日本

Meaning in English

Japan

Stroke order

Animated kanji stroke order

日

Sentence

Related sentences

N5 私は日本へ行ったことがあります。 Watashi wa nihon e itta koto ga arimasu. I have been to Japan. N5 私はまだ日本へ行ったことがありません。 Watashi wa mada nihon e itta koto ga arimasen. I have not been to Japan yet. N5 日本語はとても面白いです。 Nihongo wa totemo omoshiroi desu. Japanese is very interesting. N5 日本語は少し難しいです。 Nihongo wa sukoshi muzukashii desu. Japanese is a little difficult. N5 私は毎日少し日本語を勉強します。 Watashi wa mainichi sukoshi nihongo o benkyou shimasu. I study a little Japanese every day. N5 私は一番日本語が好きです。 Watashi wa ichiban nihongo ga suki desu. Japanese is what I like the most. N5 今日は三回日本語を勉強しました。 Kyou wa sankai nihongo o benkyou shimashita. Today I studied Japanese three times. N5 日本語が好きになりました。 Nihongo ga suki ni narimashita. I came to like Japanese. N5 日本語が上手になりました。 Nihongo ga jouzu ni narimashita. I became good at Japanese.

Dictionary

Word context

What it means

日本 (nihon) is the Japanese name for the country of Japan; it denotes the nation-state, its people and institutions and functions as the standard proper name used in speech, writing and official contexts.

Main meanings

1. Used as a productive prefix to indicate something is from or related to Japan, such as products, institutions or cultural items.
2. Appears in compound place names and geographic terms to identify regions or features associated with the country.
3. Serves as a national label on official emblems, sporting events and international identifiers.

How to use it

Appears across formal and informal contexts: in government and legal texts, media and everyday speech as the country's name; used on documents, labels and signage to indicate national origin; found in compound words to mark relation to Japan, and pronounced with variant readings depending on register and fixed expressions.

Variants and close terms

日本 (にっぽん, nippon) — Japan (formal/official reading)
日本国 (にほんこく, nihonkoku) — State of Japan (formal/legal)
和 (わ, wa) — classical/poetic name for Japan
国 (くに, kuni) — country (used as a general synonym in some contexts)

Composition

日 — "sun" or "day"; the first character denotes the sun or daylight.
本 — "origin", "root", or "base"; the second character indicates source or origin, so the compound conveys "origin of the sun."

Etymology

The written form was borrowed from Chinese readings; Middle Chinese rìběn was transferred into Japanese pronunciations that developed into early on'yomi forms reconstructed as *nippon/*nipun and later as 日本 (nihon) through regular sound changes and consonant assimilation in Japanese phonology, producing the coexisting readings nihon and nippon.

Origin

The name in this written form became established in diplomatic and official usage in the Asuka–Nara period (7th–8th centuries) and appears in early chronicles and records as the state’s self-designation, replacing older external names and solidifying during compilation of classical histories.

Word class

proper noun, noun (固有名詞・名詞)

Word

Related words by kanji and components

N2 〜(日本) 式～(nihon) shiki custom, N5 日本語 nihongo Japanese N5 日本へ nihon e to Japan N1 根本 kompon foundation, root, base N1 西日 nishibi westering sun N1 日夜 nichiya day and night, always N1 期日 kijitsu fixed date, settlement date N1 脚本 kyakuhon scenario N1 台本 daihon libretto, scenario

Kanji