May 11 (Japan Times) - When the Ibaraki Prefectural Assembly broached the subject of renaming Ibaraki Airport as “Tokyo North Airport†last year, the debate touched a raw nerve for residents in the much-maligned prefecture.
The idea was to raise the profile of the airport by advertising its relative proximity to Tokyo, even if that meant sacrificing any mention of Ibaraki altogether. But the idea upset some locals, who took to social media to complain that officials were essentially failing to display any pride in their own prefecture.
In the end, a panel of experts tasked with debating the rebranding landed on what appeared to be a compromise: The airport, about 100 km from Tokyo, will continue to be referred to as Ibaraki Kuko (Ibaraki Airport) domestically, but its English name would change. Candidates included “Tokyo Metropolitan/Ibaraki Airport,†“Tokyo North Airport†and “Metropolitan/Ibaraki Airport,†among others.
Ibaraki native Ryu Ogitsu, 33, says he can partially understand how officials might want to efface their own prefecture’s name and instead bring “Tokyo†to the fore. He speaks from experience: When he was briefly studying at a Tokyo vocational school around the age of 20, Ogitsu would rather brazenly lie about where he grew up.
