LOANWORD

For decades, Japanese maps and textbooks labeled the country as “Ivory Coast”, reflecting the region’s history as a center of ivory trade. But the nation sought to distance itself from colonial-era labels, and now the only correct term is “Côte d’Ivoire”. This shift shows how a country’s name embodies dignity, independence, and global recognition.

Before katakana became the norm, Japan often used kanji to represent foreign names phonetically. Houston, for example, appeared as “阿西亜尼亜” and “飛有棲屯.” These spellings show how Japan balanced Chinese influence, visual style, and sound approximation when dealing with new global words.

Foreign names were once written in Japan using phonetic kanji instead of katakana. Madagascar became 「馬達加斯加」, with each character chosen to approximate the sound. By learning this, we see how Japan balanced tradition and adaptation in representing foreign words.

The old kanji form of Saudi Arabia, “沙烏地阿拉伯,” cannot be understood by literal meaning. It is based on a transliteration borrowed from Chinese and serves as an example of how Japanese historically absorbed foreign words.

Foreign readers may be surprised to learn that Chicago was once written in Japan not only as シカゴ but also as 市俄古, using kanji. This practice, called ateji, shows how Japan historically blended Western culture into its own writing system. By looking at this unique example, we can explore how Japanese adapted to foreign influences.

The term “秘露” was invented to represent the name Peru in Japanese. Its characters have no direct meaning related to the country but reflect a historical practice from the Meiji era. This article explains the background of this form, comparing it with other country name adaptations.

For foreigners, the kanji “加納” can be confusing. It is both a common Japanese surname and place name, but it was also used as an ateji for Ghana. While modern Japanese relies on katakana, old documents may still show Ghana written as 加納. This article helps clarify the difference.

Japanese writing sometimes uses kanji purely for their sounds rather than meanings. The country Mozambique, once written as “莫三鼻給,” is a striking example. For foreigners, this may look strange, but it reveals an important aspect of Japanese culture: the flexibility of the writing system to adapt foreign words.

For learners of Japanese, seeing Israel written as 「以色列」 may look confusing. However, this notation is a historical phonetic borrowing. Kanji here do not convey meaning, but approximate the sound of the word. This shows how Japanese integrated foreign names through Chinese transcription.

When foreigners encounter 「德里」 in old Japanese maps or newspapers, it may seem confusing. Yet this form reflects how Japanese once relied on kanji to approximate foreign sounds before katakana became the standard. By exploring this, we can see how language and culture intertwined in Japan’s adaptation of world geography.