(the first platform)
Is it Back to Normal Yet?
First, Let’s Look at the Kanji
| 初 | beginning, first |
| 台 | tower; platform; plateau; stand |
Even though I like to start each etymology with “let’s look at the kanji,” I’m going to be perfectly honest and tell you that in this case, knowing the kanji isn’t going to give us much insight into this place name.
The Story
Tradition says this place name is a combination of two legends, one from the end of the Muromachi Period and the other from beginning of the Edo Period.
The first derivation says that in order to secure his re-fortification of 江戸城 Edo-jō Edo Castle, the warlord 太田道灌 Ōta Dōkan built a series of eight 出城 dejiro satellite castles[v], including one in this area. Whether this was a full on 砦 toride fortress or just a 見張台 mihari-dai look-out tower, the main feature was its 狼煙台 noroshi-dai a specialized platform for sending smoke signals to the other defenses. One story says that this was originally called 八台 yatsudai fort #8, or hatsudai in the local dialect[vi].
The most trustworthy etymology comes from the beginning of the Edo Period (1600-1868). The second shōgun, 徳川秀忠 Tokugawa Hidetada, donated a large fief in this area to his wet nurse, 初台 Hatsudai. This area was countryside until quite recently, so the presence of a member of the shōgun’s household living on a prominent hill brought a lot of prestige to the village[vii]. We’ve seen plenty of other examples for place names derived from the presence of elite residences.
