How Do You Write Country Names in Kanji?
2026-10-23
Today, Japanese normally writes foreign country names in katakana. America is アメリカ, France is フランス, and Germany is ドイツ.
How Do You Write Country Names in Kanji?
Today, Japanese normally writes foreign country names in katakana. America is アメリカ, France is フランス, and Germany is ドイツ.
But in the past, Japanese often used kanji to represent foreign country names.
These kanji were generally selected for their sound, not their meaning. This type of writing is called ateji (当て字).
America, for example, was written 亜米利加. From this came the abbreviation 米, which is why the United States is still commonly called 米国 in Japanese.
Britain was 英吉利, giving us 英国.
France was 仏蘭西, giving us 仏国.
Germany was 独逸, giving us 独.
Italy was 伊太利亜, the Netherlands 和蘭陀, Spain 西班牙, Portugal 葡萄牙, Russia 露西亜, Belgium 白耳義, Switzerland 瑞西, Austria 墺太利, Denmark 丁抹, Norway 諾威, Sweden 瑞典, Finland 芬蘭, Poland 波蘭, Greece 希臘, Canada 加奈陀, Mexico 墨西哥, and Brazil 伯剌西爾.
Looking at these characters today can be amusing because we naturally try to interpret their meanings.
Why is America the “Rice Country” — 米国?
Why is France associated with Buddha — 仏?
Why does Germany use the character for “alone” — 独?
The answer is simple: that was not the original intention.
The characters were primarily being used to reproduce foreign sounds. Over time, Japan stopped writing most Western country names with these long strings of kanji and switched to katakana.
But some of the abbreviations survived.
That is why we still say 日米 for Japan-U.S. relations, 日英 for Japan-U.K. relations, and 日独 for Japan-Germany relations.
There is another interesting twist.
Japan uses 米国 for America, while China uses 美国（美國） and Korea uses 미국（美國）.
One country. Different kanji traditions.
So when you see 米国, don't think that Japanese people once believed America was the land of rice.
Think of 亜米利加.
Sometimes a single kanji carries with it a small piece of history showing how Japan first encountered and interpreted the outside world.
That, too, is part of the story hidden inside the Japanese language.
Disclaimer: I use AI as a tool to help create images and proofread my writing. However, the ideas, opinions, experiences, and messages in my posts are my own. AI does not generate my posts for me. It simply helps me present my own words and ideas more clearly.
Kenichi Uchikura
Founder & CEO
Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. (PSPINC)
Uchikura & Co., LLC.
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
I was born and raised in Japan and have spent most of my adult life in the United States. Through this blog, I share Japanese culture, language, expressions, and wisdom. My goal is not to say one culture is better, but to explore different perspectives and what we can learn from them.
Your comments are always welcome.
..-･**･-....-･･-..__..-･･-....-･**･-..
Kenichi Uchikura
Founder & CEO
Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. (PSPINC)
Uchikura & Co., LLC.
..-･**･-....-･･-..__..-･･-....-･**･-..
ABOUT THIS BLOG
I was born and raised in Japan and have spent most of my adult life in the United States. Through this blog, I share Japanese culture, language, expressions, and wisdom. My goal is not to say one culture is better, but to explore different perspectives and what we can learn from them.
Your comments are always welcome.
..-･**･-....-･･-..__..-･･-....-･**･-..