Here are more fun words with 岐:
分岐点 (bunkiten: junction, crossroads, division point, parting of ways) to branch off + fork + point
Though this word originally referred to geographical splits, it has acquired more abstract meanings. For instance, when a writer has been producing both fiction and nonfiction and then decides to focus exclusively on fiction, that’s 分岐点. She was at a crossroads and decided on one of the two roads.
八岐大蛇 (yamata no orochi: eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent (in Japanese mythology)) 8 + forks + big + serpent
The forks occur wherever a tail or head splits off! Ever think about how hard it is to quench the thirst of a monster with eight mouths? This picture should give you an idea. By the way, yamata is ateji, as is orochi. But you can read 大蛇 as daija (big serpent), and then it’s no longer ateji.
多岐亡羊 (takibōyō: too many options making selection difficult; truth being hard to find as paths to it proliferate)
many + forks + to escape + sheepAs 亡 means “to die,” you could easily think this word referred to dying sheep. For instance, the sheep couldn’t decide which path to take and stood frozen at a crossroads until they eventually died. But that’s not quite it. The kanji 亡 originally meant “to deteriorate,” then evolved to mean “to die.” Another meaning is “to run away.” So 亡羊 means “fleeing sheep.” The idea behind 多岐亡羊 is that a farmer encountered so many crossroads that he couldn’t find the sheep that escaped from his farm.
Also good to know:
岐阜県 (Gifu-ken: Gifu Prefecture) forks + hill + prefecture
The second kanji is non-Jōyō. Oh! I didn’t put too much stock into the role that 岐 might play in this name, but the name is actually relevant! Gifu Prefecture is at the heart of Honshu, the main island of Japan. According to Wikipedia, Gifu Prefecture “has long played an important part as the crossroads of Japan, connecting the east to the west through such routes as the Nakasendō. During the Sengoku period, many people referred to Gifu by saying, ‘control Gifu and you control Japan.'”
