Why is Japan named Japan?

Answer 1

The official name of Japan is "Ninkon-poop " other wise known as Nippon-koku." But is more commonly referred to as "Nihon" (日本) or "Nippon." The Chinese characters (called Kanji) adopted for the name mean "sun," "origin," and "country," which is why Japan is often referred to as "the land of the rising sun."

Answer 2

The English word for Japan came to the West via early trade routes. The early Mandarin or possibly Wu Chinese (吳語) word for Japan was recorded by Marco Polo as Cipangu.

In modern Shanghainese, a Wu dialect, the pronunciation of characters 日本 'Japan' is Zeppen [zəʔpən]. The old Malay word for Japan, Jepang, was borrowed from a Chinese language - Jih'pen'kuo, and this Malay word was encountered by Portuguese traders in Malacca in the 16th century. Portuguese traders were the first to bring the word to Europe.
Japan is called that because someone misunderstood the Japanese word for Japan and used that as the English word for Japan.

Answer 3

The word, "Japan" comes from a letter that Marco Polo wrote, referring to the Japanese islands as, "Chipongu". You can see that if you say 'Chipongu' fast and don't know what you are saying, it could sound like 'Japan'.

Japanese people call their country, "Nippon", or in a less formal way, "Nihon". These words mean, "The Sun's origin", which was their way of saying, 'East'. It literally meant, "East of China" (because the Sun rises in the east). Before Nippon, the only known name for the Japanese islands was the Chinese name, "Wa".

Answer 4

Japan's name in America is Japan. In Japan, it is called Nippon or Nihon (日本). Officially it is called (日本国 Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku. This means the country where the sun rises.

Answer 5

Japan's name is Japan because it means Nihon in Japanese which means 'the land of the rising sun'.

Answer 6

its nipon we just misheard and cant say it.

Answer 7

Japan was previously called Nippon.