Save Type Settlement Usage Japanese Scripts 船橋(Japanese Kanji) ふなばし(Japanese Hiragana) Pronounced Pron. FOO-NA-BA-SHEE [key·IPA] Meaning & History Means either "bridge on a ship" or "bridge made of ships" in Japanese, from 船 (funa), meaning "ship, vessel", and 橋 (hashi), meaning "bridge". This is the name of a city in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.