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The word ''
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
'' is an
exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group ...
, and is used (in one form or another) by many languages. The
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
names for
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
are Nippon () and Nihon (). They are both written in Japanese using the
kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...
. During the third-century CE
Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...
period, Japan was inhabited by the
Yayoi people The were an ancient ethnicity that migrated to the Japanese archipelago from Korea and China during the Yayoi period (300 BCE–300 CE). Although highly controversial, a single study that utilized radiometric dating techniques inconclusivel ...
who lived in
Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...
up to the
Kanto region Kantō (Japanese) Kanto is a simplified spelling of , a Japanese word, only omitting the diacritics. In Japan Kantō may refer to: *Kantō Plain *Kantō region *Kantō-kai, organized crime group *Kanto (Pokémon), a geographical region in the ' ...
. They were called ''Wa'' in Chinese, and the kanji for their name can be translated as "dwarf" or "submissive". Japanese scribes found fault with its offensive connotation, and officially changed the characters they used to spell the native name for Japan, ''Yamato'', replacing the ("dwarf") character for ''Wa'' with the homophone ("peaceful, harmonious"). ''Wa'' was often combined with ("great") to form the name , which is read as ''Yamato'' (see also
Jukujikun are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...
for a discussion of this type of spelling where the kanji and pronunciations are not directly related). The earliest record of appears in the Chinese ''
Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingd ...
'', which notes the change in 703 when Japanese envoys requested that its name be changed. It is believed that the name change within Japan itself took place sometime between 665 and 703. During the
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japan ...
, was gradually replaced by , which was first pronounced with the Chinese reading (on'yomi) ''Nippon'' and later as ''Nifon'', and then in modern usage ''Nihon'', reflecting shifts in
phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
in
Early Modern Japanese was the stage of the Japanese language after Middle Japanese and before Modern Japanese. It is a period of transition that shed many of the language's medieval characteristics and became closer to its modern form. The period spanned roughly ...
.
Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in '' The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
called Japan 'Cipangu' around 1300, based on the Chinese name, probably (compare modern
Min Nan Southern Min (), Minnan ( Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwan ...
pronunciation ''ji̍t pún kok''). In the 16th century in
Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has bee ...
,
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
traders first heard from Malay and Indonesian the names ''Jepang'', ''Jipang'', and ''Jepun''. In 1577 it was first recorded in English, spelled ''Giapan''. At the end of the 16th century, Portuguese
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
came to Japan and created grammars and dictionaries of Middle Japanese. The 1603–1604 dictionary Vocabvlario da Lingoa de Iapam has 2 entries: ''nifon'' and ''iippon''. Since then many derived names of Japan appeared on ancient European maps.


