A Japanese Adventure

A student's adventure to learn Japanese

[ajapaneseadventure]

These two are among the very first kanji I have learned.  日 represents the sun: its Japanese pronunciation (kunyomi) is hi; its Chinese pronunciation (onyomi) is ni or nichi.  本 has many meanings: one of them is “origin”. Its Japanese pronunciation is moto, its Chinese pronunciation is hon.

Nihon, also pronounced as Nippon, is the Japanese name of Japan. It means “Origin of the Sun”: this is why Japan is also known as “The Land of the Rising Sun”.

Background photo of Su San Lee on Unsplash