The Relationship between the Changes of Notation “Mori no Miyako” and the Changes in Green Space in Sendai

Abstract

Sendai City (Miyagi Prefecture) is now known to have been called the term of “Mori no Miyako (which refers to forest city)”. Historically, the assembly of the homestead woodlands owned by warriors of Edo period looked like forest and its historical landscape is regarded as being related to the birth of the nickname. The Chinese character of “mori(森)” which refers to forest was used to inscribe “Mori” and the other character of “mori (杜)” replaced gradually. However, the background and meaning of the term is unknown. The purpose of this study is 1) clarify the quantitative change from “mori(森)” to “mori(杜)” using databases and to consider the turning points, 2) to reexamine the changes in green space and to consider the relationship between the changes of notation and green space. The literature examinations and the analysis of green space were employed. As a result, the ratio of the transcription was reversed in literatures in 1950s and the number of term use of “Mori no Miyako” was large more than doubled. Additionally, planar structure of the green space changed to dotted and liner due to Sendai Air Raid. The notation “Mori no Miyako” seems to represent different green spaces depending on the users, that is the first advocate Kobayashi or a current city government.