History

Both ''Nippon'' and ''Nihon'' literally mean "the sun's origin", that is, where the sun originates,Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al.'' (2005). "Nihon" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File
.
and are often translated as the ''Land of the Rising Sun''. This nomenclature comes from Imperial correspondence with the Chinese
Sui Dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and la ...
and refers to Japan's eastern position relative to
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
. Before ''Nihon'' came into official use, Japan was known as or . ''Wa'' was a name early China used to refer to an ethnic group living in Japan around the time of the
Three Kingdoms Period The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the We ...
. The
Yayoi people The were an ancient ethnicity that migrated to the Japanese archipelago from Korea and China during the Yayoi period (300 BCE–300 CE). Although highly controversial, a single study that utilized radiometric dating techniques inconclusivel ...
primarily lived on the island of
Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...
to the
Kanto region Kantō (Japanese) Kanto is a simplified spelling of , a Japanese word, only omitting the diacritics. In Japan Kantō may refer to: *Kantō Plain *Kantō region *Kantō-kai, organized crime group *Kanto (Pokémon), a geographical region in the ' ...
on
Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island s ...
. Although the etymological origins of "Wa" remain uncertain, Chinese historical texts recorded an ancient people residing in the Japanese archipelago (perhaps Kyūshū), named something like *ˀWâ or *ˀWər . Carr (1992:9–10) surveys prevalent proposals for Wa's etymology ranging from feasible (transcribing Japanese first-person pronouns ''waga'' "my; our" and ''ware'' "I; oneself; thou") to shameful (writing Japanese ''Wa'' as implying "dwarf"), and summarizes interpretations for *ˀWâ "Japanese" into variations on two etymologies: "behaviorally 'submissive' or physically 'short'." The first "submissive; obedient" explanation began with the (121 CE) ''
Shuowen Jiezi ''Shuowen Jiezi'' () is an ancient Chinese dictionary from the Han dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary (the ''Erya'' predates it), it was the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give t ...
'' dictionary. It defines as ''shùnmào'' "obedient/submissive/docile appearance", graphically explains the "person; human" radical with a ''wěi'' "bent" phonetic, and quotes the above ''
Shijing The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, co ...
'' poem. "Conceivably, when Chinese first met Japanese," Carr (1992:9) suggests "they transcribed Wa as *ˀWâ 'bent back' signifying 'compliant' bowing/obeisance. Bowing is noted in early historical references to Japan." Examples include "Respect is shown by squatting" (''Hou Han Shu'', tr. Tsunoda 1951:2), and "they either squat or kneel, with both hands on the ground. This is the way they show respect." (Wei Zhi, tr. Tsunoda 1951:13). Koji Nakayama interprets ''wēi'' "winding" as "very far away" and euphemistically translates ''Wō'' as "separated from the continent." The second etymology of ''wō'' meaning "dwarf, pygmy" has possible cognates in ''ǎi'' "low, short (of stature)", ''wō'' "strain; sprain; bent legs", and ''wò'' "lie down; crouch; sit (animals and birds)". Early Chinese dynastic histories refer to a ''Zhūrúguó'' "pygmy/dwarf country" located south of Japan, associated with possibly Okinawa Island or the Ryukyu Islands. Carr cites the historical precedence of construing Wa as "submissive people" and the "Country of Dwarfs" legend as evidence that the "little people" etymology was a secondary development. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese scribes regularly wrote ''Wa'' or ''Yamato'' "Japan" with the Chinese character until the 8th century, when the Japanese found fault with it due to its offensive connotation, replacing it with "harmony, peace, balance". Retroactively, this character was adopted in Japan to refer to the country itself, often combined with the character (literally meaning "Great"), so as to write the name as ''Yamato'' () (Great Wa, in a manner similar to ''e.g.'' Great Qing Empire, Empire of Great Britain). However, the pronunciation ''Yamato'' cannot be formed from the sounds of its constituent characters; it refers to a place in Japan and, based on the specific spellings used in ancient documents (see also
Man'yōgana is an ancient writing system that uses Chinese characters to represent the Japanese language. It was the first known kana system to be developed as a means to represent the Japanese language phonetically. The date of the earliest usage of thi ...
and Old Japanese#Vowels), this may have originally meant . 1988, (''Kokugo Dai Jiten'', Revised Edition) (in Japanese),
Tōkyō Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
:
Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the ...
, entry available onlin
here
entry available onlin
here
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Such words which use certain kanji to name a certain Japanese word solely for the purpose of representing the word's meaning regardless of the given kanji's
on'yomi are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...
or
kun'yomi are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequen ...
, a.k.a.
jukujikun are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...
, is not uncommon in Japanese. Other original names in Chinese texts include '' Yamatai country'' (), where a
Queen Himiko , also known as , was a shamaness-queen of Yamatai-koku in . Early Chinese dynastic histories chronicle tributary relations between Queen Himiko and the Cao Wei Kingdom (220–265) and record that the Yayoi period people chose her as ruler fo ...
lived. When ''hi no moto'', the indigenous Japanese way of saying "sun's origin", was written in
kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...
, it was given the characters . In time, these characters began to be read using Sino-Japanese readings, first ''Nippon'' and later ''Nihon,'' although the two names are interchangeable to this day. ''Nippon'' appeared in history only at the end of the 7th century. The ''
Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingd ...
'' (), one of the
