hoshi/chikyuu confusion

can chikyuu (地球) be read as hoshi (星)? in these lyrics i've printed out for ayumi's evolution, it has この地球に生まれついた日, where she clearly says hoshi.

also in a morning musume song, renai revolution 21 i believe, there's a line このほしは美しい. when i read an english translation it had "this world is beautiful", and not star...


well it seems there is some interchang-ability, but when i type in ほし into microsoft word and search for different kanji readings, 地球 is not one of them. so i'm confused. what's the deal with hoshi/chikyuu?

Often the Japanese will use furigana "creatively". That is, they put in explanatory kanji and stick the actual words in the furigana. In this case, she will be saying "hoshi" meaning "planet", and they have put in "chikyuu" into the kanji to indicate what planet she is actually referring to. You are just missing the full version with the furigana.

ic. also, i'm guessing hoshi can mean in planet. although in my jap-eng dictionary, despite there being 8 entries for hoshi, planet isn't one of them.

I have this in one:

一般には太陽・月・地球を除く天体。広義には、すべての天体。狭義には恒星をいう。

Kokugo Dai Jiten Dictionary. (Revised edition)

They way I've always thought of it (and as similarly stated by Scrivener)

星 = star
太陽 = sun (is not a 星)
地球 = Earth, type of 惑星
月 = THE Moon (not *A* moon)

Try explaining to a Japanese friend who's command of English is only intermediate, that there are billions and billions of stars, and they are all suns, and that there are an equally infinite number of planets, which most likely have many moons. Enjoy the look of confusion.

the sun isn't a star in japanese...?

Well, I don't have anything to back me up other than a few private students some ages ago when I tried to explain iit to them. I did some digging now, and finding something like that is hard. However, I did find a couple of links backing up the "moon" conspiracy theory.

JANNET Satellite Page

Both pages refer to the moons of other planets as satellites (‰q¯) which is technically what they are I guess, as we refer to them that way in English as well.

However, I did google (–ؐ¯'ÌŒŽ) and got some hits. I still don't think it's "proper" though.

Now, after searching more, I take back my Sun comment.

太陽を見てみよう

Both pages are very obviously titled "What type of star is the Sun?" so I guess that one kinda blew up in my face. I would be very interested to hear what non-science-enthusiastic Japanese native speakers feel on this subject though.

To get back on topic though, if you're reading a lot of J-pop lyrics and whatnot, a lot of times they'll stick a totally different furigana above a kanji for effect. I've even seen a 5-6 kanji word, with the English equivalent of the word in katakana inplace of the furigana. How's that for backwards?

This is just a guess, but I think its related with history.

I mean, did old kanji even account the difference of a planet and stars (hoshi) in the sky? Wakusei (惑星) is strictly means planet, as in new Godzilla CGI movies, but how about when ancient Japanese hasn't realize the difference? Chikyuu is obviously earth though.