～かというと is a phrase that has two primary functions. The first is used in conjunction with ‘why’ and ‘how’ words, while the other is used with ‘who’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘which’ or ‘what’. We will focus on the latter in this lesson. かというと is a combination of the 格助詞（かくじょし） (case marking particle) か in its use as a question marker, the 格助詞（かくじょし）
と in its 引用（いんよう） ‘citation’ use, the う - Verb 言（い）う ‘to say’, and the 格助詞（かくじょし）
と in its 結果（けっか） ‘result’ use.
This is quite a few particles combined together, but the literal meaning is more simply ‘if (A) were to be asked’, before the speaker will go on to highlight their reasoning in (B). 何（なん）で, 何（なに）, どちら, 誰（だれ）, どの, and similar words often appear as the ‘who’, ‘where’, or ‘which’ words in these sentences.
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何（なん）で日本（にほん）に引（ひ）っ越（こ）して来（き）たかというと 、私（わたし）の家族（かぞく）が日本（にほん）に住（す）んでいるからです。
If I were to say why I moved to Japan, it is because my family lives here.
誰（だれ）と旅行（りょこう）に行（い）きたいかというと 、大親友（だいしんゆう）と行（い）きたい。
If I were to say who I wanted to travel with, it would be my best friend.
どの街（まち）に住（す）みたいかというと 、両親（りょうしん）が住（す）んでいる街（まち）に住（す）みたいと思（おも）っています。
If I were to say which city I wanted to live in, I think it would be the city that my parents do.
As ～かというと will come before some sort of explanation, から will also regularly be used at the end of the sentence as ‘because’, emphasizing the speaker's reasoning.
Like other grammar points that utilize the ‘if’ nuance of
と,
ば, and sometimes even
たら may be used. However,
たら will appear far less frequently than
と or
ば.
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何（なん）でこんな事（こと）になったかといえば、私（わたし）がきちんと確認（かくにん）をしなかったからです。
If I were to say why something like this happened, well, it is because I did not check properly.
誰（だれ）が一番（いちばん）上手（じょうず）かといったらB組（ぐみ）のタカハシさんです。
If I were to say who was the best in class B, it would be Takahashi-san.