How do you write your country name in kanji?
米長官、日中対話期待 日米外相会談
This is a Japanese news headline. It’s packed with Kanji—it almost looks like Chinese! There are actually three country names hidden in this headline. Can you tell which ones they are? If you can read Kanji, it should be easy.
The answer is the United States, Japan (日), and China (中). The character “米” represents America. Since Kanji characters take up less space than Katakana, they are perfect for newspaper headlines where the goal is to convey the main points as simply as possible. However, keep in mind that these Kanji abbreviations are mainly used for "simplification" in headlines and aren't used in every situation.
Today, I’d like to show you how country names are written in Kanji.
First, there are places that have always used Kanji, such as 日本 (Japan), 中国 (China), 韓国 (South Korea), 北朝鮮 (North Korea), 台湾 (Taiwan), and 香港 (Hong Kong). In the headline above, 「日中」 (Nitchu) means "Japan and China."
The following are countries whose Kanji names (or their abbreviations) are still seen in the news today. The bold characters are the abbreviations used in headlines.
USA: 米国 (Beikoku)
UK: 英国 (Eikoku)
Italy: 伊太利亜 (Itaria) — Since both the Katakana and Kanji versions are long, there's no real advantage to writing the full Kanji. Only “伊” is used in headlines.
India: 印度 (Indo)
Australia: 豪州 (Goushuu)
Netherlands: 和蘭陀 / 阿蘭陀 (Oranda)
Canada: 加奈陀 (Kanada)
Spain: 西班牙 (Supein)
Germany: 独逸 (Doitsu)
Philippines: 比律賓 (Firipin)
France: 仏蘭西 (Furansu)
Vietnam: 越南 (Betonamu)
Russia: 露西亜 (Roshia)
Europe: 欧州 (Oushuu) — (Technically a continent, not a country)
While writing every country's name in Kanji was common until the Meiji era, Katakana became the standard during the Taisho era. Today, only the countries listed above are commonly seen in Kanji, and even then, most newspapers prefer Katakana for general text.
In Japanese, the general rule is: "Kanji have meaning, but Hiragana and Katakana do not." However, for most country names, the Kanji characters have no meaning. They were simply chosen because their pronunciations matched the sound of the foreign name.
For example:
India (印度): “印” (In) means "seal/stamp," and “度” (Do) means "degree/time."
USA (米国): “米” (Mai) means "rice." You might think Japan is more of a "rice country" than America!
France (仏蘭西): “仏” (Futsu) means "Buddha." This also feels like it would fit Japan better.
As you can see, the meanings are often irrelevant. Interestingly, in Chinese, the USA is written as “美国”, meaning "Beautiful Country," also chosen for its phonetic sound.
However, there are a few exceptions where the Kanji were chosen based on the actual meaning or history of the country.
Portugal (葡萄牙): The characters “葡萄” are read as budou, meaning "grape." This is likely because Portugal brought Christianity, guns, and wine to Japan in the 16th century.
Ivory Coast (象牙海岸): This is a direct translation. “象牙” (Zouge) means "ivory" and “海岸” (Kaigan) means "coast."
My personal favorite Kanji country name is “愛蘭土”. It’s a beautiful-looking name, isn't it? Can you guess which country this is?
Answer to the Headline: The first sentence, "Bei-Choukan, Nitchu Taiwa Kitai: Nichibei Gaisou Kaidan," means: "At the meeting between the Japanese and American Foreign Ministers, the U.S. Secretary stated that they expect a dialogue between Japan and China."