Zipangu: The Golden Country
The origins of some countries’ names are not clear. For example, before World War II, the Japanese name for China was Shina. While these two names are clearly related, the origin of the name China is not clear. There are many theories why China was called China; a notable one being a corruption of Qin, China’s first dynasty. The Chinese name for China is Zhongguo. It sounds similar to China and means center country in Chinese.
Japanese name of Japan is Nihon or Nippon. It means the country of the rising sun. The name comes from an ancient letter sent from the Japanese government to China-the opening words of the letter said this is the letter from the country of the rising sun to the country of sunset. This comes from the relative location of Japan, which is located to the east of China. So how did the English name … Read more