Tokyo's No. 12 subway line will be named the Oedo Line, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Transportation said, dumping a misnomer selected last month amid much fanfare. The previously selected name -- Tokyo Kanjo (Loop) Line -- doesn't make any sense, said Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara on Wednesday. "A loop line is when you can fall asleep (on the subway) and go round and round," the governor explained during a recent news conference. The "Loop Line" name will confuse visitors who may not discover until it's too late that the subway does not run in a loop but rather in the shape of the number six, he added. With the governor's dissatisfaction in mind, the bureau informally recommissioned the selection panel, which included manga artist Mitsuru Yaku and TV personality Daniel Kerr. Of the five other names the panel originally short-listed, bureau officials said members preferred the same name the governor did -- Oedo Line, literally Great Edo Line. Edo is the former name of Tokyo.
