
Why Is Nigeria Written as “尼日利亜”? An Easy-to-Understand Explanation of Japanese Ateji Culture
Foreign country names in Japanese are often written in katakana, but sometimes appear in kanji, such as Nigeria being written as 尼日利亜. This phenomenon stems from Japan’s phonetic adaptation practices and influence from the broader kanji-using culture. This article explains how sound and script harmonize in Japanese and why Nigeria is a fascinating example of this.