Twenty-Four Histories The ''Twenty-Four Histories'' (), also known as the ''Orthodox Histories'' (), are the Chinese official dynastic histories covering from the earliest dynasty in 3000 BC to the Ming dynasty in the 17th century. The Han dynasty official Sima Qia ...
, stated that the Japanese envoy disliked his country's name '' Woguo'' (Chinese) (), and changed it to ''Nippon'' (Japanese; Mandarin Chinese: ''Rìběn,'' Toisan Cantonese'':''
Ngìp Bāwn
') (), or "Origin of the Sun". Another 8th-century chronicle, ''True Meaning of Shiji'' (), however, states that the Chinese Empress
Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...
ordered a Japanese envoy to change the country's name to ''Nippon''. It has been suggested that the name change in Japan may have taken place sometime between 665 and 703, and Wu Zetian then acceded to the name change in China following a request from a delegation from Japan in 703. The sun plays an important role in
Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of ye ...
and
religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
as the
emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...
is said to be the direct descendant of the sun goddess
Amaterasu Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami () or Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major deities (''kami'') of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the '' K ...
and the legitimacy of the ruling house rested on this divine appointment and descent from the chief deity of the predominant
Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shint ...
religion. The name of the country reflects this central importance of the sun. The association of the country with the sun was indicated in a letter sent in 607 and recorded in the
official history An official history is a work of history which is sponsored, authorised or endorsed by its subject. The term is most commonly used for histories which are produced for a government. The term also applies to commissions from non-state bodies includin ...
of the
Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and la ...
.
Prince Shōtoku , also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Hashihito, who was also Yōmei's younger half- ...
, the Regent of Japan, sent a mission to China with a letter in which he called the emperor of Japan (actually an empress at the time) . The message said: "The Son of Heaven, in the land of the rising sun, sends this letter to the Son of Heaven of the land, where the sun sets, and wishes him well". The English word for Japan came to the West from early trade routes. The early
Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...
or possibly
Wu Chinese The Wu languages (; Wu romanization and IPA: ''wu6 gniu6'' [] ( Shanghainese), ''ng2 gniu6'' [] (Suzhounese), Mandarin pinyin and IPA: ''Wúyǔ'' []) is a major group of Sinitic languages spoken primarily in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Zhejiang Provin ...
word for Japan was recorded by
Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in '' The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
as ''Cipangu''. In modern Toisanese (a language in the
Yue Chinese Yue () is a group of similar Sinitic languages spoken in Southern China, particularly in Liangguang (the Guangdong and Guangxi provinces). The name Cantonese is often used for the whole group, but linguists prefer to reserve that name for ...
subgroup), 日本 is pronounced as
Ngìp Bāwn
' �ip˦˨ bɔn˥ which sounds nearly identical to ''Nippon.'' The Malay and Indonesian words ''Jepang'', ''Jipang'', and ''Jepun'' were borrowed from non-Mandarin Chinese languages, and this Malay word was encountered by
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
traders in
Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has bee ...
in the 16th century. It is thought the Portuguese traders were the first to bring the word to
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. It was first recorded in English in 1577 spelled ''Giapan''.''The History of trauayle in the VVest and East Indies : and other countreys lying eyther way towardes the fruitfull and ryche Moluccaes. As Moscouia, Persia, Arabia, Syria, Aegypte, Ethiopia, Guinea, China in Cathayo, and Giapan: VVith a discourse of the Northwest passage. In the hande of our Lorde be all the corners of the earth''
Richard Jugge, approximately 1514-1577, page 493
In English, the modern official title of the country is simply "Japan", one of the few countries to have no " long form" name. The official Japanese-language name is ''Nippon-koku'' or ''Nihon-koku'' (), literally "''
State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
of Japan''". From the
Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
until the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the full title of Japan was the " Empire of Great Japan" ( ''Dai Nippon Teikoku''). A more poetic rendering of the name of Japan during this period was "Empire of the Sun." The official name of the nation was changed after the adoption of the post-war constitution; the title "State of Japan" is sometimes used as a colloquial modern-day equivalent. As an adjective, the term "Dai-Nippon" remains popular with Japanese governmental, commercial, or social organizations whose reach extend beyond Japan's geographic borders (e.g.,
Dai Nippon Printing , established in 1876, is a Japanese printing company. Dai Nippon operates its printing in three areas: information communications, lifestyle and industrial supplies, and electronics. The company is involved in a wide variety of printing processe ...
,
Dai Nippon Butoku Kai ''Dai Nippon Butoku Kai'' (DNBK, ja, 大日本武徳会, en, "Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society") was a martial arts organization with strong ties to WWII-era Japanese government, originally established in 1895 in Kyoto. Following the end of ...
, etc.). Though ''Nippon'' or ''Nihon'' are still by far the most popular names for Japan from within the country, recently the foreign words ''Japan'' and even ''Jipangu'' (from ''Cipangu'', see below) have been used in Japanese mostly for the purpose of
foreign branding Foreign branding is an advertising and marketing term describing the use of foreign or foreign-sounding brand names for companies, products, and services to imply they are of foreign origin. This can also be used for foreign products if the countr ...
.


