Written in the stars: Countries DO have Kanji:Country Names Kanji List

As Japanese language students, we are used to reading and writing countries in Katakana. It’s quite confusing but yes, countries CAN be written in Kanji!

Written in the stars: Countries DO have Kanji

Gairaigo, Ateji and Kanji

Just so everyone can understand how kanji is used in writing countries, let’s talk about the use of Gairaigo and Ateji to have a better understanding on how this is possible.

What is Gairaigo (外来語)?

Most people think they do not know what Gairaigo is, but much to their surprise, Gairaigo is the most common type of Japanese words which foreigners who study Japanese find easier to learn. To break it down, GAIRAIGO(外来語) consists of 3 main kanji. 外(gai) the kanji for outside, 来(rai) the kanji for come, and 語(go) the kanji for language. Gairaigo are what are commonly referred to as “borrowed words” or words that are from a foreign language that was not from the ancient times from Old or Middle Chinese. These are usually words with a European or English origin. These words are usually modern words that have been absorbed from the reopening of Japan to the West back in the 1900’s. Although there are many Japanese words borrowed from the Chinese language, these were all in a time where Chinese characters were, leading these Chinese borrowed words to be written in Kanji. 

The concept of gairaigo is quite convenient for students learning due to how most words are pulled from a modern language, which are more commonly used in casual conversations. These are mainly written in Katakana. A few common examples are ラジオ(radio), テレビ(television: its an abbreviation!), タバコ(tobacco), and クリスマス(Christmas). In Japanese language books and Japanese schools, written Gairaigo versions of countries more commonly used since it is easier for foreigners to remember.

HOWEVER, there are some Gairaigo words that can be written in Kanji. Confusing? Yes, it is. There are some cases where single character Gairaigo (mostly units of measure) are given a kanji. 

What is Ateji(当て字)?

When looking at a word comprised of kanji characters, it’s quite easy to tell what a word is from the meaning of its kanji  despite not knowing how its read phonetically. For “Ateji”, however, it is a bit more confusing than that. Although composed of kanji characters, the meaning of the kanji is totally ignored and only the phonetic sounds are used. In some cases of Atejis, words borrow the meaning of kanji characters but not the readings. There are also cases where Ateji borrow both the reading and meaning of kanji characters. For Japanese language students who do not know what Atejis are, this can be very VERY confusing and might lead to many misunderstandings while learning Japanese. A few common examples are as follows. 

TYPE 1:

The main focus is the phonetic reading of the kanji.

TYPE 2:

The meaning of the kanji is the main focus and the reading is ignored. Usually the words already were made before the writing system came into use.

TYPE 3:

Both the reading and meaning of the kanji is used into the word.

Do countries have Kanji characters?

YES, countries do have kanji! Most Japanese language aren’t familiar with them and are more exposed to the Gairaigo version where Katakana is used to write them. Garaigo and Ateji are used in the kanji versions (and abbreviations) of some countries, which can be found below. 

List of Japanese Kanji Country Names

Country’s Kanji : ASIA

Country’s Kanji : OCEANIA

Country’s Kanji : NORTH AMERICA

Country’s Kanji : SOUTH AMERICA

Country’s Kanji : EUROPE

Country’s Kanji : AFRICA

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