No single person named Japan; the English name evolved from traders hearing Chinese pronunciations of the characters for "sun's origin" (日本), which sounded like Cipangu (Marco Polo) or Jepang (Malay/Portuguese), eventually becoming "Japan" in European languages by the 16th century. The Japanese themselves call their country Nihon or Nippon, meaning "origin of the sun".
As mentioned above, the English word Japan has a circuitous derivation; but linguists believe it derives in part from the Portuguese recording of the Early Mandarin Chinese or Wu Chinese word for Japan: Cipan (日本), which is rendered in pinyin as Rìběn (IPA: ʐʅ˥˩pən˨˩˦), and literally translates to "sun origin".
A Japanese representative on a trip to China disliked the name and decided to change it. Another theory claims the Japanese emperor himself made the change. Whatever the reason, Japan was “Nippon” (日本) in China by 700 CE.
Kofun Period / Yamato Period(3rd century - 7th century)
The word "Yamato" came to mean "Japan" itself. The Japanese spirit is called the "Yamato Soul" even now, and people in Okinawa still call the people of Japan's mainland (Hokkaido - Kyushu) "Yamatonchu". This era saw the creation of a prototypical Japan.
Japanese people say "草" (kusa, meaning grass) as slang for "LOL" or "hahaha" because a string of repeated "w"s (wwww) used to express laughter looks like blades of grass, evolving from the kanji 笑 (wara) for laugh, shortened to 'w'. It signifies amusement, similar to typing "lol" in English, but context matters, and it's generally used in informal online settings.
Gaijin (外人; [ɡai(d)ʑiɴ]; 'outsider, alien') is a Japanese word for foreigners and non-Japanese citizens in Japan, specifically being applied to foreigners of non-Japanese ethnicity and those from the Japanese diaspora who are not Japanese citizens.
However, even in those early days, there is evidence that Japan had other names in other countries such as Wakoku (a name for identifying Japan at the time) by the Chinese. The origin of the “wa” in Wakoku is hotly debated. The most likely theory is that the Japanese words waga (oneself) and ware (ourself) formed it.
On average, the Okinawans were found to share 80.8% (±11.2 SD) admixture with Japanese and 19.2% (±11.2 SD) admixture with Chinese suggesting that the Okinawans and the Japanese share substantial common ancestry.
The Imperial House of Japan, also known as the Yamato Dynasty, is the world's oldest continuous hereditary monarchy, with roots tracing back to 660 BCE and a lineage of 126 monarchs.
“People on the Island of Zipangu (Japan) have tremendous quantities of gold. The King's palace is roofed with pure gold, and his floors are paved in gold two fingers thick.” So wrote the Venetian merchant Marco Polo (1254-1324).
Since the law required the country of origin to be an English word, the use of "Nippon" was forbidden from 1921 on. The period between the passage of the McKinley Act in 1890 and the English word ruling in 1921 is the only time "Nippon" appeared in authentic marks.
In 1990s, parents most frequently named their children Shota (to fly, abundance), Takuya (development), Kenta (Ken – health, ta – abundance), Tsubasa (wing). Currently, the most popular names are: Yuma (durability, truth), Ren (lotos), Hiroto (to have high aspirations) and Shota and Sho (to fly).
The English name "China" was borrowed from Portuguese during the 16th century, and its direct cognates became common in the subsequent centuries in the West. It is believed to be a borrowing from Middle Persian, and some have traced it further back to the Sanskrit word चीन (cīna) for the nation.
The Ainu are considered the indigenous people of Japan, with deep roots tracing back to the Jōmon period (circa 14,000 to 300 BCE), when Japan was inhabited by hunter-gatherer communities. Traditionally, the Ainu lived in areas such as Hokkaido, southern Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands.
The Meiji Restoration In 1868 the country began to transform. Edo began to be the capital of the unified Meiji empire. The emperor installed himself in the Edo fort, converting it into the Japanese Imperial Palace, and changed the name of Edo to Tokyo, meaning "Eastern Capital".
Asian – A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
So, even though Japanese borrows a lot from Chinese characters, any similarity ends there. Korean is more similar to Japanese in that it also uses particles, and sometimes a Japanese sentence can be translated word for word in Korean.
For example, Okinawans repeat a 2,500-year-old mantra "Hara hachi bu” before meals, which reminds them to eat mindfully and stop eating when their stomachs are 80% full. That's called the 80% Rule, which can help reduce calories, prevent weight gain, and avoid chronic diseases.
al-Sin (الصين) which is where you get references to China as as sine or variations of that in Europe. It still exists in English through words like Sinologist. This word likely derives from the word 秦 or Qin which interestingly in the Tang Dynasty was used to refer to foreigners from West Asia.
Seeking raw materials to fuel its growing industries, Japan invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. By 1937 Japan controlled large sections of China, and war crimes against the Chinese became commonplace.
The "Japan 5-minute rule" refers to extreme punctuality, meaning you should arrive 5-10 minutes before a scheduled time, as being exactly on time is considered late, demonstrating respect and reliability, a concept sometimes called "5-minute prior action" (５分前行動). It highlights Japanese culture's emphasis on preparedness, where trains are so precise that delays over 5 minutes get official notes, making being early a crucial part of business and social etiquette.
In Japanese, the most common term for "femboy" is 男の娘 (otokonoko), a playful pun meaning "male daughter," contrasting with 男の子 (otokonoko), meaning "boy". Other terms include 女装男子 (josou danshi) for cross-dressing boys, while the concept itself is linked to bishōnen (beautiful young men) and pop culture like anime/manga.
Welcome to Japan
The U.S. Embassy and consulates in Japan are pleased to welcome U.S. citizen visitors to Japan!