At first, the characters were read in the Japanese way as 'Yamato,' and then read 'Jippon,' or 'Nippon,' which became established during around the Heian period, led up to the present day. |
当初は国号の通り「ヤマト」と読まれていたが、やがて「ジッポン」「ニッポン」などと音読されるようになり、それが平安時代頃に定着し、現在へ至ったとされる。 |