Two stations written with the same kanji but pronounced differently — why?


The [JR Nara line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nara_Line_\(JR_West\)) and
the [Keihan Uji line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keihan_Uji_Line) are
almost parallel on their way through southeastern Kyoto and Uji. In most
areas, both have a station and the names are clearly related if not identical
(e.g. both have Rokujizou and Oubaku; JR has Momoyama while Keihan has
Momoyama-Minamiguchi etc.).

However, there is also a rather interesting pair of stations between Oubaku
and Rokujizou: both stations are written 木幡 in kanji yet Keihan gives the
pronunciation as [こわた](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowata_Station) while JR
gives the pronunciation as
[こはた](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohata_Station). This matches what is
heard in the announcements on their respective trains.

I assume that the name corresponds to the name of the surrounding part of Uji.
Unfortunately, I don’t know which of the two pronunciations would be correct
for that suburb. But how is it possible that the same combination of kanji
when used as a name for the same place gives two different pronunciations?

[A map showing both stations in Uji.](https://osm.org/go/7QHGR1WC9-)




Historically, は and わ are very closely related sounds. Before the spelling
reforms around the end of World War II, the kana は was commonly pronounced in
both ways (and of course this survives into modern Japanese in the form of the
particle は).

So this is probably a case where the place name was historically こはた but the
pronunciation of the は was never fully standardized, and the two different
versions still survive in different contexts today.

Incidentally, the Japanese Wikipedia entries for the two stations include a
note that in addition to こ **は** た and こ **わ** た, there are some nearby
placenames that use the same kanji pronounced こ **ば** た (rendaku of course
being another case of a common sound change that's not always consistently
applied). What a very inconsistently pronounced word!




Historically, は and わ are very closely related sounds. Before the spelling
reforms around the end of World War II, the kana は was commonly pronounced in
both ways (and of course this survives into modern Japanese in the form of the
particle は).

So this is probably a case where the place name was historically こはた but the
pronunciation of the は was never fully standardized, and the two different
versions still survive in different contexts today.

Incidentally, the Japanese Wikipedia entries for the two stations include a
note that in addition to こ **は** た and こ **わ** た, there are some nearby
placenames that use the same kanji pronounced こ **ば** た (rendaku of course
being another case of a common sound change that's not always consistently
applied). What a very inconsistently pronounced word!

