Re: Shikona (Rikishi name)

[Mitsuhiro Kawase <kawase@ocean.washington.edu>]

Re: Wakachichibu, "Waka" is "young" as for Wakanohana, "Chichibu" is
a name of a town outside Tokyo. It is one of these place names whose
pronounciation is nearly impossible to discern from the characters
used. "Chichi" uses the same character as the first half of the
word "chitsu-jo" ("order", in the sense opposite of chaos), which
looks rather like the character for "autumn". "Bu" uses the character
for "father" (it is quite ironical that this latter character can also
be pronounced "chichi"). Even keeps us natives confused.

Incidentally, if you know Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado", I
believe that's where they got the name of the town "Titipu" from.

- Mitsuhiro Kawase, U. Washington