Historical

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
arrived in Japan at the end of the 16th century. In the course of learning
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
, they created several grammars and dictionaries of Middle Japanese. The 1603–1604 dictionary Vocabvlario da Lingoa de Iapam contains two entries for Japan: ''nifon'' and ''iippon''. The title of the dictionary (''Vocabulary of the Language of Japan'') illustrates that the
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
word for Japan was by that time ''Iapam''.


Nifon

Historically, Japanese has undergone a number of phonological changes. Originally *, this weakened into and eventually became the modern . Modern is still pronounced when followed by . Middle Japanese ''nifon'' becomes Modern Japanese ''nihon'' via regular phonological changes.


Jippon

Before modern styles of
romanization Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, a ...
, the Portuguese devised their
own Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...
. In it, is written as either ''ii'' or ''ji''. In modern Hepburn style, ''iippon'' would be rendered as ''Jippon''. There are no historical phonological changes to take into account here. Etymologically, ''Jippon'' is similar to ''Nippon'' in that it is an alternative reading of . The initial character may also be read as or . Compounded with (), this regularly becomes ''Jippon''. Unlike the ''Nihon''/''Nippon'' doublet, there is no evidence for a *''Jihon''.


Nihon and Nippon

The
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
name for Japan, , can be pronounced either ''Nihon'' or ''Nippon''. Both readings come from the
on'yomi are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...
.


Meaning

(''nichi'') means "sun" or "day"; (''hon'') means "base" or "origin". The compound means "origin of the sun" or "where the sun rises" (from a Chinese point of view, the sun rises from Japan); it is a source for the popular Western description of Japan as the "Land of the Rising Sun". ''Nichi'', in compounds, often loses the final ''chi'' and creates a slight pause between the first and second syllables of the compound. When romanised, this pause is represented by a doubling of the first consonant of the second syllable; thus ''nichi'' plus ''kō'' (light) is written and pronounced ''nikkō'', meaning sunlight.


History and evolution

Japanese and were historically pronounced ''niti'' (or ''jitu'', reflecting a Late Middle Chinese pronunciation) and ''pon'', respectively. In compounds, however, final voiceless stops (i.e. ''p'', ''t'', ''k'') of the first word were unreleased in Middle Chinese, and the pronunciation of 日本 was thus ''Nippon'' or ''Jippon'' (with the adjacent consonants assimilating). Historical sound change in Japanese has led to the modern pronunciations of the individual characters as ''nichi'' and ''hon''. The pronunciation ''Nihon'' originated, possibly in the
Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Sl ...
, as a reintroduction of this independent pronunciation of into the compound. This must have taken place during the
Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...
, after another sound change occurred which would have resulted in this form becoming ''Niwon'' and later ''Nion''. Several attempts to choose a definitive official reading were rejected by the Japanese government, which declared both to be correct.


