Japan

See also: japan, japán, and Japán

English

A satellite image showing Japan

Alternative forms

• Giapan (obsolete)
• Japonia (obsolete)
• Japon (obsolete)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Hokkien 日本／Ji̍t-púnbor.

Malay Jepangbor.

Portuguese Japãobor.

Malay Jepangbor.

Dutch Japanbor.

English Japan

First attested in English as Giapan in Richard Willes's 1577 The History of Travayle in the West and East Indies (cited in Peter C. Mancall's Travel Narratives from the Age of Discovery, pp. 156–57), translating a 19 February 1565 letter of the Portuguese Jesuit missionary Luís Fróis as "Of the Ilande of Giapan".

Borrowed from Portuguese Japão / Japam with possible influence from Dutch Japan, both from Malay Jepang / Jepun, from Hokkien 日本 (Ji̍t-pún), from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puən^X, “sun origin”). With /j/ readings, such as Iaponia / Japonia or Japon / Iapon from possibly Cantonese 日本 (jat⁶ bun²), also from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puən^X, “sun origin”).

Compare also modern Mandarin 日本 (Rìběn), Japanese 日本(にっぽ​ん) (Nippo​n) / 日本(にほ​ん) (Niho​n), Korean 일본 (Ilbon) (日本), Vietnamese Nhật Bản (日本).

The earliest form of Japan in Europe was Marco Polo's Cipangu, from some form of synonymous Sinitic 日本國／日本国 (“Japan state”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒəˈpæn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æn

Proper noun

Japan

2. A country and archipelago in East Asia

   Synonyms: Jap., Jpn., Land of the Rising Sun, Japonia, Nihon, Nippon, Yamato, State of Japan

   • 1889 Jan., Oscar Wilde, The Decay of Lying: An Observation", The Nineteenth Century:

     Vivian: If you set a picture by Hokusai, or Hokkei, or any of the great native painters, beside a real Japanese gentleman or lady, you will see that there is not the slightest resemblance between them. The actual people who live in Japan are not unlike the general run of English people; that is to say, they are extremely commonplace, and have nothing curious or extraordinary about them. In fact the whole of Japan is a pure invention. There is no such country, there are no such people... if you desire to see a Japanese effect, you will not behave like a tourist and go to Tokio. On the contrary, you will stay at home and steep yourself in the work of certain Japanese artists, and then, when you have absorbed the spirit of their style, and caught their imaginative manner of vision, you will go some afternoon and sit in the Park or stroll down Piccadilly, and if you cannot see an absolutely Japanese effect there, you will not see it anywhere.

   • 1985 February, Steve Jobs, interview with David Sheff, Playboy:

     Japan’s very interesting. Some people think it copies things. I don’t think that anymore. I think what they do is reinvent things. They will get something that’s already been invented and study it until they thoroughly understand it. In some cases, they understand it better than the original inventor... That strategy works only when what they’re working with isn’t changing very much—the stereo industry and the automobile industry are two examples. When the target is moving quickly, they find it very difficult...

   • 2008 November 21, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 3, Episode 1:

     Nolan: You do know Japan have expressed concern?
     Douglas: What, the whole country?
     Nolan: No, not the whole... Mr Yamamoto.
     Douglas: He's important, isn't he?
     Nolan: He's the major shareholder.

Derived terms

• Empire of Japan
• japan
• Japan allspice (Chimonanthus praecox)
• Japan black
• Japan camphor
• Japan cedar
• Japan clover
• Japan earth
• Japanese
• Japan ink
• Japanize
• Japan lacquer
• Japanology
• Japanophile
• Japanophilia
• Japan rose
• Japan tree lilac
• Japan varnish
• japanware
• Jap (derogatory)
• Sea of Japan

 

Descendants

• > Tok Pisin: Siapan (inherited)
• → Bengali: জাপান (japan)
• → Burmese: ဂျပန် (gya.pan)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: जापान (jāpān)

  • → Dhivehi: ޖާފާނު (jāfānu)

  Urdu: جاپان (jāpān)

• → Irish: Seapáin
• → Marathi: जपान (japān)
• → Marshallese: Jepaan
• → Persian:

  Dari: جَاپَان (jāpān)

• ⇒ Samoan: Iapani
• → Tamil: ஜப்பான் (jappāṉ)
• → Telugu: జపాను (japānu)
• → Welsh: Japan
• → Welsh: Siapan
• → Yoruba: Jèpáànì

