首都 (しゅと) and 都 (みやこ)


首都 ｛しゅと｝ and 都 ｛みやこ｝ what's the difference? thanks for your reply.




首都 is what people usually use for _capital_ in modern Japanese. But it usually
only refers to the capital city of a _country_. You can say "Tokyo is the 首都
of Japan," but saying "Honolulu is the 首都 of Hawaii" is not accurate.
県庁所在地【けんちょうしょざいち】 is used to refer to the capital city of a Japanese
prefecture. 州都【しゅうと】 is the word to refer to the capital city of a state of
America.

都【みやこ】 also means _capital_ , but it's a dated word and is not usually used
today in things like official documents. We still commonly see it in fictional
works (typically fantasy) and catchphrases (e.g., 水【みず】の都【みやこ】ベネチア, "Venice,
The City of Water").

When 都 is read as と, it usually refers to 東京都 (Tokyo Prefecture, Japan).