Modern conventions

While both pronunciations are correct, ''Nippon'' is frequently preferred for official purposes, including
money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money ar ...
,
stamp Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to: Official documents and related impressions * Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail * Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods * Revenue stamp, used on documents ...
s, and international
sporting event Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can ...
s, as well as the ''Nippon-koku'', literally the "''State of Japan''" (). Other than this, there seem to be no fixed rules for choosing one pronunciation over the other, but in some cases, one form is simply more common. For example, Japanese-speakers generally call their language ''
Nihongo is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been m ...
''; ''Nippongo'', while possible, is rarely used. In other cases, uses are variable. The name for the
Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan. Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It has its headquarters in Chūō, Tokyo. History Like most modern Japanese institutions, the Bank of Japan was foun ...
(), for example, is given as ''NIPPON GINKO'' on banknotes but is often referred to, such as in the media, as ''Nihon Ginkō''.Nussbaum, "Nihon Ginkō" at Nippon is the form that is used usually or exclusively in the following constructions: *''Nippon Yūbin, Nippon Yūsei'' (
Japan Post Group is a Japanese publicly traded conglomerate headquartered in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is mainly engaged in postal and logistics business, financial window business, banking business and life insurance business. The company offers letters ...
) *''Ganbare Nippon!'' (A sporting cheer used at international sporting events, roughly, 'do your best, Japan!') *''Zen Nippon Kūyu Kabushiki-gaisha'' (
All Nippon Airways , also known as ANA (''Ē-enu-ē'') or is an airline in Japan. Its headquarters are located in Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area of Minato ward of Tokyo. It operates services to both domestic and international destinations and had m ...
) *''
Nipponbashi is a shopping district of Naniwa Ward, Osaka, Japan. The area is centered along Sakaisuji Avenue, extending from the Ebisu-chō Interchange of the Hanshin Expressway in the south, to Nansan-dōri (just east of Nankai Namba Station) in the n ...
'' () (a shopping district in
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
) *'' Nippon Kōgaku Kōgyō Kabushikigaisha'' (Japan Optical Industries Co. Ltd., (also called Nippon Kōgaku) which has been known since 1988 as the
Nikon Corporation (, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group. Nikon's products include cameras, cam ...
since the Nikon brand name was used on its camera product line) Nihon is used always or most often in the following constructions: *''JR Higashi-Nihon'' (
East Japan Railway The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...
,
JR Group The Japan Railways Group, more commonly known as the or simply JR, consists of seven for-profit stock companies that took over most of the assets and operations of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. Mo ...
) *''
Nihonbashi is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603. The curre ...
'' () (a bridge in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
) *''Nihon Daigaku'' (
Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice, in 1889. It is one of Japan's leading private universit ...
) *''Nihon-go'' (
Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...
) *''Nihon-jin'' (日本人) (
Japanese people The are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago."人類学上は,旧石器時代あるいは縄文時代以来,現在の北海道〜沖縄諸島(南西諸島)に住んだ集団を祖先にもつ人々。" () Ja ...
) *''Nihon-kai'' (
Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, i ...
) *''Nihon Kōkū'' (
Japan Airlines , also known as JAL (''Jaru'') or , is an international airline and Japan's flag carrier and largest airline as of 2021 and 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, as w ...
) *'' Nihon-shoki'' (an old history book, never ''Nippon shoki'') *'' Nihonshu'' (日本酒; meaning 'Japanese wine') *'' Zen Nihon Kendō Renmei'' (全日本剣道連盟, abbreviated 全剣連 ''Zen Ken Ren''), the Japanese
Kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords ( shinai) as well as protective armor ( bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spre ...
Federation referred in English as ''All Japan Kendo Federation'' (AJKF) In 2016, element 113 on the
periodic table The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the (chemical) elements, is a rows and columns arrangement of the chemical elements. It is widely used in chemistry, physics, and other sciences, and is generally seen as an icon of ch ...
was named nihonium to honor its discovery in 2004 by Japanese scientists at RIKEN.


