Inaka vs. do-inaka?

3 Answers

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  genkidesu

  19 hours ago

  I think the inaka definitely encompasses many of those things, but I also think it can be a difficult term to perfectly define. For instance, my local area on paper is far from Tokyo and even Niigata City (over 100km away), but we have a shinkansen stop, so we're not completely cut off and I can easily access those places. We definitely don't have the same amenities as Tokyo, but we're not a town of 10 people with nothing to do. We don't have a big shopping mall, but I have a few I can access within a reasonable drive or via public transport. I would say in many cases, it's just the vibe of the place. To me, slower paced, chatty locals, wide open spaces, and harder to get to are some of the components.

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  BigfamJapan

  14 hours ago

  Great question. I think they are both words that have lost their literal meaning over the years. I think most people refer to "inaka" as any place that isn't a complete concrete jungle, in other words anywhere outside Tokyo / Osaka! Whereas years ago it would have meant the same as its English translation, "countryside". And while "doinaka" historically was "remote countryside" now refers to just any countryside, regardless of how remote it is or isn't! That's my take on it anyway. By the historic meanings I live in the "inaka", but in modern use I think many people would view it as "doinaka". We don't have a train station and a train line doesn't even run through my town's land at any point, we don't have a convenience store within walking distance, but we can cycle to one comfortably, and the nearest convenience stores have a parking lot. But we do have a supermarket that you could walk to at a push, and we have a clinic, dentist and doctor within cycling distance. And we have a bus too. But my husband's family are from the traditional "doinaka" and they actually have a train line that runs through the town, even though they don't have a station. But their nearest convenience store isn't even a bike ride away, Its a good ten-minute drive away. Their nearest bus stop is also about a ten minute drive away! And they would also have to drive to a hospital, dentist etc. That to me is the real "doinaka".

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  BigfamJapan

  14 hours ago

  sorry just to clarify - my husband's extended family on his mother's side. He himself grew up in a large city in Saitama Prefecture that to me is not "inaka", but nowadays people call it "inaka"!

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