古里
ふるさと · furusato · JLPT N2 · noun
town
🏡 古 = old + 里 = village: the old village you were born in
Often written 故郷 in modern text; both spellings are read ふるさと. 古 means old and 里 means village, so it names the village where your roots are.
古 — ten 十 + mouth 口
古 is traditionally analyzed as 十 (ten) over 口 (mouth), suggesting words passed down through ten generations — hence 'ancient' or 'old.' Some scholars view the top as a stylized helmet or skull shape in oracle bone forms. The core meaning of 'ancient, old, former times' has remained stable since early Chinese writing.
里 — 田 (field) + 土 (earth)
Originally a pictograph combining 田 (field) and 土 (earth), depicting cultivated land where people lived. It came to mean 'village' or 'hometown,' and by extension a unit of distance (about 500 meters). The 'inside' meaning is borrowed; that sense was traditionally written 裏 or 裡.