Let’s take a look on which are biggest cities in Japan by population and learn how to write and pronounce them in Japanese. Let’s not just look briefly at these kanjis, but thoroughly; learn about kunyomi, onyomi, meaning and stroke order, and try make connections to the cities. In Japan there are also cities that are capital of different prefectures (府県) but let’s leave that for another lesson. We are ranking the top ten cities of Japan after Tokyo.
1. Tōkyō 東京
Tokyo the huge metropolis, Japan’s capital. However because Tokyo is made up of special wards, meaning, it contains 23 municipalities it is not technically a city. 1943 Japan decided to merge these municipalities together with Tokyo City into one big core what is Tokyo today. Officially known and governed as a “metropolitan prefecture”. Tokyo is still considered a massive metropolitan, in fact the world biggest metropolitan area by population. An common misinterpretation with the Japanese pronunciation of Tokyo is that it’s actually not just simply the short “Tokyo”, it’s pronounced “Tōkyō” (とうきょう) in Japanese,. The o are long vowels here as in “Toukyou”. However, the spelling has become known as Tokyo and is referred as such.
Population
- Metropolis: 13,506,607
- Metro: 37,800,000
京
capital, 10**16
Kun: みやこ
On: キョウ、 ケイ、 キン
東
east
Kun: ひがし
On: トウ
Together they make the word East Capital which makes it easy to remember where it is located geographically.
1. Yokohama 横浜
Yokohama ranks as the biggest city after Tokyo.
- Population: 3.689 million
Another helpful name for remembering that Yokohama is located close to the water, coasting Tokyo Bay (東京)湾) south of Tokyo.
横
sideways, side,horizontal, width, woof,unreasonable, perverse
Kun: よこ
On: オウ
浜
seacoast, beach,seashore
Kun: はま
On: ヒン
2. Osaka 大阪
Literately translates as “large hill”, or “large slope”.
- Population: 2.665 million
大
large, big
Kun: おお-、 おお.きい、 -おお.いに
On: ダイ、 タイ
阪
heights, slope
Kun: さか
On: ハン
3. Nagoya 名古屋
- Population: 2.264 million
名
name, noted, distinguished, reputation
Kun: な、 -な
On: メイ、 ミョウ
古
old
Kun: ふる.い、 ふる-、 -ふる.す
On: コ
屋
roof, house, shop, dealer, seller
Kun: や
On: オク
4. Sapporo 札幌
Ever heard of Sapporo beer? Chances that you have aren’t too small. It’s one of Sapporo’s prides along with the city’s great skiing area and the incredible enormous ice sculptures during their annual winter festival.
- Population: 1.914 million
札
tag, paper money, counter for bonds, placard, bid
Kun: ふだ
On: サツ
幌
canopy, awning, hood, curtain
Kun: ほろ、 とばり
On: コウ
5. 神戸 Kobe
Famous for its great quality meat.
- Population: 1.544 million
神
gods, mind, soul
Kun: かみ、 かん-、 こう-
On: シン、 ジン
戸
door, counter for houses
Kun: と
On: コ
6. 京都 Kyoto
The city with probably more fame than previous more populated cities because of it’s rich history. A city that has a lot of castles, templates and jinas to be found all over the city. A old capital.
- Population: 1.474 million
京
capital, 10**16
Kun: みやこ
On: キョウ、 ケイ、 キン
都
metropolis, capital, all, everything
Kun: みやこ
On: ト、 ツ
7. 福岡 Fukuoka
- Population: 1.464 million
福
blessing, fortune, luck, wealth
On: フク
岡
mount, hill, knoll
Kun: おか
On: コウ
8.川崎 Kawasaki
- Population: 1.426 million
川
stream, river, river or three-stroke river radical (no. 47)
Kun: かわ
On: セン
崎
promontory, cape, spit
Kun: さき、 さい、 みさき
On: キ
9. 埼玉 Saitama
- Population: 1.222 million
埼
cape, spit, promontory
Kun: さき、 さい、 みさき
On: キ
玉
jewel, ball
Kun: たま、 たま-、 -だま
On: ギョク
10. 広島 Hiroshima
- Population: 1.174 million
広
wide, broad, spacious
Kun: ひろ.い、 ひろ.まる、 ひろ.める、 ひろ.がる、 ひろ.げる
On: コウ
島
island
Kun: しま
On: トウ
Population data from UNdata 2010.
Information about each kanji data fetched through jisho.org.