Nippon or Nihon? Help Please!

[Hanada Tattsu]

Hello, everyone!

Okay, so far, I've heard three different names for the Asian island country that we all know and love. Japan is the official American spelling, and Nippon/Nihon is the official Japanese spelling. Is the official Japanese spelling nippon or Nihon?

Thanks!

 

[den4]

depends on who you talk to....
Nihon is more a modern usage.
Nippon is more traditional and was used primarily during nationalistic times during the last world war...but either way is correct...and I'm sure others will correct me if I'm in error...

 

[mdchachi]

nihon & nippon are "spelled" the same in Japanese kanji. They are both correct.

 

[Maciamo]

Originally posted by Hanada Tattsu

Okay, so far, I've heard three different names for the Asian island country that we all know and love. Japan is the official American spelling, and Nippon/Nihon is the official Japanese spelling. Is the official Japanese spelling nippon or Nihon?

The official Japanese spell is 窶愿ｺ窶怒, which you can read either nihon or nippon to speak of the country. If you want to say Japanese, it's nihonjin (people) or nihongo (language), not nipponjin/nippongo.

 

[Hanada Tattsu]

Thanks, guys!

So, Nihon is indeed the official one, I see. I'll use Nihon then, thanks a bunch, everybody!

 

[budd]

people use "nippon" at sport events or when they want to get excited/convey excitement (ie: "anarchy in the nippon" a sega saturn game)
not unlike rock songs that use U.S.A. instead of America?

 

[den4]

Re: Re: Nippon or Nihon? Help Please!

Originally posted by Maciamo
The official Japanese spell is 窶愿ｺ窶怒, which you can read either nihon or nippon to speak of the country. If you want to say Japanese, it's nihonjin (people) or nihongo (language), not nipponjin/nippongo.

I hear some of the natives say Nipponjin at times....I wonder if they are being nationalistic?

 

[mdchachi]

Originally posted by Hanada Tattsu
Thanks, guys!

So, Nihon is indeed the official one, I see. I'll use Nihon then, thanks a bunch, everybody!

I don't think this is a valid assumption. Depends what you mean by "official." Consider this -- all postage stamps that use roman letters say NIPPON. This would lead me to believe that NIPPON is more official but NIHON is more common.

http://www.iptp.go.jp/museum_e/history/stamp-009.html

 

[Hanada Tattsu]

Well, I see what you mean, but if the Japanese people use Nihon more often in this day and age, then it would be more correct to use Nihon, especially if you want to learn modern Japanese and especially if you plan to move to Japan.

Thanks anyway.

 

[budd]

nihon or nippon?
ﾆ男ﾆ築ﾆ停?懌?堋ｩﾆ男ﾆ鍛ﾆ竹ﾆ停?懌?堋ｩﾂ？ﾂ・nihon ka nippon ka)
japanese usually call japan "nihon" in japanese, but when japanese people feel more patriotic than usual, a lot of them say "nippon" instead of "nihon".
listen for chants of "nippon" at international athletic competitions.
japanese volleyball tems usually

 

[Hanada Tattsu]

Okay, I get it. I heard that elderly people tend to use Nippon a lot more than the younger generatin does, but using both is okay.

 

[den4]

I think for foreigners, using nippon would sound odd to the J-folks...because no matter how hard you try, a gaijin is still a gaijin from the Japanese folks' eyes.....

 

[budd]

that's why "...teams usually have the loudest cheering section, which explodes with chants of "Nippon, cha-cha-cha!" every time a Japanese player scores a point. "Nippon, cha-cha-cha!" sounds a lot funnier when uttered by a gaijin rooting for Japanese atheletes. Say it at the right time and you'll be the hit of the Olympics."
Toshiya Enomoto, the Original "point-and-speak" phrasebook JAPAN [english edition]
isbn4-7958-1843-6