ウポポイ うぽぽい Upopoi
Shiraoi, Iburi region, Hokkaidō
Ainu spellings: Upopo-o-i
The name was chosen for the Symbolic Space for Ethnic Harmony, which opened in 2020 on the site of the Poroto Kotan open-air museum.
Location
42.5601, 141.3661 · Coordinates: OpenStreetMap Nominatim, 2026-09-10, on ウポポイ. Open in OpenStreetMap
Referents
- settlement The nickname of the Symbolic Space for Ethnic Harmony by Lake Poroto, chosen by public nomination and vote under the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and glossed 'singing together in a large group'
Analyses
upopo-o-i
ウポポイ ‘place where there are songs’ proposedProponent: zenibako_trek（小樽銭函地名歴史研究会） (zenibako_trek (Otaru Zenibako Place-Name and History Society))
The article states that upopoy is in no Ainu dictionary and is a coined word, while upopo 'song' exists: a song sung in rounds while clapping, analysed u-po-po with the prefix u- 'each other' and po as the sound of the clap. Read as a place name of the ordinary o-i shape, it says 'place where there are many songs', which fits a hall where song programmes are performed.
A reading applied to a name coined for the facility, which the ground has never carried. upopo is a dictionary word; the article states that the form with the final y is not.