国: Names of Countries in Japanese with Audio!
Do you know how to say names of countries in japanese? Luckily, most country names are pretty easy to say in Japanese. They are just an approximate translation that is written out in katakana such as カナダ – Kanada or ルーマニア – Rūmania. Of course, some are a little different such as モンゴル – Mongoru (Mongolia) and some such as えいこく – Eikoku (Great Britain) don't sound anything alike! Many names of countries in Japanese can also be written with kanji, but whether the kanji pronunciation or the katakana reading will be used just depends on which country we’re talking about. In addition, all country names in Japanese DO have a kanji you can use instead of the katakana, but many of these are ateji (当て字; 宛字, lit. “assigned characters”) which means they are kanji being “borrowed” since they sound like the phonetic pronunciation of the katakana. These kanji names are marked with a * in the chart. You can also describe country names with a single kanji + 国 based on ateji. For example, 米国 is from 亜米利加 (アメリカ), 仏国 is from 仏蘭西(フランス), 独国 is from 独逸(ドイツ) and so on. These expressions are often used in newspapers because they are shorter. Furthermore, country names are sometimes written by a kanji like 日(日本) and 米 (アメリカ). For instance, 日米会議 means the Japanese – America conference. OK, let's see how many names of countries in Japanese you can learn! *Remember some countries may have multiple names, but the audio we've provided is the MOST COMMON usage.
Learn Country Names in Japanese
Country | Kanji | Kana - Romaji | Country |
---|---|---|---|
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Australia-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 豪州 濠洲 | オーストラリア - Gōshō or Osutraria | Australia |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Austria-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 墺太利* | オーストリア - Osutoria | Austria |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Belgium-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 白耳義* | ベルギー - Berugī | Belgium |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Brazil-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 伯剌西爾* | ブラジル - Burajiru | Brazil |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Bulgaria-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 勃牙利* | ブルガリア - Burugaria | Bulgaria |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Cambodia-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 柬埔寨 柬蒲寨* | カンボジア - Kanbojia | Cambodia |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Canada-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 加奈陀* | カナダ - Kanada | Canada |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/China-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 中国 | ちゅうごく - Chūgoku | China |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Denmark-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 丁抹* | デンマーク - Denmāku | Denmark |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Egypt-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 埃及* | エジプト - Ejiputo | Egypt |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/France-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 仏国 仏蘭西 | ふっこく – Fukkoku フランス (Furansu) | France |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Germany-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 独国 独逸 | どくこく – Dokukoku ドイツ (Doitsu) | Germany |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/England-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 英国 英吉利 | えいこく – Eikoku 大ブリテン - daiburiten | Great Britain |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Scotland-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 蘇格蘭 | スコットランド - Sukottorando | Scotland |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Wales-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 威勒士 | ウェールズ - Uēruzu | Wales |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Northern-Ireland.wav"][/audio] [audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Ireland.wav"][/audio] | 愛蘭 北愛蘭 | アイルランド - Airurando 北アイルランド - Kita Airurando | Ireland and Northern Ireland (yes, we know Ireland is not part of the UK) |
[audio m4a="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/England-in-Japanese-igirisu.m4a"][/audio] | 英吉利 | イギリス – Igirisu | England |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Greece-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 希臘* | ギリシャ - Girisha | Greece |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/India-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 印度* | インド - Indo | India |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Iran-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 衣蘭* 伊蘭 | イラン - Iran | Iran |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Italy-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 伊太利亜* | イタリヤ - Itaria | Italy |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Japan-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 日本 | にほん; にっぽん - Nihon; Nippon | Japan |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Korea-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 韓国 | かんこく - Kankoku | Korea |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Mexico-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 墨西哥* | メキシコ - Mekishiko | Mexico |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Mongolia-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 蒙古 モンゴル国 | もうこ – Mōko モンゴル – Mongoru モンゴルこく - mongorukoku | Mongolia |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Nepal-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 捏巴爾* | ネパール - Nepāru | Nepal |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Netherlands-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 和蘭* | オランダ - Oranda | Netherlands |
秘露 | ペルー - Peru | Peru | |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Poland-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 波蘭* | ポーランド - Pōranda | Poland |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Portugal-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 葡萄牙* | ポルトガル – Porutogaru ぽ - Po | Portugal |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Romania-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 羅馬尼亜* | ルーマニア - Rūmania | Romania |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Russia-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 露西亜 魯西亜* | ロシア - Rossia | Russia |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/South-Africa-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 南阿弗利加 | みなみアフリカ- minamiafurika | South Africa |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Spain-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 西班牙* | スペイン - Supain | Spain |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Switzerland-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 瑞西* | スイス - Suisu | Switzerland |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Sweden-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 瑞典* | スウェーデン - Suēden | Sweden |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Thailand-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 泰国 泰 | たいこく – Taikoku タイ - Tai | Thailand |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Turkey-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 土国 土耳古 | どこく - Dokoku トルコ - toruko | Turkey |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/United-States-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 米国* 亜米利加 | べいこく – Beigoku アメリカ (Amerika) | United States of America |
[audio wav="statamic://asset::blog::wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Vietnam-in-Japanese.wav"][/audio] | 越南* | えつなん – Etsunan ベトナム Betonamu | Vietnam |
To help you learn all the names, we've created a handy study list so you can add each country to your drills on Nihongo Master and track your progress! [otw_shortcode_button href="https://www.nihongomaster.com/lists/view/401/names-of-countries" size="large" bgcolor="#cc0000" icon_type="general foundicon-right-arrow" icon_position="left" shape="radius" color_class="otw-red" target="_blank"]See the Study List[/otw_shortcode_button]