
Yeah, every dictionary I just checked (three) said "doesn't translate as downtown", but none of them said what it should translate as and one of them said "no equivalent word in English".
'shitamachi' and a footnote would be one option, I suppose.

Please see this:
http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?...%81%A1&dtype=3

> Please see this:
> http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?...A1&dtype=3
Haha, yes, but they cop out with "Shitamachi" in the English translation too. ;-)
I think 'backstreets' would probably be the closest you can get in English for this sentence.

Isn't "backstreets" 裏町 or 裏通り?

> a working-class neighborhood
Meh, it's too long for my tastes.

Hey, here's a nice link. Somebody translates 下町 as both downtown and backstreets in the same article. :-P
http://www.uk-japan.net/feature...ntowntokyo.htm
Tags
View all tagsLists
Sentence text
License: CC BY 2.0 FRLogs
We cannot determine yet whether this sentence was initially derived from translation or not.
added by an unknown member, date unknown
linked by an unknown member, date unknown