Land of the Rising Sun?

No brainwaves yet, I see. Where is Slappy when you need him? Or any other fundamental theoriticians.

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Well, why not? Korea is the Land of Dawn if I remember it right, although there is dawn in every country.^^

In the original Japanese religion, Shinto / Shintoism, the Goddess of Sun has an important role. Her name is Amaterasu. The empirial family is, according to mythology, descent from this goddess (thus She gave Her holy legitimation of monarchy).

The Japanese flag shows the red japanese sun. The name NIHON or NIPPON actually means Origin of the Sun. "Rising sun" is just bad translated.^^ Here are the kanji, "sun"+"origin" (encoding Japanese): ??

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Ah, I see. Thank you, Hel, for that explanation.

The (poetic) German name for the East is Morgenland, or morning-land, and perhaps our English "bad translation" of Nippon is a allusion to that kind of image.

The rising sun is also a powerful symbol in British folklore, and its depiction is widespread. I suppost this will be common to many other cultures too.

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The current residents of Japan migrated from mainland Asia. I suspect the name precedes their arrival on the islands. Perhaps those indigenous to Japan (for the life of me I can't remember their name right now) call China "The Land of the Setting Sun?" or "The Grave of the Sun?" or some such. Probably not, but, er, whatever...

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That makes heaps of sense dog.

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Well, that's a change...

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Other reason than was previously posted is that Japanese are crazy about their national identity. Patriotism, sometimes in its extreme form, inspires Japanese of various ways of honoring their country. To claim it the orgin of the sunrise is just a vivid example of its patriotism.

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I don't remember the little bit of Japanese mythology I've read too well, but I'm pretty sure the sun goddess Amaterasu's descendent Jimmu (via her grandson Ninigi) was claimed to be the first human emperor of Japan. 'Twas him who started the line of imperial descent some time around 600 B.C.

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Hel wrote:

NIPPON actually means Origin of the Sun. "Rising sun" is just bad translated

Yes, the kanjis for Nihon mean sun-origin, but Japanese do refer to Japan as the country/land of the rising sun (hi iduru kuni / hi iduru tokoro).

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patiodog wrote:

The current residents of Japan migrated from mainland Asia. I suspect the name precedes their arrival on the islands. Perhaps those indigenous to Japan (for the life of me I can't remember their name right now) call China "The Land of the Setting Sun?" or "The Grave of the Sun?" or some such. Probably not, but, er, whatever...

You're right on, actually.

Here's what I found on the web...

NIHON (日本) The characters here mean "sun" and "origin". This name is believed to have the following derivation. Nihon appeared in Chinese history during the Tang dynasty, when at the end of 7th century a delegation from Japan introduced their country as `Nihon'. In about 605, Prince Shotoku, the then Regent of Japan (the Empress was Suiko), sent a mission to China with a letter in which he called himself `the Emperor of the Land in which the Sun rises'. So, the notion of Nihon might have originated in this period. The reading of the message in Japanese is: "Hi iduru tokoro no Tensi, Syo wo Hi bossuru tokoro no Tensi ni itasu. Tutuga nakiya?" which means "The Emperor of the land where Sun rises sends a letter to the Emperor of the land where Sun sets. Are you healthy?" Having read the letter, the Emperor of China became angry, and ordered such barbarian things not to be shown to him. This letter was sent in the early period of the 7th century, either 605, 608 or 612. The message is recorded in the official history book of the `Zui' dynasty.

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I thought the flag was a description of their ume rice ball.

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Geographic explanation:

The ancient Japanese called their land "The Land of the Rising Sun" because while they knew about China and Korea (west of them), they knew of no lands to the east, hence they believed they were the first land "awakened by the rising sun".

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By the way, the people of Chosen, commonly known as Koreans, refer to their nations as "the land of the morning calm." Having lived there for somewhat over a year, it was my observation that there was always a respite from the typically extreme weather in the hours of the sunrise.

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mezzie wrote:

Geographic explanation:

The ancient Japanese called their land "The Land of the Rising Sun" because while they knew about China and Korea (west of them), they knew of no lands to the east, hence they believed they were the first land "awakened by the rising sun".

Ah, very poetic, and somehow satisfactory and complete in and of itself.

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Gorsh, McTag. At first I thought that you meant "House of the Rising Sun."

Good song, in the East or West. Cool

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Arunachal Pradesh is another place, which means "Land of the Rising Sun".

*state of India
with a sun

http://arunachalpradesh.nic.in/images/flag.gif

in their flag, too

http://mapsofindia.com/maps/arunachalpradesh/arunachal-pradesh-location.gif

It is a sparsely populated mountainous area in the extreme northeastern part of the subcontinent. It is bordered by the kingdom of Bhutan to the west, the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, Myanmar (Burma) to the south and southeast, and the state of Assam to the south and southwest. The total area is 32,333 square miles (83,743 square kilometres). The capital is Itanagar.
Formerly the North East Frontier Agency, it became a union territory in 1972 and a state in 1987.

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Monger wrote:

patiodog wrote:
The current residents of Japan migrated from mainland Asia. I suspect the name precedes their arrival on the islands. Perhaps those indigenous to Japan (for the life of me I can't remember their name right now) call China "The Land of the Setting Sun?" or "The Grave of the Sun?" or some such. Probably not, but, er, whatever...

You're right on, actually.

Here's what I found on the web...

NIHON (日本) The characters here mean "sun" and "origin". This name is believed to have the following derivation. Nihon appeared in Chinese history during the Tang dynasty, when at the end of 7th century a delegation from Japan introduced their country as `Nihon'. In about 605, Prince Shotoku, the then Regent of Japan (the Empress was Suiko), sent a mission to China with a letter in which he called himself `the Emperor of the Land in which the Sun rises'. So, the notion of Nihon might have originated in this period. The reading of the message in Japanese is: "Hi iduru tokoro no Tensi, Syo wo Hi bossuru tokoro no Tensi ni itasu. Tutuga nakiya?" which means "The Emperor of the land where Sun rises sends a letter to the Emperor of the land where Sun sets. Are you healthy?" Having read the letter, the Emperor of China became angry, and ordered such barbarian things not to be shown to him. This letter was sent in the early period of the 7th century, either 605, 608 or 612. The message is recorded in the official history book of the `Zui' dynasty.

DING DING DING. Correct answer matey.

Also, another bit of fact. The Chinese name for the country was Jhi Pen (spelling unsure, but about like that) and when Europeans heard it they tweaked it into Japan. Just if anyone cares how Japan didn't come from Nihon. Wink

Blame the Chinese for everything! That's the easiest way!

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Land of the Rising Sun?

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