Asian = Oriental, etc.

[Benjamin Barrett]

> Behalf Of Douglas G. Wilson

> As I stated in a separate message, I am dubious of the purported original
> sense of "Nippon", and I think "Rising Sun" specifically and exactly as a
> term for Japan has become common in Japan only recently, probably as an
> import from the US. (There may have been a similar import from China much
> earlier, but I don't believe it could have gained wide currency in Japan.)

Just a quick look at the Kojien dictionary indicates that the transformation
from the native name of Yamato to Nihon/Nippon occurred in the Nara period
(the eighth century). The entry says that the characters "big peace" (as
today) were used for Yamato. In correspondence with China, the characters
"sun origin" were used [as in Chinese], but the Japanese pronounced them as
"Yamato." Somewhere along the way, the Yamato pronunciation got set aside
and the (pseudo) Chinese readings of Nihon/Nippon came into currency.

If you're interested in the entry, I can send it privately, encoded in
Japanese.

Benjamin Barrett
gogaku at ix.netcom.com