Re: [tlug] Where can I buy Debian CDs in Tokyo?

[Stuart Luppescu <s-luppescu@example.com>]

On 火, 2007-09-18 at 23:36 +0900, Lyle H Saxon wrote:
> I was sincerely curious what you meant by "downtown".  It's an
> extremely fuzzy word in Tokyo.  Locals use it (mistakenly as a direct
> translation) to mean the old low class area, but some people from the
> US use it to mean the center of town - the problem being in Tokyo that
> there is no real center!  So I guess it's a word with no meaning -
> thus no explanation! 

I think it does have a meaning and an explanation. It's probably related
to the word 城下 indicating the area below or around the castle. Since
the castle was often on a raised piece of land for security reasons, the
area where the common people lived was _below_ the castle. So, the
``down'' in downtown in this case really means ``low'', as in elevation.
I guess you could also say it refers to the ``low class'' area, since
the aristocracy lived in the castle, and the commoners lived in the
town, but that seems mildly insulting and classist. (I especially resent
that kind of characterization since I used to live in 下町:　台東区谷中
３丁目, a very charming part of Tokyo.) I seem to remember there being a
book about this called, something like, _Hightown Lowtown_ but I can't
find it on Amazon anymore. 
-- 
Stuart Luppescu -=- slu .at. ccsr.uchicago.edu        
University of Chicago -=- CCSR 
才文と智奈美の父 -=-    Kernel 2.6.20-gentoo-r7                
... I want to perform cranial activities with
 Tuesday Weld!!

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