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We know that all of them have a nickname, but I don't understand Poppo's
nickname.

  * Yadomi **Jinta** = Jintan
  * Ho **nma Me** iko = Menma
  * **An** jou **Naru** ko = Anaru
  * Matsu **yuki Atsu** mu = Yukiatsu
  * **Tsuru** mi Chiri **ko** = Tsuruko
  * Hisakawa Tetsudou = Poppo??

Does it have something to do with his name in Japanese characters?


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anohana
Where did the nickname "Poppo" comes from?


After a bit of searching on the Japanese internet, I found an explanation that
makes so much sense that it almost _must_ be right. That said, I haven't found
official material to back this up,1 so this may yet be incorrect.

Here's the deal: "Tetsudou", written 鉄道, [means
"railway"](http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E9%89%84%E9%81%93). "Poppo" (ぽっぽ) is
a childish/onomatopoetic word for a steam train (see e.g. [the zokugo-dict
entry](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/srch/jn/%E6%B1%BD%E8%BB%8A/m0u/), usage 3
[in Japanese]). So I suppose what would have happened is that the kids
would've gone along some sort of chain of word associations and ended up
deciding to call the guy "Poppo" because that's related to "Tetsudou".

* * *

1 Then again, there may not even _be_ any official material to support this
explanation - I think this joke/whatever would be very transparent to people
brought up in Japan and so this connection would probably go without saying.


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Poppo is the Japanese equivalent of the English "Choo-choo" both which are
onomatopoetic words for a steam locomotive, derived from the sound it makes.
It is pronounced Poe-poe, not Pop-oh. I know this because I have visited a
railway and museum for tourists in Japan named "Poppo Town".


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