Japanese call their country "Nihon" or "Nippon".
nippon
The Japanese refer to their own country as "Nihon" or "Nippon" in their language.
The Japanese word for their own country - is Nippon.
The Japanese name for Japan is Nihon, and officially Nippon (nippon-koku, state of Japan).
日本  nihon or nippon
日本 pronounced: Nippon (official) or Nihon (casual)
Japanese call japan Nippon of Nihonn
Japanese people call their country "Nihon" or "Nippon" (the first is more common). It symbolises the rising sun. It is spelled with the characters for 'day' and 'book'
The Japanese call Japan: Nippon. And in English Nippon is: Japan. But Nippon is the original word for Japan.
If you are referring to "state", as in states (California, Washington, etc...) then the closest they have are prefectures. In Japanese they are called 県, or "ken". For example, Iwate prefecture is known as "Iwate-ken".
Nippon or Nihon