Translations

a country in East Asia

Abkhaz: Иапониа (Japʼonja) Acehnese: Jeupun Adyghe: Японие (Japonije) Afrikaans: Japan (af) Ainu: シサㇺ (Sisam) Akan: Yapan, Gyapan Albanian: Japoni f (indefinite, Tosk), Japonia (sq) f (definite, Tosk), Japan m (Gheg) Amharic: ጃፓን (am) (ǧapan) Amis: Ripon Arabic: الْيَابَان (ar) f (al-yābān) Aragonese: Chapón m Armenian: Ճապոնիա (Čaponia) Assamese: জাপান (zapan) Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܝܲܦܵܢ f (yāpan) Asturian: Xapón (ast) m Aymara: Nihun Azerbaijani: Abjad: ياپونيا (yāpōniâ), ژاپون (jāpon) Roman: Yaponiya (az) Banjarese: Japang Bashkir: Япония (Yaponiya) Basque: Japonia (eu) Bavarian: Japan Belarusian: Япо́нія f (Japónija) Bengali: জাপান (bn) (japan) Bishnupriya Manipuri: জাপান (jāpān) Breton: Japan (br) Buginese: ᨍᨛᨄ Bulgarian: Япо́ния (bg) f (Japónija) Burmese: ဂျပန် (gya.pan) Buryat: Жибэн (Žiben) Carpathian Rusyn: Япо́нія f (Japónija) Catalan: Japó (ca) m Cebuano: Hapon Chamorro: Japan Chavacano: Japón Chechen: Япон (Japon) Cherokee: ᏣᏆᏂ (tsaquani) Cheyenne: Japan Chinese: Cantonese: 日本 (yue) (jat6 bun2) Dungan: Жыбын (Řɨbɨn) Eastern Min: 日本 (Nĭk-buōng) Hakka: 日本 (Ngit-pún) Hokkien: 日本 (zh-min-nan) (Ji̍t-pún, Li̍t-pún) Jin: 日本 (reh4 beng2) Literary Chinese: 日本 (Rìběn) Mandarin: 日本 (zh) (Rìběn) Wu: 日本 (8zeq-pen) Chuvash: Япони (Jap̬oni) Coptic: ⲓⲏⲗⲓⲟⲡⲟⲛ (iēliopon) Cornish: Nihon Corsican: Ghjappone m, Giappone m Crimean Tatar: Yaponiya Czech: Japonsko (cs) n Danish: Japan (da) n Dhivehi: ޖާފާނު (jāfānu) Dutch: Japan (nl) n Dutch Low Saxon: Japan Dzongkha: ཇཱ་པཱན (jā pān) Esperanto: Japanio (eo), Japanujo (eo) Estonian: Jaapan (et) Farefare: Yapan Faroese: Japan n Finnish: Japani (fi) Franco-Provençal: J·apon French: le Japon (fr) m Galician: Xapón (gl) m Georgian: იაპონია (ka) (iaṗonia) German: Japan (de) n Greek: Ιαπωνία (el) f (Iaponía) Guaraní: Hapõ Gujarati: જાપાન m (jāpān) Haitian Creole: Japon Hausa: Japan Hawaiian: Iāpana Hebrew: יַפָּן (he) f (yapán) Hindi: जापान (hi) m (jāpān) Hungarian: Japán (hu) Hunsrik: Schapong n Icelandic: Japan (is) n Ido: Japonia (io) Ilocano: Japon Indonesian: Jepang (id) Ingrian: Japoni Interlingua: Japon Inuktitut: ᓃᑉᐊᓐ (niipan), Niipan Irish: an tSeapáin f Italian: Giappone (it) m Japanese: 日本 (ja) (にほん, Nihon; にっぽん, Nippon), (poetic) 大和 (ja) (やまと, Yamato), 日の本 (ja) (ひのもと, Hinomoto), 倭 (ja) (わ, Wa; やまと, Yamato) Javanese: Jepang (jv) Jeju: 일본 (ilbon), 웨국 (weguk) (dated, derogatory) Kalmyk: Японь (Yaponʹ) Kannada: ಜಪಾನ್ (kn) (japān) Kapampangan: apon Kashmiri: जापान (jāpān) Kashubian: Japóńskô Kazakh: Жапония (kk) (Japoniä) Khmer: ជប៉ុន (km) (cĕəʼpon) Korean: 일본(日本) (ko) (Ilbon) Kunigami: 大和 (Yamatū) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: ژاپۆن (ckb) (japon) Northern Kurdish: Japon (ku) Kyrgyz: Жапония (ky) (Japoniya) Lao: ຍີ່ປຸ່ນ (lo) (nyī pun) Latgalian: Japoneja f Latin: Iaponia (la) f, Japonia (la) f Latvian: Japāna (lv) f Ligurian: Giappon