English Translation
There is a market in the town.
Is the pronunciation いちば or しじょう？
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@ericaw
Both いちば and しじょう work in this sentence if the market sells foods and FMCGs. There is no concrete distinction, but I personally feel that いちば often refers to more traditional small-size local markets while しじょう is more modern and well-organized ones involving significant investment. 豊洲市場 (とよすしじょう), or former 築地市場 (つきじしじょう), is a good example. This fish market is one of the largest ones and attracts many tourists. Relocation from Tsukiji to Toyosu was a big political agenda. We don’t call this market いちば because いちば sounds a bit shabby.
There is one exception. If the market refers to financial trading markets (e.g. NYSE), it should be しじょう. You cannot say いちば for this usage.
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