Long ago, people in the capital thought of the East as a distant countryside.
east; eastern direction
Archaic general word for 'east'. In modern Japanese, 東 is normally read ひがし.
An old poem says, 'In the eastern fields, the glow of dawn is seen rising.'
Only when written 吾妻 / 吾嬬
Poetic or archaic term for one's spouse, using ateji 吾妻 or 吾嬬. Not used in modern conversation.
The characters 吾妻 can be read as 'azuma' and refer to one's wife.
東琴 is the full name of the ancient six-stringed zither, of which 東（あずま） is a shortened form.
妻 is the plain modern word for 'wife', while 東（あずま） is an old poetic term for one's spouse.
wagon; yamatogoto; six-stringed native Japanese zither
man from eastern Japan; Edo man; Kanto man
Ateji spelling used specifically for the 'my spouse' sense; also a place name.
Kana spelling is common in modern writing, especially for the regional name.
Alternate ateji spelling for the 'my spouse' sense.