m Limburgish: Japan (li) Lingala: Zapɔ́ Lithuanian: Japonija (lt) f Lombard: Gjapon m (Giapon m) Low German: Japan Lower Sorbian: Japońska Lü: ᦍᦲᧈᦔᦳᧃᧈ (yii¹ṗun¹) Luxembourgish: Japan (lb) Macedonian: Јапонија (mk) f (Japonija) Malagasy: Japana (mg) Malay: Jepun (ms), Jepang (ms) Malayalam: ജപ്പാന് (jappāṉ) Maltese: Ġappun Manchu: ᡰᡳ ᠪᡝᠨ (ži ben), ᡰᡳᠪᡝᠨ (žiben) Manx: Yn Çhapaan f Maori: Tiapana (mi) Maranao: Diyapan Marathi: जपान (japān) Marshallese: Japan Miyako: 大和 (Yamatu) Mokilese: Japahn Mongolian: Cyrillic: Япон (mn) (Japon) Mongolian: ᠶᠠᠫᠤᠨ (yapun) Nahuatl: Xapōn Nauruan: Djapan Navajo: Binááʼádaałtsʼózí dineʼé bikéyah Neapolitan: Giappone Nepali: जापान (jāpān) Newar: जापान (jāpāna) Norman: Japon m North Frisian: Jaapaan Northern Sami: Japána Norwegian: Bokmål: Japan (no) n Nynorsk: Japan (nn) n Occitan: Japon (oc) m Odia: ଜାପାନ୍ (or) (jāpān) Okinawan: 大和 (Yamatu), 大大和 (Ufuyamatu) Ossetian: Япон (Japon) Ottoman Turkish: ژاپنیا (Japonya) Palauan: Siabal Pashto: جاپان (ps) m (jāpān) Persian: Dari: جَاپَان (jāpān) Iranian Persian: ژاپُن (fa) (žâpon) Piedmontese: Giapon m Plautdietsch: Jaupaun n Polish: Japonia (pl) f Portuguese: Japão (pt) m Punjabi: Gurmukhi: ਜਪਾਨ m (japān) Shahmukhi: جاپان m (jāpān) Quechua: Nihun Rade: Za pô nê Rarotongan: Tiapāni Romani: i Źapònia f Romanian: Japonia (ro) f Romansch: Giapun m Russian: Япо́ния (ru) f (Japónija) Samoan: Iapani (sm) Samogitian: Japuonėjė Sanskrit: जापान (jāpāna) Santali: ᱡᱟᱯᱟᱱ (japan) Sardinian: Giapone m, Giappone m, Giaponi m, Giapponi m Scots: Japan Scottish Gaelic: Iapan Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: Ја̀па̄н m Roman: Jàpān (sh) m Sicilian: Giappuni (scn) m Silesian: Japůńja Sindhi: جاپان Sinhalese: ජපානය (si) (japānaya) Slovak: Japonsko (sk) n Slovene: Japónska (sl) f Somali: Jabaan Southern Altai: Јопон (J̌opon) Spanish: Japón (es) m, Cipango, Zipango Sundanese: Jepang (su) Swahili: Japani (sw) Swazi: IJaphani, Japan Swedish: Japan (sv) n Sylheti: ꠎꠣꠙꠣꠘ (zafan) Tagalog: Hapon (tl) Tahitian: Tāpōnē Tajik: Ҷопон (tg) (Jopon), Жопон (Žopon) Tamil: ஜப்பான் (ta) (jappāṉ) Tangsa: Cyexpanx Tatar: Япония (Yaponiyä), Жапон (Japon) Tboli: Afun Telugu: జపాన్ (te) (japān) Thai: ญี่ปุ่น (th) (yîi-bpùn) Tibetan: རི་པིན (ri pin), ཉི་ཧོང (nyi hong) Tok Pisin: Siapan Turkish: Japonya (tr) Turkmen: Ýaponiýa Udmurt: Япония (JApońija) Ukrainian: Япо́нія (uk) f (Japónija) Upper Sorbian: Japanska Urdu: جاپان m (jāpān) Uyghur: ياپونىيە (ug) (yaponiye) Uzbek: Yaponiya (uz) Venetan: Giapòn m Vietnamese: Nhật Bản (vi) (日本 (vi)) Volapük: Yapän (vo) Waray-Waray: Hapon Welsh: Japan (cy) West Frisian: Japan (fy) Wolof: Sapoŋ Written Oirat: ᡕᠠᡌᡆᠨ (yapon) Wutunhua: reben Yaeyama: 大和 (Yamatu) Yakut: Япония (YAponiya), Дьоппуон сирэ (Joppuon sire) Yiddish: יאַפּאַן n (yapan) Yonaguni: 大和 (Damatu) Yoruba: Jèpáànì Zazaki: Japonya (diq) (Southern Zazaki) Zhuang: Yizbwnj, (please verify) Nditbonj Zulu: IJapani

