Introducing New Staff Vol.91 : Yuki TAKATA

Some recent thoughts

TAKATA, Yuki
（JSPS Research Fellowship, April 2026）

　I received a card about the prefectual governor’s election. I’ve also seen posters around town. This led me to wonder: where exactly should the phrase “[Prefecture Name]’s governor’s election” be split? First, I think most people would agree that it can be split at “/election.” Taking Aomori Prefecture as an example, I believe there are three possible ways to break up the phrase: (1) “Aomori / prefecture’s Governor’s/Election,” (2) “Aomori prefecture’s/Governor’s/Election,” and (3) “Aomori prefecture’s Governor/Election.” Specifically, (1) can be explained as “the election for the governor of the prefecture of Aomori”; (2) as “the election for the governor of Aomori Prefecture”; and (3) can be explained by considering that “Aomori Prefecture” and “prefectural governor” share the character for “prefecture,” and thus treating them as the inseparable phrase “Aomori Prefectural Governor,” as in “the election of the Aomori Prefectural Governor.” Personally, I support (3), but when I asked a few people, their answers varied more than I expected, so I’d really like to hear everyone’s opinions, including alternative interpretations.

　There is one more thing on my mind. It concerns the waka poem that goes: “Hisakatano Hikarinodokeki Harunohini Shizukokoronaku Hananochiruramu.” In this waka poem, as seen in the lines “Hisakatano / Hikarinodokeki / Harunohini / Shizukokoronaku / Hananochiruramu,” all the words except “Shizukokoronaku” begin with a “H” sound. Of course, it’s possible that “Shizukokoronaku” was intentionally given a different sound, just as the third line of the poem doesn’t rhyme; however, the fact that only this word isn’t in the “H” row felt very unnatural. What comes to mind here is the interchangeability of “shi” and “hi.” As in “person=hito (shito) ” and “to spread out a futon=hiku (shiku)”, it is quite common for ‘shi’ and “hi” to be swapped. In that case, perhaps it wasn’t “Shizukokoro” but “Hizukokoro.” If so, all the names would begin with the “H” sound, creating a strong sense of unity. To take it a step further, if we follow the logic of the “lip riddle” and assume that the “H” row was actually the “P” row (or perhaps the “F” row?), the waka might have read: “Pisakatano / Pikarinodokeki / Parunopini / Pizukokoronaku / Pananochiruramu.” It feels a bit cuter that way, and ‘Pikari’ (light) seems to shine brighter and is more fun than the standard “Hikari.” In that case, swapping “shi” and “pi” might start to seem a bit questionable. Since “shi” and ‘fi’ seem to work fine, would “Fisakatano / Fikarinodokeki / Farunofini / Fizukokoronaku / Fananochiruramu” be acceptable? When I mentioned this story at the high school where I used to work, the students said, “Hatta-kun is swapped by Patta-kun! It’s so cute,” and I definitely thought so. This is just a theory I came up with without giving much thought to historical periods or regions, but if it’s true, I think it’s kind of cute, so I’d like to hear everyone’s opinions on this as well.