Where Are You Really From?
If you are interested in Japanese, you know that usually the words of foreign origin are written with the katakana syllabary. You probably learned that at the very beginning of your study, when checking how to introduce yourself and say where you come from. You could have seen that the names of some countries are in kanji, such as China chūgoku 中国 or South Korea kankoku 韓国, but most others are expressed with katakana: France furansu フランス, Germany doitsu ドイツ, Chile chiri チリ, Morocco morokko モロッコ, Australia ōsutoraria オーストラリア…
However, interestingly, these ones can be written with kanji as well. It is just an old-fashioned way, not really used anymore nowadays, since katakana is simpler. Even though the Japanese themselves might not know these, it is still interesting to have a look. While the kanji have been associated with countries only because of phonetic reasons and their meaning does not say anything about the perception of a given nation in Japan, it might help you remember the characters.
Here are some of the countries and their kanji – keep in mind that these translations are very liberal, do not make much sense and are only made for fun, sort of like a horoscope.
Switzerland suisu 瑞西 – fresh, vibrant West
France furansu 仏蘭西 – Buddha orchid in the West
Belgium berugī 白耳義 – white ear’s teachings
Italy itaria 伊太利 – that one thicc profit
Germany doitsu 独逸 – lonely elusion
UK eikoku 英国 – the hero country
Poland pōrando 波蘭 – wave orchid
Russia roshia 露西亜 – tearful western Asia
Portugal porutogaru 葡萄牙 – wild grapes and vines and fangs
USA beikoku 米国 – the rice country
Brazil burajiru 伯剌西爾 – the chief opposing western you
Mexico mekishiko 墨西哥 – covered in ink western older brother
Egypt ejiputo 埃及 – dusty cause
India indo 印度 – stamp attitude
Australia ōsutoraria 濠太剌利 – a ditch grandiosely opposing profit
If we were to learn something from this list, it seems like many countries are to the West of Japan. ;) There is, however, also a real purpose to knowing some of them – the first kanji of these old versions might be used as abbreviations for the countries, e.g. in such words as ‘trade between Japan and US’ nichibei bōeki 日米貿易 or ‘Japanese–French relations’ nichifutsu kankei日仏関係. Was your country on the list? If not, make sure to look it up!
Written by AL