_O-Fuji_ [Mount] "Fuji."
_O-Hama_ "Coast."
_O-Ichi_ "Market,"--fair.
_O-Iyo_ "Iyo,"--province of Iyo, in Shikoku.
_O-Kawa_ (rare) "River."
_O-Kishi_ "Beach,"--shore.
_O-Kita_ "North."
_O-Kiwa_ "Border."
_O-Kuni_ "Province."
_O-Kyo_ "Capital,"--metropolis,--Kyoto.
_O-Machi_ "Town."
_Matsue_ "Matsue,"--chief city of Izumo.
_O-Mina_[57] "South."
[57] Abbreviation of _Minami_.
_O-Mine_ "Peak."
_O-Miya_ "Temple" [_Shinto_].[58]
[58] I must confess that in classing this name as a
place-name, I am only making a guess. It seems to me
that the name probably refers to the _ichi no miya_, or
chief Shinto temple of some province.
_O-Mon_[59] "Gate."
[59] I fancy that this name, like that of O-Seki, must
have originated in the custom of naming children after
the place, or neighborhood, where the family lived. But
here again, I am guessing.
_O-Mura_ "Village."
_O-Nami_[60] "Wave."
[60] This classification also is a guess. I could learn
nothing about the name, except the curious fact that it
is said to be unlucky.
_Naniwa_ "Naniwa,"--ancient name of Osaka.
_O-Nishi_ "West."
_O-Rin_ "Park."
_O-Saki_ "Cape."
_O-Sato_ "Native Place,"--village,--also, home.
_O-Sawa_ "Marsh."
_O-Seki_ "Toll-Gate,"--barrier.
_Shigeki_ "Thickwood,"--forest.
_O-Shima_ "Island."
_O-Sono_ "Flower-garden."
_O-Taki_ "Cataract,"--or Waterfall.
_O-Tani_ "Valley."
_O-Tsuka_ "Milestone."
_O-Yama_ "Mountain."
The next list is a curious medley, so far as regards the quality of the
_yobina_ comprised in it. Some are really aesthetic and pleasing; others
industrial only; while a few might be taken for nicknames of the most
disagreeable kind.