Takachiho: canonical, contested, and the false forms on record
Evidence dossier 380 — Takachiho. Every exhibit catalogued, every ruling stated with its grounds.
At a Glance
- Canonical form: Takachiho
- Original script: 高千穂
- Pantheon: Japanese
- Convention: Hepburn with macrons — ō and ū marked, never collapsed to o/u or rewritten ou
- False forms on record: 0
- Contested forms: none attested
- Series: The Canonical Register, No. 380 of 437
The Evidence
Exhibit 1 — the attestation. The name is attested as 高千穂, in the attestation Kojiki and Nihon Shoki (Ninigi's descent) and Takachiho local kagura traditions give us. On the evidence, it means "High thousand ears". The canonical transliteration is Takachiho.
Exhibit 2 — the flattened form. The plain form takachiho differs from the canonical Takachiho only by convention of display — case, not content. It is acceptable everywhere: in legacy systems, in plain-text citation, in the DNS itself. What is not acceptable is what follows in the register: respellings that change the letters, not just their case.
Exhibit 3 — the physical record. Takachiho Gorge is a volcanic landscape formed by the eruption of Mount Aso, with basalt columns and the Manai Falls. The area preserves shrines and performance spaces associated with the descent myth and the local kagura tradition.
Exhibit 4 — the continuing record. Takachiho is a major tourist and pilgrimage destination, known for its gorge, waterfall, and winter kagura. It represents the mythic heart of Kyūshū and the point where the imperial narrative begins on earth.
The Convention's Own History
Every tradition in this register has its own scholarly transliteration standard, built by its own specialists over decades or centuries, and the register follows each on its own terms: Hepburn with macrons — ō and ū marked, never collapsed to o/u or rewritten ou. The principle that unifies them is the one the whole project stands on: a name is evidence, and evidence is not negotiable — not for keyboards, not for convenience, not for anyone.
The Protocol's Position
Can the canonical form live in the address bar? Almost always, yes. IDNA 2008 admits every mark this register defends — the DNS stores them as `xn--` punycode and modern browsers render them natively. The real frictions are practical, not legal: some registrars stock only part of the IDN space, so a theoretically valid name can be temporarily unbuyable; and stacked combinations (an acute riding a macron) remain awkward to type on mobile keyboards even where the protocol accepts them.
The project's answer is a ranked ladder, not a compromise: the full restoration first, then attested fallbacks in descending order of completeness. The ladder's lowest rung, plain ASCII, is a vehicle for legacy systems — sanctioned, but never presented as the scholarly form.
The Verdict
Case closed on Takachiho: canonical, cited, and defended. The keyboard form takachiho is the same name in another register of display — always acceptable. The register's files remain open: if a source surfaces that changes any line of this entry, the entry changes. Until then, the temple at /takachiho/ holds the canonical form.
The docket for this ruling: no false forms on the docket; no contested forms attested; the attestation rests on 3 cited sources — Kojiki and Nihon Shoki (Ninigi's descent), Takachiho local kagura traditions, Miyazaki Prefecture historical surveys.
The Register Continues
The register holds 437 entries like this one — each temple with its own ruling. Read the temple's founding dispatch for the story, its Restoration File for the philology, its Resonance File for the industries, or the whole archive end to end.
Continue the register — previous entry: Tajikarao (read it) · next entry: Taliesin (read it).
The Canonical Register is written from the same canonical record as the lexicon itself. If a false form is missing from this page, it is because the evidence does not support calling it false — or because we have not seen it yet. Show us, with a citation, and the register will answer.