Alternate historical names for Japan

The following are various names by which Japan is/has been called:

• Akishima or Akitsushima ("Island of the Dragonfly"), 秋津島
• The Land of the Rising Sun
• Ôyashima (Oho Yashima), 大八洲 or 大八島国 (Yashima, or "eight islands is a reference to Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Tsushima, Awaji shima, Ikishima, Okinoshima, and Sado-ga-shima)
• Shinkoku or Kami no kuni ("land of the gods"), 神国 or 神の国
• Yamato, 大和
• Ashihara
• Ka
• Wa, 和 or 倭

Terms such as honchô (本朝, "this court/realm"), wagakuni (我国, "our country"), and the like are also common, but might not be taken as true placenames.

References

• Aoki, Michiko, Records of Wind and Earth
• Kaempfer, Engelbert. (1999) Kaempfer's Japan. University of Hawai'i Press. Ttranslated by Beatrice M. Bodart-Bailey.