See also

• 🗾
• Appendix:Countries of the world
• (countries of Asia) country of Asia; Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, East Timor, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen
• (prefectures of Japan) Japan; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gunma, Hiroshima, Hokkaidō, Hyōgo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kōchi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Ōita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi

Further reading

• Japan on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Japan on Wikiquote.Wikiquote
• Japan on Wikivoyage.Wikivoyage
• Category:Japan on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Afrikaans

Afrikaans Wikipedia has an article on:

Japan

Wikipedia ^af

Etymology

Inherited from Dutch Japan, from Malay Jepang, from Hokkien 日本 (Ji̍t-pún), from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puən^X, literally “sun origin”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Japan

1. Japan (a country in East Asia; capital: Tokio)

Derived terms

• Japannees
• Japanner
• Japans

Danish

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:

Japan

Wikipedia ^da

Etymology

From Dutch Japan, from Malay Jepang, from Hokkien 日本 (Ji̍t-pún), from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puən^X, literally “sun origin”).

Proper noun

Japan

1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Related terms

• japaner
• japansk

Descendants

• → Faroese: Japan
• → Icelandic: Japan

Dutch

Etymology

From Malay Jepang / Jepun, from Hokkien 日本 (Ji̍t-pún), from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puən^X, literally “sun origin”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jaːˈpɑn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Ja‧pan
• Rhymes: -ɑn

Proper noun

Japan n

1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Derived terms

• Japanner
• Japans

Descendants

Descendants of Japan

• > Afrikaans: Japan (inherited)
• → Arabic: اليابان (al-yābān)
• → Danish: Japan
  • → Faroese: Japan
  • → Icelandic: Japan
• ⇒ English: Japan, Giapan (obsolete), Japonia (obsolete), Japon (obsolete)
  • > Tok Pisin: Siapan (inherited)
  • → Bengali: জাপান (japan)
  • → Burmese: ဂျပန် (gya.pan)
  • → Hindustani:

    Hindi: जापान (jāpān)

    • → Dhivehi: ޖާފާނު (jāfānu)

    Urdu: جاپان (jāpān)

  • → Irish: Seapáin
  • → Marathi: जपान (japān)
  • → Marshallese: Jepaan
  • → Persian:

    Dari: جَاپَان (jāpān)

  • ⇒ Samoan: Iapani
  • → Tamil: ஜப்பான் (jappāṉ)
  • → Telugu: జపాను (japānu)
  • → Welsh: Japan
  • → Welsh: Siapan
  • → Yoruba: Jèpáànì
• → German: Japan
  • → Ladin: Iapan
  • → Estonian: Jaapan
  • → Finnish: Japani
  • → Hungarian: Japán
  • → Latvian: Japāna
  • → Norwegian: Japan
  • → Serbo-Croatian:
    • Cyrillic script: Јапан
    • Latin script: Japan
  • → Yiddish: יאַפּאַן (yapan)
    • → Hebrew: יפן (yapan)
• → Swedish: Japan
• → West Frisian: Japan

Faroese

Faroese Wikipedia has an article on:

Japan

Wikipedia ^fo

Etymology

From Danish Japan, from Dutch Japan, from Malay Jepang, from Hokkien 日本 (Ji̍t-pún), from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puən^X, literally “sun origin”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjaːpan/

