Kyoto Street Names & the Grid: the "Maru-Take-Ebisu" Song
"Shijō-Kawaramachi o agaru" — a Kyoto address can read like a cipher until you know the trick. But once you grasp the logic of the grid and the old children's songs that go with it, the map suddenly clicks into place. Here we walk through the songs used to memorize the east–west and north–south streets, and the system behind Kyoto's addresses, with sources.
Central Kyoto is a "grid" (go-ban no me, literally "the eyes of a Go board") of north–south and east–west streets meeting at right angles — a layout inherited from the jōbō grid of the ancient capital, Heian-kyō.
Because there are so many streets to keep track of, songs grew up to help even children remember them. The most famous is "Maru-Take-Ebisu," which chants the east–west streets in order.
Songs for memorizing the streets
Maru-Take-Ebisu (the east–west street song) Maru-Take-Ebisu
A counting-song that names the east–west streets in order from north to south. The opening line, sung "Maru Take Ebisu ni Oshi Oike," packs in the streets Marutamachi, Takeyamachi, Ebisugawa, Nijō, Oshikōji, and Oike (each word stands for one street), then runs on into "Ane San Rokkaku Tako Nishiki…" and beyond. It is a mnemonic: the rhythm and rhyme make a long list of street names easy to recall in sequence.
Tera-Goko (the north–south street song) Tera-Goko
The north–south streets have their own song, beginning "Tera Goko Fuya Tomi Yanagi Sakai…" — standing for Teramachi, Gokomachi, Fuyachō, Tominokōji, Yanagi-no-banba, Sakaimachi, and so on. As with the east–west song, several versions exist depending on the neighborhood and the era.
Source: 京都通百科事典「丸竹夷」
How to read an address
agaru / sagaru / higashi-iru / nishi-iru (up / down / east-in / west-in) agaru / sagaru / higashi-iru / nishi-iru
Starting from an intersection, going north is "agaru" (up), south is "sagaru" (down), and east or west is "higashi-iru" or "nishi-iru" (going east/west into the block). North — the direction of the Imperial Palace — counts as "up." Two street names plus a direction pin down a single point on the grid.
Source: 京都市「知っているかな？京の通り名」
go-ban no me (the grid) go-ban no me
This layout, with north–south and east–west streets crossing at right angles, descends from the jōbō grid of Heian-kyō. It is precisely because the plan is so regular that every street could be named — and those names handed down in song.
Source: 京都観光Navi＋「丸竹夷で覚える京都の通り」
FAQ
Why are Kyoto addresses so long?
Instead of relying on a lot number alone, a Kyoto address names the two streets that cross plus a direction (agaru, sagaru, and so on). The payoff is that you can find the spot on the ground without a map app.
Which way is "agaru"?
Toward the north. The convention treats north as "up" because that is where the Imperial Palace sits, so heading uptown is literally heading toward the emperor; the opposite, going south, is "sagaru."
Is there a song only for the east–west streets?
No — the north–south streets have their own counting-song too, paired with the east–west "Maru-Take-Ebisu." Note that the songs trace cleanly mostly in the city center; out toward the edges, where the streets leave the neat grid, the sequences change.
How does this differ from other grid cities like Nara or Sapporo?
Nara (the old Heijō-kyō) and modern Sapporo are laid out on grids too, but Sapporo generally pinpoints an address by numbered blocks (so many blocks north/south and east/west). What is unusual in Kyoto is that every single street has a name, and an address is spoken as two street names plus a direction — which is exactly why the memorizing songs took hold.