Jipangu

As mentioned above, the
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
word ''Japan'' has a circuitous derivation; but
linguists Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingui ...
believe it derives in part from the
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
recording of the early
Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...
or
Wu Chinese The Wu languages (; Wu romanization and IPA: ''wu6 gniu6'' [] ( Shanghainese), ''ng2 gniu6'' [] (Suzhounese), Mandarin pinyin and IPA: ''Wúyǔ'' []) is a major group of Sinitic languages spoken primarily in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Zhejiang Provin ...
word for Japan: ''Cipan'' (), which is rendered in
pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese fo ...
as ''Rìběn'' (
IPA IPA commonly refers to: * India pale ale, a style of beer * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA may also refer to: Organizations International * Insolvency Practitioners A ...
: ʐʅ˥˩pən˨˩˦), and literally translates to "sun origin". ''Guó'' (
IPA IPA commonly refers to: * India pale ale, a style of beer * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA may also refer to: Organizations International * Insolvency Practitioners A ...
: kuo˨˦) is Chinese for "realm" or "kingdom", so it could alternatively be rendered as ''Cipan-guo''. The word was likely introduced to Portuguese through the Malay: ''Jipan''. Cipangu was first mentioned in Europe in the accounts of
Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in '' The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
. It appears for the first time on a European map with the
Fra Mauro map The Fra Mauro map is a map of the world made around 1450 by the Venetian cartographer Fra Mauro, which is “considered the greatest memorial of medieval cartography." It is a circular planisphere drawn on parchment and set in a wooden frame t ...
in 1457, although it appears much earlier on Chinese and Korean maps such as the ''
Gangnido The Honil Gangni Yeokdae Gukdo Ji Do ("Map of Integrated Lands and Regions of Historical Countries and Capitals (of China)"Kenneth R. Robinso Choson Korea in the Ryukoku Kangnidoin ''Imago Mundi'', Vol. 59 No. 2 (June 2007) pp. 177–192, via Ingen ...
''. Following the accounts of Marco Polo, Cipangu was thought to be fabulously rich in silver and gold, which in Medieval times was largely correct, owing to the volcanism of the islands and the possibility to access precious ores without resorting to (unavailable) deep-mining technologies. The modern
Shanghainese The Shanghainese language, also known as the Shanghai dialect, or Hu language, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the central districts of the City of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. It is classified as part of the Sino-Tibetan langua ...
pronunciation of Japan is ''Zeppen'' . In modern Japanese, ''Cipangu'' is transliterated as which in turn can be transliterated into English as ''Chipangu'', ''Jipangu'', ''Zipangu'', ''Jipang'', or ''Zipang''. ''Jipangu'' ( (''Zipangu'')) as an
obfuscated Obfuscation is the obscuring of the intended meaning of communication by making the message difficult to understand, usually with confusing and ambiguous language. The obfuscation might be either unintentional or intentional (although intent us ...
name for Japan has recently come into vogue for Japanese
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
s,
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
,
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...
s, etc.