Proper noun

Japan

1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Related terms

• japani, japanari
• japanskur

German

Etymology

From Dutch Japan, from Malay Jepang, from Hokkien 日本 (Ji̍t-pún), from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puən^X, literally “sun origin”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjaːpan/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Japan n (proper noun, genitive Japans or (optionally with an article) Japan)

1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

   Synonym: Land der aufgehenden Sonne

Descendants

• → Ladin: Iapan
• → Estonian: Jaapan
• → Finnish: Japani
• → Hungarian: Japán
• → Latvian: Japāna
• → Norwegian: Japan
• → Serbo-Croatian:
  • Cyrillic script: Јапан
  • Latin script: Japan
• → Yiddish: יאַפּאַן (yapan)
  • → Hebrew: יפן (yapan)

See also

• Japaner
• Japanisch
• japanisch

Further reading

• “Japan” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Japan” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Japan” in Duden online
• Japan on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

Hausa

Etymology

From English Japan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /(d)ʒà.pân/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [d͡ʒə̀.pâŋ]

Proper noun

Jàpân f

1. Japan (a country in Asia)

Icelandic

Etymology

From Danish Japan, from Dutch Japan, from Malay Jepang, from Hokkien 日本 (Ji̍t-pún), from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puən^X, literally “sun origin”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjaːpʰan/

Proper noun

Japan n

1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

   Ég fer til Japans.

   I'm going to Japan.

   Hvar er Japan staðsett á kortinu?

   Where is Japan located on the map?

See also

• Japani
• japanska

Japanese

Romanization

Japan

1. Rōmaji transcription of ジャパン

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

Japan

Wikipedia ^no

Etymology

From German Japan, from Dutch Japan, from Malay Jepang, from Hokkien 日本 (Ji̍t-pún), from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puən^X, literally “sun origin”).

Proper noun

Japan

1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Related terms

• japaner
• japansk

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

Japan

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

Etymology

From German Japan, from Dutch Japan, from Malay Jepang, from Hokkien 日本 (Ji̍t-pún), from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puən^X, literally “sun origin”).

Proper noun

Japan

1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Related terms

• japanar
• japansk

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From German Japan, from Dutch Japan, from Malay Jepang, from Hokkien 日本 (Ji̍t-pún), from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puən^X, literally “sun origin”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jǎpaːn/
• Hyphenation: Ja‧pan

Proper noun

Jàpān m (Cyrillic spelling Ја̀па̄н)

1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Declension

	singular
nominative	Japan
genitive	Japana
dative	Japanu
accusative	Japan
vocative	Japane
locative	Japanu
instrumental	Japanom

Declension of Japan

Swahili

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Proper noun

Japan

1. Alternative form of Japani

Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:

Japan

Wikipedia ^sv

Etymology

From Dutch Japan, from Malay Jepang, from Hokkien 日本 (Ji̍t-pún), from Middle Chinese 日本 (ȵiɪt̚ puən^X, literally “sun origin”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /¹jɑːpan/

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Japan n (genitive Japans)

1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Related terms

• japan
• japansk
• japanska

References

• Japan in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• Svensk MeSH

Welsh

Welsh Wikipedia has an article on:

Japan

Wikipedia ^cy

Alternative forms

• Siapan

Etymology

Borrowed from English Japan.

Proper noun

Japan m (not mutable)

1. Japan (a country in East Asia)

Related terms

• Japanead (“Japanese person”)
• Japaneaidd (“Japanese”, adjective)

Coordinate terms

• (countries of Asia) gwledydd Asia; Affganistan, Armenia, Aserbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhwtan, Brwnei, Cambodia, Casachstan, Catar, Coweit, Cirgistan, Cyprus, De Corea, Dwyrain Timor, yr Emiradau Arabaidd Unedig, Fietnam, Georgia, Iemen, India, Indonesia, Irac, Iran, Israel, Japan, Gogledd Corea, Gwlad Tai, Gwlad yr Iorddonen, Laos, Libanus, Maleisia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pacistan, Palesteina, y Philipinau, Rwsia, Sawdi Arabia, Singapôr, Sri Lanca, Syria, Taiwan, Tajicistan, Tsieina, Twrci, Tyrkmenistan, Wsbecistan