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2006-08-07 05:09:10 · 135 answers · asked by anshul_9992000 1 in Education & Reference Words & Wordplay

135 answers

The English word Japan is not the name used for their country by the Japanese themselves: it is an exonym. The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon and Nihon. They are both written in Japanese using the Chinese characters 日本. The Japanese name Nippon is used for most official purposes, including Japanese money, postage stamps, and international sporting events. Nihon is a more casual term and the most frequently used in contemporary speech.





History
Both Nippon and Nihon literally mean "the sun's origin", that is, where the sun originates, and are often translated as the "Land of the Rising Sun". This nomenclature comes from imperial correspondence with China and refers to Japan's eastward position relative to China. Before Japan had relations with China, it was known as Yamato and Hi-no-moto, which means "source of the sun". Wa (倭) was a name early China used to refer to Japan, around the time of the Three Kingdoms Period. Although originally pejorative–the character used means "dwarf"–a different character 和, which has more positive connotations, came to be used. Retroactively, this character was adopted in Japan to refer to the country itself, often combined with the character 大, literally meaning "Great", to give the name "Yamato" (大和). When hi-no-moto was written in kanji, it was given the characters 日本. In time, these characters began to be read using pseudo-Chinese readings, first Nippon and later Nihon.

Nippon appeared in history only at the end of the 7th century. Old Book of Tang (舊唐書), one of the Twenty-Four Histories, stated that the Japanese envoy disliked his country's name "Woguo" (倭國), and changed it to "Nippon" (日本), or "Origin of the Sun". Another 8th-century chronicle, True Meaning of Shiji (史記正義), however, states that the Chinese Empress Wu Zetian ordered a Japanese envoy to change the country's name to Nippon.


The English word for Japan came to the West from early trade routes. The early Mandarin Chinese or possibly Wu Chinese word for Japan was recorded by Marco Polo as Cipangu. The modern Shanghainese (a Wu Chinese dialect 呉語) pronunciation of characters 日本 (Japan) is still Zeppen [zəʔpən]. The Malay word for Japan, Jepang (modern spelling Jepun), was borrowed from a Chinese language, and this Malay word was encountered by Portuguese traders in Malacca in the 16th century. It is thought the Portuguese traders were the first to bring the word to Europe. It was first recorded in English in 1577 spelled Giapan.

In English, the official title of the country is simply "Japan", one of the few countries to have no "long form" name. From the Meiji Restoration until the end of World War II, the full title of Japan was the "Great Empire of Japan" (大日本帝國 Dai Nippon Teikoku). More poetically, another name for the empire was "Empire of the Sun". The official name of 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. The official Japanese title is Nipponkoku or Nihonkoku (日本国), literally "State of Japan".

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.

2006-08-07 07:24:06 · answer #1 · answered by quatt47 7 · 2 2

Japan is at the extreme East and the people of Japan see the SUN first than any one else in the world, It is called the LAND OF RISING SUN.

2006-08-07 16:33:08 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1 1

Japan is located at the eastern region of the earth and the sun rises from the east and sets in the west the new day sun rises in japan first hence it is so called and the new day sets last in canadea so it may be called the land of setting sun.

2006-08-07 21:43:23 · answer #3 · answered by sumant b 4 · 0 0

The reason that Japan is know as the "land of rising sun" is their religon. The Japanese believe that the sun shines first on Japan and then on the rest of the world. That is why they have a flag w/ a big red circle to show the red rising sun.

2006-08-07 12:23:37 · answer #4 · answered by EMMJAY 2 · 0 0

Actually, there is a famous anecdote about this very question. As the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, and consequently most Japanese live on the eastern side of Japan, they see the sun rise from the fertile womb of the sea, only to see it disappear into the western mountains. Only the 'backwards' (ura-nihon) Japanese ever saw it sink into the Japanese Sea. 1500 years ago, a Japanese representative from the Japanese Empire visited the Chinese Empire with the greetings "To the Kingdom of the Setting of the Sun, from the Kingdom of the Rising of the Sun...." Needless to say, the Chinese ruler at the time took grave offense at the notion that the Sun was somehow borne in Japan, yet died in China.

Nevertheless, every New Year's, millions of Japanese will climb to the highest point nearest their home and watch the first sunrise of the year. The symbolism, as well as the feeling of actually being bathed in the sun on a cold winter morning, brings strength to the soul.

2006-08-07 10:14:16 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

The characters that make up Japan's name literally mean "Sun's Origin", thus Japan is also known as "The Land of the Rising Sun" a name that comes from the country's eastward position relative to China.

2006-08-08 05:27:01 · answer #6 · answered by kae 2 · 0 0

This is the story as my Japanese husband told it to me.

Once upon a time, in about 607 AD, Japanese prince Umayado (now known politely as Shoutokutaishi - 聖徳太子) wrote to the Emperor of China. The Chinese emperor was a proud man, and considered his country to be the centre of the world. This prince must have been a bit sarcastic, because he wrote 'from the emperor of the country where the sun rises, to the emperor of the country where the sun sinks.'

The Chinese emperor was furious at being insulted like that! But the name stuck -
日本 = nippon or nihon = Japan
日 = hi / ni / nichi = sun / day (or sometimes fire - like the sun, which is a ball of fire!)
本 = hon = origin (also book, as in 'books are the origin of all knowledge')

Japan is NOT the first country to see the sun rise each morning, and the Japanese flag only has a red disc on it BECAUSE Japan is 'the land of the rising sun' - it's not the other way around...!

2006-08-07 11:41:49 · answer #7 · answered by _ 6 · 1 0

I always thought that Japan meant land of the rising sun

2006-08-08 11:04:24 · answer #8 · answered by ray 2 · 0 0

Japan lies to the east of the Eurasian continent, and beyond Japan lies the Pacific Ocean. So from the continental point of view, Japan is in the direction of the sunrise. This is why the Japanese began to call their country Nihon or Nippon, literally meaning "source of the sun" and often translated into English as "land of the rising sun."

2006-08-08 06:29:11 · answer #9 · answered by still breathing 6 · 0 0

Japan is on the Eastern Hemisphere. I think the Chinese named it that because when they looked to the East they saw the sun rising and saw an island nearby where the sun was rising therefore giving it the name "land of the rising sun."

2006-08-07 17:16:51 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

The sun rises in the East and sets in the West. Japan is in the Far East.

2006-08-09 01:06:59 · answer #11 · answered by liljomo1234 5 · 0 0

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