this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2025
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Kyo means Capital
The to in Kyoto means City
The To in Tokyo means Eastern.
Kyoto was the original capital of the Emperor. Tokyo was originally called Edo, and when the country unified Edo grew in size and prominence. It was renamed Tokyo and the capital was moved there. Eastern Capital.
Duolingo defs left that bit out
Hopefully it helps in your studies. ✌️ 京 is present in both names, means capital.
京都 (Kyoto) Capital city
東京 (Tokyo) East Capital
To add to the confusion though, Tokyo City is also written as 東京都, for example in addresses
Haha Tokyo & Kyoto are the first kanji you learn on duo.
Really? The first Kanji lessons in my Duolingo are 1 2 3. The second is a few simple Kanji for names.
Tokyo and Kyoto don't show up til the third for me.
They've updated the course a lot since I did my first lesson when they released.
They're memorable for me because I turn off the english pronunciation... so To + Kyo & Kyo + To were the first kanji that I actually learned to read without inferring contextually.
I have tried Doulingo for Japanese for a short time, after already knowing a bit of beginner's Japanese. I cannot speak for all languages offered by Doulingo, but if you are trying to learn Japanese, stay away from Doulingo. Its lessons sometimes teach you things that are objectively wrong.
I've been on/off the course since they first released it. It's changed A LOT fyi.
Seems to me that's a general pitfall of learning a language academically vs immersive. You inevitably are learning a textbook version that's outdated colloquially.
I use duo to learn how to read the subtitles on the Japanese media I watch. For that goal duo has been amazing because you can turn off the English pronunciations.
All I care about is not being illiterate if I ever get to visit.