also: をちかた
noun
distant place; faraway land
Archaic noun meaning a place far away. Not used in modern Japanese; encountered only in classical texts or poetry.
古歌に「遠方の国へ旅立つ」とある。
In an old poem, it says, 'departing for a distant land (ochikata).'
Modern standard word for 'distant place', read えんぽう. The archaic おちかた is not used today.
The historical derivation is uncertain. The kanji 遠方 literally mean 'far direction', and the reading おちかた is an old native Japanese word for a distant place.