to grow. If you come across one of these streets why don’t you try looking it up? Next to a sign that reads “Silk Road” there could be a name plate that reads “Kinukawa,” literally “Silk River” as the name of the inhabitant. There is no doubt that Mr. Silk River had a lot of influence over the street name. Maybe if you run into some locals they could tell you the story of their street name as well.