User:Kintetsubuffalo/List of Chinese exonyms for places in Japan

This page describes how Japanese names are written and pronounced in standard Chinese (Mandarin). English exonyms in most cases match Japanese endonyms without macrons, which are placed on top of Japanese vowels to show long vowels. An important exception is the country name itself. Chinese transcription is written in Hanyu Pinyin. Japanese spelling may not match neither simplified, nor traditional Chinese script.

Due to the large difference between Chinese writing system and any other systems, the majority of foreign geographical names in Chinese could be classified as exonyms because pronunciation, spelling (romanisation) is very different from the original, see Transliteration into Chinese characters for more. Many Japanese names may not be classified as true exonyms, as the Chinese and Japanese spelling may fully coincide (either the simplified or traditional or both forms), or the Japanese may use a modern Kanji, which is consistently different from both Chinese, e.g. Hiroshima (広島) uses character 広, the simplified Chinese spelling is 广岛, traditional Chinese is 廣島.

Unlike the majority of foreign names, Japanese names in Chinese may have nothing in common in pronunciation, like in the above example, Hiroshima in Chinese is Guǎngdǎo. This is usually the case when the Japanese names are pronounced based on Kun'yomi (訓読み), Japanese words that are pronounced based on On'yomi (音読み) may have some remote similarity, e.g. compare Japanese 東京 Tōkyō and Chinese Dōngjīng.

If the Japanese and Chinese writing fully match, the Japanese Kanji is followed by Chinese pronunciation, then Japanese, otherwise the Japanese is given first with the word (Japanese) in brackets.

Traditional Chinese (if different) is given in square brackets (only the part, which is different.)

Prefectures are followed by their capitals.

Country name and its capital
日本 Rìběn Nihon or Nippon (English: Japan)

東京 (Japanese) 东京/東京 Dōngjīng Tōkyō

Hokkaidō
北海道 Běihǎidào Hokkaidō 札幌 Zháhuǎng Sapporo

Tōhoku Chihō
東北地方 Tōhoku Chihō 东北地方 (東北地方) Dōngběi Dìfāng

秋田 Qiūtián Akita (the capital has the same name)

青森 Qīngsēn Aomori (the capital has the same name)

福島 (Japanese) 福岛/福島 Fúdǎo Fukushima (the capital has the same name)

岩手 Yánshǒu Iwate 盛岡 (Japanese) 盛冈/盛岡 Chénggāng Morioka

宮城 (Japanese) 宫城/宮城 Gōngchéng Miyagi 仙台 Xiāntái Sendai

山形 Shānxíng Yamagata (the capital has the same name)

Kantō Chihō
関東地方 (Japanese) Kantō Chihō 关东地方/關東地方 Guāndōng Dìfāng

東京 (Japanese) 东京/東京 Dōngjīng Tōkyō 東京 (Japanese) 东京/東京 Dōngjīng Tōkyō

千葉 (Japanese) 千叶/千葉 Qiānyè Chiba 千葉 (Japanese) 千叶/千葉 Qiānyè Chiba

群馬 (Japanese) 群马/群馬 Qúnmǎ Gunma 前橋 (Japanese) 前桥/前橋 Qiánqiáo Maebashi

茨城 Cíchéng Ibaraki 水戸 (Japanese) 水户/水戶 Shuǐhù Mito

神奈川 Shénnàichuān Kanagawa 横浜 (Japanese) 横滨/橫濱 Héngbīn Yokohama

埼玉 Qíyù Saitama 埼玉 Qíyù Saitama

栃木 (Japanese) 枥木/櫪木 Lìmù Tochigi 宇都宫 Yǔdōugōng Utsunomiya

Note: Chinese Wikipedia uses 栃木, although 栃 is not a standard Chinese character.

Chūbu Chihō
中部地方 (Japanese) Chūbu Chihō 中部地方 Zhōngbù Dìfāng

愛知 (Japanese) 爱知/愛知 Àizhī Aichi 名古屋 Mínggǔwū Nagoya

福井 Fújǐng Fukui 福井 Fújǐng Fukui

岐阜 Qífù Gifu 岐阜 Qífù Gifu

石川 Shíchuān Ishikawa 金沢 (Japanese) 金泽/金澤 Jīnzé Kanazawa

長野 (Japanese) 长野[長-] Chángyě Nagano 長野 (Japanese) 长野/長野 Chángyě Nagano

新潟 Xīnxì Niigata 新潟 Xīnxì Niigata

静岡 (Japanese) 静冈/靜岡 Jìnggāng Shizuoka 静岡 (Japanese) 静冈/靜岡 Jìnggāng Shizuoka

富山 Fùshān Toyama 富山 Fùshān Toyama

山梨 Shānlí Yamanashi 甲府 Jiǎfǔ Kōfu

Kansai (Kinki) Chihō
関西地方 (Japanese) Kansai (Kinki) Chihō 关西(近畿)地方 Guānxī (Jìnjī) Dìfāng also called: 近畿地方 Kinki Chihō 近畿地方 Jìnjī Dìfāng'''

