アメリカ人が混乱する「ハイツ」の本当の意味

Why is “ハイツ” (heights) in a Japanese apartment name misleading?

ハイツ (haitsu) is a Japanese loanword straight from English “heights,” widely used to name low-rise apartment buildings (typically two or three stories). Like コーポ (from “corporate”) or メゾン (from French “maison”), it’s chosen purely for its upscale, Western sound — not because the building sits on elevated ground. The gap between the word’s literal meaning and the actual property is a running joke among renters.

In the clip, a woman explains her apartment is named “北北ハイツ” despite being a two-story wooden building in a valley (盆地, “basin”) with no view at all; her partner jokes it should be called “逆ハイツ” (reverse-heights). ハイツ historically implied 高台 (takadai, “elevated ground with a good view”), but decades of naming apartments after aspirational English words have completely decoupled the label from the location — the same way “Vista” or “Heights” get slapped on flat American subdivisions.