Why is Japan called the Land of the Rising Sun?

Japan

Japan got its nickname from an ancient myth that the island of Japan were the source of the rising sun.  Japan, the island country in the Pacific Ocean, is often called the “land of the rising sun.”

It is believed that Japan got its nickname from ancient Oriental folk beliefs that the islands of Japan were the source of the sun.

Long ago, the people of ancient China watched the morning sun rising from the eastern sea, they wrote down stories of gods and warriors that lived on sacred island hidden in the ocean.

The Chinese called the islands “jih pun” (today we say “Japan” instead), which literally means “source of the sun.”  As for the Japanese, old regards claimed that Japan was founded by the Sun Goddess who, along with other gods of nature, made the island her home.

And that is the story of how Japan came to be looked on as the “land of the rising sun.”  Japan’s official name is Nihon, or Nippon which in Japanese also means “source of the sun.” – Dick Rogers