Raw Japan

Nippon or Nihon?

What’s in a name? A lot, according to one Japanese lawmaker, who’s appalled by his country’s schizophrenia over how to pronounce the two ideographs rendered in English as “Japan”.

“What is the formal name of this country? Overseas, it is called ‘Japan’, but Japanese people say both ‘Nihon’ and ‘Nippon’,” opposition parliament member Tetsundo Iwakuni told me.

“There’s no other country that doesn’t standardise its own name.”

Seeking clarification, Iwakuni asked the government what the official view was, only to be told there wasn’t one.