No, there wasn't meant to be a link on "at the Tokyo station ticket gate". I just like the word kaisatsuguchi. Note that there is no Japanese word for platform (it's puratto hoomo - a loan word) but there is a word that appears to be reserved solely for the ticket gate. Which of course most railways stations in the UK no longer have. Languages are great.
"kaisatsuguchi" is in fact a combination of three kanji "kai", "satsu", and "guchi(=kuchi)", which mean "check", "ticket", and "gate (opening)", respectively. Each kanji in general has more than one meaning, and Japanese can quite freely combine kanji to make various words for various concepts, for example "iri-guchi" for "entrance gate", "de-guchi" for "exit gate", "shutsu-satsu-guchi" for "ticket window", "shutsu-satsu-sho" for "booking office", "shutsu-satsu-gakari" for "booking clerk", and so on.<br /> So it may cause misunderstanding to say that kaisatsuguchi is one word solely for one concept.
ken
Noriba is the word used to denote the platform area, and -ban sen the<br /> platform or track number. "Mamonaku ichiban sen ni..." or "Mamonaku ichiban noriba ni..."
Ole
Most Japaneses use "hoomu" for "platform".
ken
I spotted the guchi bit in the word but didn't have it in Kanji in front of me at the time so didn;t know it was three. The person to whom I was talking (Japanese) was not able to break it down like this - I did ask!
Lindsay