day; sun; date day; sun; date; day of the month; Japan (abbrev.) | origin | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| simp. andtrad. (日本) | 日 | 本 | |
| anagram | 本日 | ||
| Literally: “the sun's origin; where the sun originates”. | |||
From日(“sun”) +本(“origin, root”).
As a state name, the term likely grew from a 7th‑century self‑conception in state letters and gradually replaced倭 in external usage. The earliest known epigraphic use of日本 appears in 678, but in a highly literary sense. Documentary records show an oscillation between倭 and日本 in the late 670s. By 702–703, the self‑designation日本國 was stable (Korean sources adopted日本國 from 698). Chinese histories (theXin Tang Shu andJiu Tang Shu) place the renaming around 670; the claim that “Wu Zetian changed it” is best interpreted as Tang-dynasty recognition of the new name.
Early diplomatic topos (607):
Earliest epigraphic 日本 (often rhetorical; sometimes read as “Baekje”) (678):
Reports of renaming (670):
Earliest possible documentary 日本 (if authentic), preserved via quotation (664):
Transition/oscillation in documents (671/672):
Stabilized self‑designation (702~703):
| Rime | ||
|---|---|---|
| Character | 日 | 本 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 日 (38) | 幫 (1) |
| Final (韻) | 質 (48) | 魂 (55) |
| Tone (調) | Checked (Ø) | Rising (X) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Closed |
| Division (等) | III | I |
| Fanqie | 人質切 | 布忖切 |
| Baxter | nyit | pwonX |
| Reconstructions | ||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /ȵiɪt̚/ | /puənX/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /ȵit̚/ | /puonX/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /ȵʑjet̚/ | /puənX/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /ȵit̚/ | /pwənX/ |
| Li Rong | /ȵiĕt̚/ | /puənX/ |
| Wang Li | /ȵʑĭĕt̚/ | /puənX/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /ȵʑi̯ĕt̚/ | /puənX/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | rì | běn |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | jat6 | bun2 |
 | This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with theIPA then please add some! Particularly: “Northern Min” |
日本
Others:
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 日 | 本 |
| に Grade: 1 | ほん Grade: 1 |
| nanori | goon |
/nitɨpoɴ/ →/nip̚poɴ/ →/niɸoɴ/ →/nihoɴ/
Coined in Japan ofSinic elements, as compound of日(nichi,“sun”) +本(hon,“origin”) and literally meaning "origin of the sun". Thehon element was apparently pronounced/poɴ/ when first coined. Over time, the initial/p/lenited, becoming/ɸ/ as shown in theNifon entry in the 1603Nippo Jisho ("Japanese-Portuguese Dictionary").[1] This then became the/h/ sound in modern Japanese.[2][3]
In older texts, this was read askun'yomi as日の本(Hinomoto). Theon'yomi readingsNippon andNihon became more common in theHeian period, with both persisting into modern use.[3] TheNihon reading appears to be the most common in everyday Japanese usage.[4]
Thisappellation comes fromPrince Shōtoku's famous letter fromPrince Shōtoku toEmperor Yang of Sui sent via theJapanese mission to Sui China in 607, wherein we see the first mention of Japan as theLand of the Rising Sun, and a description of China asLand of the Setting Sun:
日出處 (literally “sun +emerge +place”) here refers to Japan, while日沒處 (literally “sun +sink + place”) refers toChina. "Sun emerge place" both refers to theeastwardposition of Japan relative to China, and metaphorically places the Yamato Kingship during Empress Suiko's reign on a similar footing as to the Sui dynasty under Emperor Yang's rule.
The earliest date for the specific spelling日本(literally“sun source”) instead of the periphrastic日出處 (literally “sun emerge place”) may be 664, as mentioned in a fragment of the 733 text海外国記(Kaigai Kokki,“Record of Overseas Countries”), describing a letter given in 664 to a Tang emissary arriving inDazaifu.[5] However, it remains an open question whether this instance of日本 might have been a change in name that happened between the actual event in 664 and the recording of that event in 733.[5] More certainly, the Japanese sourceShoku Nihongi relates that a 702 or 703 mission from Japan to the Tang court requested that the Chinese change the official name from倭(Wa) to日本(Nippon), and this appears to be corroborated by accounts in the Chinese sourceOld Book of Tang.[5][6]
Despite the spelling, the term may have been read out as the older nameYamato for some time afterwards, as suggested by kana glosses in sources such as theMan'yōshū poetry anthology of 759.[2][7]
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 日 | 本 |
| にち > にっ Grade: 1 | ほん > ぽん Grade: 1 |
| goon | |
/nitɨpoɴ/ →/nip̚poɴ/
Phonetic variant ofNihon above, maintaining the/p/ sound.
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 日 | 本 |
| じつ > じっ Grade: 1 | ほん > ぽん Grade: 1 |
| kan'on | |
*/zitʉpon/ →/zip̚pon/ →/ʑip̚pon/
Uses thekan'on readingjitsu for日, as compared to thegoon readingnichi. First appears in texts from the early 1600s,[10] notably the 1603 Japanese-Portuguese dictionaryNippo Jisho. Probably influenced by European-language terminology for the country,[10][3] such asPortugueseJapão orDutchJapan, in turn arising fromHokkien日本(Ji̍t-pún) viaMalayJepun, or fromTeochew日本(rig8 bung2) viaIndonesianMalayJepang.
| Hanja in this term | |
|---|---|
| 日 | 本 |
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 日 | 本 |
| Grade: 1 | Grade: 1 |
| irregular | |
日本 (Yamatu)
The kanji spelling is influenced by日の本(pi1 no2 mo(2)to2).
日本 (Yamato2) (kanaやまと)
| chữ Hán Nôm in this term | |
|---|---|
| 日 | 本 |
日本
