ふるさと

ふるさと

Japanese

Alternative spellings
古里 故里 故郷

Etymology

From Old Japanese ふるさと (purusato₁).

Compound of ふる (furu, “something ancient, old, in the past”) +‎ 里 (sato, “village; home”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ふる​さと [fùrúꜜsàtò] (Nakadaka – [2])[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɸɯ̟ᵝɾɯ̟ᵝsa̠to̞]

Noun

ふるさと • (furusato) 

1. a homeland, hometown (place one was born and/or raised)
   • Tatsuyuki Takano (lyrics), Teiichi Okano (music) (1914), “Furusato [My Old Hometown]” (in Japanese)

     兎(うさぎ)追(お)ひしかの山(やま)　小(こ)鮒(ぶな)釣(つ)りしかの川(かは)　夢(ゆめ)は今(いま)もめぐりて　忘(わす)れ難(がた)き故郷(ふるさと)

     Usagi oishi ka no yama, kobuna tsurishi ka no kawa, yume wa ima mo megurite, wasuregataki furusato

     That hill where I chased rabbits, that river where I fished for carp, even now they appear like a dream, the furusato I can't forget.[2]

   Synonyms: 家郷 (kakyō), 旧里 (kyūri), 郷 (kyō), 郷里 (kyōri), 故郷 (kokyō), ハイマート (haimāto)

2. a familiar place one has lived, stayed, or visited in the past
   • 905–914, Kokin Wakashū (book 1, poem 42; also Hyakunin Isshu, poem 35)

     人(ひと)はいさ心(こころ)も知(し)らずふるさとは花(はな)ぞむかしの香(か)ににほひける

     Hito wa isa kokoro mo shirazu furusato wa hana zo mukashi no ka ni nioikeru

     Is that so? I do not know people's heart―yet in my old place the flowers are fragrant as in the past.[3]

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:ふるさと.
3. an ancient city, usually crumbling or already in ruins, that once prospered
   • 905–914, Kokin Wakashū (book 2, poem 90)

     ふるさととなりにし奈良(なら)の都(みやこ)にも色(いろ)はかはらず花(はな)は咲(さ)きけり

     Furusato to narinishi Nara no miyako ni mo iro wa kawarazu hana wa sakikeri

     Even in the capital of Nara, now become our home of old the cherry blossoms again have bloomed, their hue unchanged.[4]

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:ふるさと.

   Synonyms: 古跡 (koseki), 古都 (koto)

4. (figurative) a holy ground
5. (archaic) one's house or home

   Synonyms: 自宅 (jitaku), 我が家 (waga ie, wagaya)

6. (slang) female genitalia

   Synonym: 女陰 (join)

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ふるさと.

Derived terms

• ふるさと人(びと) (furusato-bito)

Proper noun

ふるさと • (Furusato) 

1. 古郷, 古里, 故里, 生琉里, 生硫里: a placename
2. 古里: a surname

References

1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
2. Martin Dussinbere (2013), “Searching for Furusato in Kaminoseki”, in Christopher Gerteis, Timothy S. George, editors, Japan Since 1945: From Postwar to Post-Bubble, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 48
3. Norinaga Motoori (2007), Michael F. Marra, editor, The Poetics of Motoori Norinaga: A Hermeneutical Journey, University of Hawaii Press, →ISBN, page 210
4. Thomas Harper, Haruo Shirane, editors (2015), “The Tale of Genji Apocrypha”, in Reading The Tale of Genji: Sources from the First Millennium, illustrated edition, Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 325

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Old Japanese

Alternative spellings
古里 故里 故郷

Etymology

Compound of ふる (puru, “something ancient, old, in the past”) +‎ 里 (sato₁, “village; home”).

Noun

ふるさと (purusato₁)

1. a homeland, hometown (place one was born and/or raised)
   • c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 4, poem 609), text here

     従情毛我者不念寸又更吾故郷爾將還來者

     ko₂ko₂ro₂ yu mo a pa omopazuki₁ mata sara ni waga purusato₁ ni kape₁riko₂mu to₂ pa

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:ふるさと.
2. an ancient city, usually crumbling or already in ruins, that once prospered
   • c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 4, poem 626, first variant), text here

     君爾因言之繁乎古郷之明日香乃河爾潔身為爾去

     ki₁mi₁ ni yo₂ri ko₂to₂ no₂ sige₂ki₁ wo purusato₁ no₂ Asuka-no₂-kapa ni *mi₁so₂gi₁ si ni yuku

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:ふるさと.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ふるさと.

Descendants

• Japanese: ふるさと (furusato)