Need help with a simple translation for one of my Anki cards.
- Thread starter Cruzible
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- 26 Sep 2015
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Technically yes, but if you consider a good translation to be what a native English speaker would say in the same situation, then downtown is probably the better translation as it's used more often than uptown.
Question to others: I live in Tokyo so am used to 登りの電車 going into Tokyo but if you live in the suburbs of, say, Fukuoka, is the same term used for a train going into town?
Question to others: I live in Tokyo so am used to 登りの電車 going into Tokyo but if you live in the suburbs of, say, Fukuoka, is the same term used for a train going into town?
- 12 Oct 2004
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I live in Tokyo, too, but I've also lived elsewhere in Japan and the answer is: it's relative and depends on the starting and ending points of the train line in question.
If you're talking about the Shinkansen, for example, 上り would describe trains going from, say, Hakata to Tokyo. If you're talking about a local line that goes from Hakata or Tenjin to the suburbs of Fukuoka, then trains going into "downtown" Fukuoka would be 上り.
If you're talking about a subway or other line that runs in circles or only within the city center, the terms generally aren't used because they don't really apply.
Here are some links to articles in Japanese discussing the subject:
鉄道、道路の「上り」「下り」はどう決まる？ 上下逆転のケースも（1/3 ページ） | 乗りものニュース
「上り」は東京方面とされる場合が多いですが、鉄道や道路では必ずしもそうでない場合も。地域や路線によっても異なる「上り」「下り」。どうやって決まっているのでしょうか。（1/3 ページ）
trafficnews.jp
電車の「上り」「下り」はどう決まる？ | ねとらぼ
ニュースなどでは、高速道路や新幹線の「上り」「下り」という用語をよく見かけますね。「上京」とも言いますし、東京に向かうのが「上り」になることが多いです。 でも、ほかの路線では、東京とつながっていないこともあります。実際のところ、「上り」「下り」の表現はどのように決まっているのでしょうか。…
- 22 Feb 2008
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Nowadays, it's often add another explanatory name, for instance 博多方面 "For Hakata" other than 上り "Nobori" on the time table to make clear the destination.
