What was Japan called before it was called Japan?
Ava Arnold
Updated on January 19, 2026
The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon ( にっぽん) and Nihon ( にほん). They are both written in Japanese using the kanji 日本. During the third-century Three Kingdoms period, before the name of Dai Nippon Teikoku (literally "Great Japan(ese) Empire") came into use, Japan was known as Wa (倭) or Wakoku (倭國).