Japan
/dʒəˈpæn/- a country in east Asia, occupying a festoon of islands in the Pacific roughly parallel with the east coast of the Asiatic mainland; pop. 127,078,700 (est. 2009); official language, Japanese; capital, Tokyo. Japanese name NIPPON.日本（东亚国家, 位于太平洋与亚洲大陆东海岸大致平行的列岛上; 2009年估计人口127,078, 700; 官方语言为日语; 首都东京）。日语名NIPPON.
From the late 19th century Japan began a modernizing process which eventually made it into a major world power. It fought wars against China （1894-5） and Russia （1904-5）, and after the First World War occupied Manchuria (1931) and invaded China (1937). Japan entered the Second World War on the Axis side with a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The country surrendered in 1945 after the dropping of atom bombs by the US on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is now the most highly industrialized country and the leading economic power in the region.
词源
rendering of Chinese Riben.