兵庫 (Japanese) 兵库/兵庫 Bīngkù Hyōgo 神戸 (Japanese) 神户/神戶 Shénhù Kōbe

三重 Sānchóng Mie 津 Jīn Tsu

奈良 Nàiliáng Nara 奈良 Nàiliáng Nara

滋賀 (Japanese) 滋贺/滋賀 Zīhè Shiga 大津 Dàjīn Ōtsu

和歌山 Hégēshān Wakayama 和歌山 Hégēshān Wakayama

京都 Jīngdū Kyōto 京都 Jīngdū Kyōto

大阪 (Japanese) 大坂/大阪 Dàbǎn Ōsaka 大阪 (Japanese) 大坂/大阪 Dàbǎn Ōsaka

Chūgoku Chihō
中国地方 Chūgoku Chihō 中国地方/中國地方 Zhōngguó Dìfāng also called: 山陰山陽地方 San'in San'yō Chihō 山阴山阳地方/山陰山陽地方 Shānyīn Shānyáng Dìfāng San'in San'yō Chihō'''

広島 (Japanese) 广岛/廣島 Guǎngdǎo Hiroshima 広島 (Japanese) 广岛/廣島 Guǎngdǎo Hiroshima

岡山 (Japanese) 冈山/岡山 Gāngshān Okayama 岡山 (Japanese) 冈山/岡山 Gāngshān Okayama

島根 (Japanese) 岛根/島根 Dǎogēn Shimane 松江 Sōngjiāng Matsue

鳥取 (Japanese) 鸟取/鳥取 Niǎoqǔ Tottori 鳥取 (Japanese) 鸟取/鳥取 Niǎoqǔ Tottori

山口 Shānkǒu Yamaguchi 山口 Shānkǒu Yamaguchi

Shikoku Chihō
四国地方 Shikoku Chihō 四国地方[-國--] Sìguó Dìfāng

愛媛 (Japanese) 爱媛/愛媛 Àiyuàn Ehime The name Ehime comes from the Kojiki and means "beautiful maiden." 松山 Sōngshān Matsuyama

香川 Xiāngchuān Kagawa 高松 Gāosōng Takamatsu

高知 Gāozhī Kōchi 高知 Gāozhī Kōchi

徳島 (Japanese) 德岛/德島 Dédǎo Tokushima 徳島 (Japanese) 德岛/德島 Dédǎo Tokushima

Kyūshū Chihō
九州地方 Kyūshū Chihō 九州地方 Jiǔzhōu Dìfāng

福岡 (Japanese) 福冈/福岡 Fúgāng Fukuoka 福岡 (Japanese) 福冈/福岡 Fúgāng Fukuoka

鹿児島 (Japanese) 鹿儿岛/鹿兒島 Lù'érdǎo Kagoshima 鹿児島 (Japanese) 鹿儿岛/鹿兒島 Lù'érdǎo Kagoshima

熊本 Xióngběn Kumamoto 熊本 Xióngběn Kumamoto

宮崎 (Japanese) 宫崎/宮崎 Gōngqí Miyazaki 宮崎 (Japanese) 宫崎/宮崎 Gōngqí Miyazaki

長崎 (Japanese) 长崎/長崎 Chángqí Nagasaki 長崎 (Japanese) 长崎/長崎 Chángqí Nagasaki

大分 Dàfēn Ōita 大分 Dàfēn Ōita

佐賀 (Japanese) 佐贺/佐賀 Zuǒhè Saga 佐賀 (Japanese) 佐贺/佐賀 Zuǒhè Saga

沖縄 (Japanese) 冲绳/沖繩 Chōngshéng Okinawa 那覇 (Japanese) 那霸 Nàbà Naha (Okinawa)

琉球诸岛 Ryūkyū Shotō 琉球群岛/琉球群島 Liúqiú Qúndǎo

also called: 南西諸島 Nansei Shotō 南西群岛/南西群島 Nánxī Qúndǎo

Major islands:
本州 Běnzhōu Honshū

九州 Jiǔzhōu Kyūshū

北海道 Běihǎidào Hokkaidō

四国 (Japanese) 四国/四國 Sìguó Shikoku

The famous mountain:
富士山 Fùshì Shān Fujisan or Fujiyama

Terminology:
Japanese: 県 (Ken) prefecture (of Japan); county (of China)

Chinese: 県 (Japanese version of 县縣) [xiàn] county, district, subdivision, Ken)

Chinese: 县[縣] xiàn en (type of province in Japan)

都 Dū To (type of province in Japan)

府 Fǔ Fu (type of province in Japan)

道 Dào Dō (type of province in Japan - only about 北海道 Hokkaidō)

地方 (chihō (Japanese), dìfāng (Chinese) is normally 地区 dìqū So, 中国地方 (Chūgoku chihō) is normally written as 中国地区 (Zhōngguó dìqū)