Going Up to the Miyako
I’m in Tokyo now, so just a quick post. I’ve always thought that 上京（じょうきょう） is one of the coolest two character compounds. Can you figure out what it means? I’ll give you a few blank lines to figure it out.
Get it yet?
Still no luck?
Okay, it means “go to Tokyo” or “go to Kyoto.” Literally it means “go up to the capital (implied: from our measly little backwater swamp town).” Back in the day said capital was Kyoto. Now it’s Tokyo, so if you use it now, it means go to Tokyo. Ta da.
(Funny that you 上がる to the Kanto Plain.)
