This Is How Japan Got Its Name

However as a Japanese nationwide identification solidified, the nation’s leaders turned dissatisfied with their Chinese language-derived exonym, and created a brand new identify for themselves: Nippon.

Throughout Prince Shōtoku’s reign within the seventh and eighth centuries, he initiated a extra even-handed diplomatic relationship with China (through Britannica). Whereas beforehand Japan had acted as a tributary state to China, Shōtoku referred to China because the land “the place the solar units,” whereas Japan was the land “the place the solar rises.” By the point Marco Polo visited China within the thirteenth century, the nation was formally known as “Nippon” — which accurately means “the solar’s origin” (per Japan Baggage).

In components of China, Nippon was pronounced “Cipan,” and Polo wrote it in his diaries as “Cipangu,” based on Tradition Journey. Over time, because the identify traveled by way of numerous European languages, this reworked into the English “Japan.” It’s nonetheless recognized the world over because the Land of the Rising Solar.