NAMES OF JAPAN

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

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 Chinese Sui Dynasty 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". 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.

In English, the official title of the country is simply "Japan", one of the few nation-states 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". 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 Nippon koku or Nihon koku, literally "Country 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.

Source: Doi, Tadao (1980) [1603] (in Japanese). Hōyaku Nippo Jisho. Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 4-0008-0021-3.