om Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, but the subsequent development of Japanese Buddhism was primarily influenced by China.[21] Despite early resistance, Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class and gained widespread acce

Etymology
Main article: Names of Japan

The English word Japan is an exonym. The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon (にっぽん?) listen (help·info) and Nihon (にほん?) listen (help·info); both names are written using the kanji 日本. The Japanese name Nippon is used for most official purposes, including on Japanese yen, postage stamps, and for many international sporting events. Nihon is a more casual term and is used in contemporary speech. Japanese people refer to themselves as Nihonjin (日本人?) and to their language as Nihongo (日本語?). Both Nippon and Nihon mean "sun-origin" and are often translated as Land of the Rising Sun. This nomenclature comes from Japanese missions to Imperial China and refers to Japan's eastward position relative to China. Before Nihon came into official use, Japan was known as Wa (倭?) or Wakoku (倭国?).[15]

The English word for Japan came to the West via early trade routes. The early Mandarin or possibly Wu Chinese (吳語) word for Japan was recorded by Marco Polo as Cipangu. In modern Shanghainese, a Wu dialect, the pronunciation of characters 日本 'Japan' is Zeppen [zəʔpən]. The old Malay word for Japan, Jepang, was borrowed from a Chinese language, and this Malay word was encountered by Portuguese traders in Malacca in the 16th century. It is thought the Portuguese traders were the first to bring the word to Europe. It was first recorded in English in a 1565 letter, spelled Giapan.[16]
History
Main article: History of Japan
Prehistory

An illustrated scroll from the 1100s

A Paleolithic culture around 30,000 BC constitutes the first known habitation of Japan. This was followed from around 14,000 BC (the start of the Jōmon period) by a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer culture, possibly ancestors of the Ainu people, characterized by pit dwelling and rudimentary agriculture.[17] Decorated clay vessels from this period are some of the oldest surviving examples of pottery in the world. The Yayoi period, starting around 500 BC, saw the introduction of practices like wet-rice farming,[18] a new style of pottery,[19] and metallurgy, brought by migrants from China and Korea.[20]

The Japanese first appear in written history in the Chinese Book of Han. According to the Records of Three Kingdoms, the most powerful kingdom on the archipelago during the 3rd century was called Yamataikoku. Buddhism was first introduced to Japan from Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, but the subsequent development of Japanese Buddhism was primarily influenced by China.[21] Despite early resistance, Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class and gained widespread acceptance beginning in the Asuka period.[22]

The Nara period of the 8th century marked the emergence of a strong Japanese state, centered on an imperial court in Heijō-kyō (modern Nara). In addition to the continuing adoption of Chinese administrative practices, the Nara period is characterized by the appearance of a nascent literature with the completion of the Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720).[23] The smallpox epidemic of 735–737 is believed to have killed as much as one-third of Japan's population.[24] In 784, Emperor Kammu moved the capital from Nara to Nagaoka-kyō before relocating it to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto) in 794. This marked the beginning of the Heian period, during which a distinctly indigenous Japanese culture emerged, noted for its art, poetry and literature. Lady Murasaki's The Tale of Genji and the lyrics of Japan's national anthem Kimigayo were written during this time.[25]
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