Other names


Classical

These names were invented after the introduction of Chinese into the language, and they show up in historical texts for prehistoric legendary dates and also in names of gods and Japanese emperors: * ''Ōyashima'' () meaning the Great Country of Eight (or Many) Islands, '' Awaji'', ''Iyo'' (later
Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...
), '' Oki'', ''Tsukushi'' (later
Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...
), '' Iki'', '' Tsushima'', '' Sado'', and ''Yamato'' (later
Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island sepa ...
); note that
Hokkaidō is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...
,
Karafuto Karafuto Prefecture ( ja, 樺太庁, ''Karafuto-chō''; russian: Префектура Карафуто, Prefektura Karafuto), commonly known as South Sakhalin, was a prefecture of Japan located in Sakhalin from 1907 to 1949. Karafuto became ter ...
,
Chishima The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...
, and
Okinawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 Square kilometre, km2 (880 sq mi). ...
were not part of Japan in ancient times, as Aynu Mosir (the northern part of the archipelago) was inhabited by a non-Japanese group, the
Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu la ...
. The eight islands refers to the creation of the main eight islands of Japan by the gods
Izanami , formally known as , is the creator deity of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess. She and her brother-husband Izanagi are the last of the seven generations of primordial deities that manifested ...
and
Izanagi Izanagi (イザナギ/伊邪那岐/伊弉諾) or Izanaki (イザナキ), formally known as , is the creator deity (''kami'') of both creation and life in Japanese mythology. He and his sister-wife Izanami are the last of the seven generations ...
in
Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of ye ...
as well as the fact that eight was a synonym for "many". * ''Yashima'' (), "Eight (or Many) Islands" * '' Fusō'' (), a mythical tree or a mysterious land located to the East of China. The term later became a poetic name of Japan. * ''Mizuho'' () refers to ears of grain, e.g. ''Mizuho-no-kuni'' "Country of Lush Ears (of Rice)." From Old Japanese ''midu'' > Japanese ''mizu'' ("water; lushness, freshness, juiciness") + Old Japanese ''fo'' > Japanese ''ho'' ("ear (of grain, especially rice)"). * ''Shikishima'' () is written with Chinese characters that suggest a meaning "islands that one has spread/laid out," but this name of Japan supposedly originates in the name of an area in Shiki District of
Yamato Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, th ...
in which some emperors of ancient Japan resided. The name of Shikishima (''i.e.'' Shiki District) came to be used in Japanese poetry as an epithet for the province of Yamato (''i.e.'' the ancient predecessor of Nara Prefecture), and was
metonymically Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...
extended to refer to the entire island of Yamato (''i.e.'' Honshū) and, eventually, to the entire territory of Japan. Note that the word ''shima'', though generally meaning only "island" in
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
, also means "area, zone, territory" in many languages of the Ryūkyū Islands. * ''Akitsukuni'' (), ''Akitsushima'' (), ''Toyo-akitsushima'' (). According to the literal meanings of the Chinese characters used to transcribe these names of Japan, ''toyo'' means "abundant," ''aki'' means "autumn," ''tsu'' means "harbor," ''shima'' means "island," and ''kuni'' means "country, land." In this context, ''-tsu'' may be interpreted to be a fossilized genitive case suffix, as in ''matsuge'' "eyelash" (< Japanese ''me'' "eye" + ''-tsu'' + Japanese ''ke'' "hair") or ''tokitsukaze'' "a timely wind, a favorable wind" (< Japanese ''toki'' "time" + ''-tsu'' + Japanese ''kaze'' "wind"). However, ''akitu'' or ''akidu'' are also archaic or dialectal Japanese words for "
dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat thre ...
," so "Akitsushima" may be interpreted to mean . Another possible interpretation would take ''akitsu-'' to be identical with the ''akitsu-'' of ''akitsukami'' or ''akitsumikami'' ("god incarnate, a manifest deity," often used as an honorific epithet for the
Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...
), perhaps with the sense of "the present land, the island(s) where we are at present." * ''Toyoashihara no mizuho no kuni'' (). "Country of Lush Ears of Bountiful Reed Plain(s)," ''
Ashihara no Nakatsukuni is, in Japanese mythology, the world between Takamagahara (Heaven) and Yomi (Hell). In time, the term became another word for the country or the location of Japan. The term can be used interchangeably with Toyoashihara no Nakatsukuni (豊葦原� ...
'', "Central Land of Reed Plains," "Country Amidst Reed Plain(s)" (). * ''Hinomoto'' (). Simple kun reading of . The
katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived f ...
transcription (''Japan'') of the English word ''Japan'' is sometimes encountered in Japanese, for example in the names of organizations seeking to project an international image. Examples include (''Japan Netto Ginkō'') (Japan Net Bank), (''Japan Kappu'') (Japan Cup), (''Waiyaresu Japan'') (Wireless Japan), etc. ''Dōngyáng'' () and ''Dōngyíng'' () – both literally, "Eastern Ocean" – are Chinese terms sometimes used to refer to Japan exotically when contrasting it with other countries or regions in eastern
Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...
; however, these same terms may also be used to refer to all of
East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...
when contrasting "the East" with "the West". The first term, ''Dōngyáng'', has been considered to be a pejorative term when used to mean "Japan", while the second, ''Dōngyíng'', has remained a positive poetic name. They can be contrasted with '' Nányáng'' (Southern Ocean), which refers to
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
, and ''Xīyáng'' (Western Ocean), which refers to the
Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.
. In
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
and
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...
, the Chinese word for "Eastern Ocean" (pronounced as ''tōyō'' in Japanese and as ''dongyang'' () in Korean) is used only to refer to the
Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The t ...
(including both East Asia and Southeast Asia) in general, and it is not used in the more specific Chinese sense of "Japan". In
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
is called ''Rìběn'', which is the Mandarin pronunciation for the
characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
. The
Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...
pronunciation is ''Yahtbún'' , the
Shanghainese The Shanghainese language, also known as the Shanghai dialect, or Hu language, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the central districts of the City of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. It is classified as part of the Sino-Tibetan langua ...
pronunciation is ''Zeppen'' , and the
Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...
pronunciation is ''Ji̍tpún'' / ''Li̍t-pún''. This has influenced the Malay name for Japan, ''Jepun'', and the Thai word ''Yipun'' (). The terms ''Jepang'' and ''Jipang'', ultimately derived from Chinese, were previously used in both Malay and Indonesian, but are today confined primarily to the
Indonesian language Indonesian ( ) is the official and national language of Indonesia. It is a standardized variety of Malay, an Austronesian language that has been used as a lingua franca in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago for centuries. Indonesia ...
. The Japanese introduced ''Nippon'' and ''Dai Nippon'' into Indonesia during the Japanese Occupation (1942–1945) but the native ''Jepang'' remains more common. In Korean, Japan is called ''Ilbon'' (
Hangeul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The ...
: ,
Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...
: ), which is the Korean pronunciation of the Sino-Korean name, and in Sino-Vietnamese, Japan is called ''Nhật Bản'' (also rendered as ''Nhựt Bổn''). In Mongolian, Japan is called ''Yapon'' (Япон). ''Ue-kok'' () is recorded for older
Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...
speakers. In the past, Korea also used , pronounced ''Waeguk'' ().


