The Real Reason Japan is Called the 'Land of the Rising Sun'?

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Ancient, China developed all of the hallmarks of advanced civilization, including written language, advanced cities, specialized labor and bronze technology, as much as 2000 years before Japan. As a result, China, and its culture, had an enormously large influence on the younger culture, sharing its philosophies, political structures, architecture, Buddhism, clothing styles and even its written language. In fact, the earliest known written account of Japan was found in a Chinese book.

Sources:

[Yotanido]

And now for some bonus facts:
"wa" is actually still used to this day to refer to Japan, but only in compound words. (In Japanese - don't know anything about Chinese)
For example, the word 和服 (wafuku) refers to Japanese traditional clothing with 和 being "wa" and referring to Japan and 服 being "fuku" and referring to clothing in general.
Another example could be 和室 (washitsu) referring to a Japanese-style room or 和食 (washoku) referring to Japanese food. 室 (shitu) and 食 (shoku/tabe) meaning room and food respectively.

The Japanese word for Japan, 日本 actually has no official pronunciation, only an official spelling. The first character, 日 is usually pronounced "hi", but in compound words is usually read "nichi". (It's actually part of the phrase "konnichiwa", too. [Romanised in a way to make it more recognisable, I personally prefer "konnichiha"])
The second character, 本 is usually read "hon", but is sometimes read as "bon" or "pon". In martial arts you might sometimes hear 一本 (ippon) to mean "1 point". Three points would be 三本 (sanbon).
The first character means day or sun, the second means book or origin. (So the literal meaning would be "The sun's origin")
With this, you might be able to see how both nippon and nihon are possible pronunciations. Overseas, it seems "nippon" is more popular, but in Japan, they usually refer to the country as "nihon".

[SupremeBakedBean]

In short:

Japan is East of China, who was "first" to record Japan's existance.

[glenngriffon]

History of Japan - long version.


this is basically the history behind
China: Hey dipshits
Japan: Could you maybe call us something else?
China: Like what?
Japan: How about sunrise land?


EDIT: Thanks so much TIFO for the ❤️

[jaguarnero]

Just in case anyone was wondering, the pronunciation for Nippon is, because Japanese is a phonetical language:
Ni•pPon:
Ni sounds like Knee
pPon is pronounced with the “O” sound, like Edgar Allan P”O”e.

Lastly the extra little “p” in “pPon” is there because there is a slight emphasis of a break in the pronunciation of the word. Similar to a slight glottal stop.
Which you can sort of understand if you can imagine pronouncing the word “apple” as “ap-pull”

[stevesayewich]

I work with Japanese woodblock prints, writing Tankas for many prints I enjoy. I frequently come across Chinese writing on the prints. Thanks for the important linkage of the two countries and cultures.

[yorao]

"It's because they're to the east of China that they're called Nippon - Land of the Rising Sun". Good enough reason!

[rockie]

Just to clarify, the English Term 'Japan' came from a Portuguese transliteration of 'Nippon' (I think spelled as Japon?) which itself came from the Chinese characters 日本 and the pronunciation of such characters was more or less Japan-ized a bit, according to Japanese language conventions back then. Hope it hold a PhD in Chinese and Japanese.

[VIRGO]

My Beard:

Simon’s Beard: I grow in ombré! Such bush!

My beard: *cries in rogaine*

[toyjesus]

Could you do one on why the scoring system in Tennis is so bizarre?

[TenkaDXS]

The « wa和” used to designate Japan is the character for harmony since the society in Japan being an insular and almost self sufficient depends or harmony to function.

[Evilgood]

To anyone asking, the Land of the Setting sun is a title that has been applied to Morocco and Spain.

[TheTNc]

When was icecream invented?
What were the first flavors?
When did Vanilla become the standard icecream flavor?

[stevesilvasi]

Keep up the great work broski. Love all ur channels.

[SammyyJaynee]

Great video as per usual! Could you do one about why Thailand is the land of smiles and why they changed their name from Siam?

[TheRedKnightOfPain]

A simple guide to pronouncing Japanese Vowel Sounds:


A= "Ah" like in "All"
I= "Ee" like in "Keep"
U= "Oo" like in "Cooper"
E= "eh" like "Edit"
O= "Oh" like in "Ok"

those are the only vowel sounds in Japanese without exception

[gubjorggisladottir]

Why in Nippon called Japan in most of Europe?

[ivanzalac]

Once I flew on a plane to Singapore, in the direction east and I witnessed the most amazing sun rise ever, it was spectacular..

[LatenightLyle]

Nice thumbnail pic of Miyajima Island. One of the most wondrous and beautiful places in the entire world. I’ve stood in the same place that picture was taken.

[KundelX]

Nippon (or Nihon) is spelled 日本; 日 = Sun, day and 本 = origin, book in case you were wondering

[Mr_Maiq_The_Liar]

“Can you call us something other than dipshit?”
“Like what?”
“How about sunrise land”