Fukuoka?
I was in a bit of a state of delerium when I woke up this morning. So my thoughts were on how to pronounce Fukuoka. I'd orginally thought it might be fuku-oka, but Jake reckons it could be more like fu-ku-ka. Anyway, for some reason I couldn't get this out of my head between 6 and 7 this morning... silly really.... I'm sure wikipedia would have the answers....
Dave2
It's Fu-ku-o-ka... the "o" is not silent (though, I'd imagine that if you say it fast enough, it could be hard to catch!). The name is derived from two characters ç¦ (fuku: luck or fortune) and 岡 (hill), so I guess the literal meaning would be something like "lucky hill" (though sometimes Japanese kanji are used just for the sound they make... not the root meaning. :-)
It's a rather nice city. I went there to visit the Hard Rock Cafe.
Kazza the Blank One
Not sure if we'll be spending much (if any) time there, but it might be a starting point for our trip, depending on flights and such things.
Thanks for the info tho, I feel more at ease now ;)
JC
Made me look, too. I've never been like Dave, but found this link interesting: http://kyushu.com/fukuoka/info/pronouncing_fukuoka/
Kazza the Blank One
Natty's sister is living there and was telling us tonight it was "Fu-kow-ka"...
Thanks for the link JC. We should definitely ask a statistically significant sample of locals as well :)
JC
Of course, you know, one should believe EVERYTHING they see on the Internet.
Kazza the Blank One
What you mean everything on the internet isn't true???? ;)