Notation on old European maps

These are historic names of Japan that were noted on old maps issued in Europe. *, circa 1300 *「IAPAM」, circa 1560 *, 1561 *「IAPAN」, circa 1567 *「JAPAN」, unknown first year. *, 1595 *「IAPAO」, 1628 *「IAPON」, unknown first year. *「NIPHON」, circa 1694In the novel "Moby-Dick; or, The Whale" published in October 1851, the notation "Niphon" appears when checking nautical charts. *「JAPAM」, 1628 *「YAPAN」, 1628 *, circa 1730 *, 1739


Emoji

Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard, ...
includes several character sequences that have been used to represent Japan graphically: *. Japan is the only country with a map representation in Unicode. *🇯🇵, a sequence of
regional indicator symbol The regional indicator symbols are a set of 26 alphabetic Unicode characters (A–Z) intended to be used to encode ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 two-letter country codes in a way that allows optional special treatment. These were defined by October 2010 as ...
s corresponding to JP that are often displayed as a
flag of Japan The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner bearing a crimson-red circle at its center. This flag is officially called the , but is more commonly known in Japan as the . It embodies the country's sobriquet: the Land of the Rising ...
.


Contemporary Non-CJK names

These are the contemporary Non- CJK names for Japan in different languages.


See also

*
Japanese name in modern times consist of a family name (surname) followed by a given name, in that order. Nevertheless, when a Japanese name is written in the Roman alphabet, ever since the Meiji era, the official policy has been to cater to Western expec ...
(names of Japanese people) * Japanese place names * Little China (ideology) *
List of country-name etymologies This list covers English-language country names with their etymologies. Some of these include notes on indigenous names and their etymologies. Countries in ''italics'' are endonyms or no longer exist as sovereign political entities. A Afghan ...


Notes


References

* *
OCLC 48943301
{{DEFAULTSORT:Names Of Japan Japanese language
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...