Japanese exonyms

For place names derived from the Chinese language, Japanese typically uses the kanji equivalents of the Chinese characters that make up their respective endonyms, albeit with a Sino-Japanese pronunciation called on'yomi. Some place names, however, also have an approximate pronunciation (or transcription) of a historical English exonym if the area is internationally well-known, such as Beijing and Hong Kong, and such transcriptions tend to be more common than the on'yomi or the Mandarin transcriptions. Most place names derived from Mandarin also have a Japanese transcription of the Mandarin pronunciation.

One detail to be noted, however, is that for the names of certain districts or areas in Hong Kong and Macau, the pronunciations of the Japanese transcriptions typically try to imitate the Cantonese pronunciation instead of the Mandarin pronunciation.

Most Korean place names are also derived from words in the Chinese language, though Japanese can refer to a Korean place name using either Japanese on-yomi or a pronunciation that imitates the Korean endonym name as closely as possible (Itaewon (梨泰院) is Ritai'in (りたいいん) or Itewon (イテウォン) in Japanese). Many place names in Korea have at least two of the pronunciations, the first being based on the Japanese on-yomi or kun-yomi and the second being based on the Korean endonym, with the latter being made so that the Japanese could navigate and ask for directions more clearly to native Koreans. Korean-based pronunciations are usually written in katakana.

The Chinese characters for the endonyms below are kanji shinjitai, which may differ from the simplified Chinese characters used in China. Most can be written either in kanji or katakana.

More information English, Mandarin ...

English	Japanese			Mandarin	Endonym	Notes
	Kanji	On'yomi	Not On'yomi	Pinyin
Beijing, Peking	北京	NHokkyō[5]	Pekin[6][5]	Běijīng		Pronunciation based on historical English exonym[6]
			Hokkin[7]†[8]
Busan	釜山	Fuzan	Pusan	Fǔshān	Korean: 부산, romanized: Busan
China	中国	Chūgoku		Zhōngguó
Philippines	比律賓		Firipin	Fēilǜbīn	Filipino: Pilipinas
Guangdong, Canton	広東	NKōtō	Kanton	Guǎngdōng	Yue Chinese: Gwong2dung1	Pronunciation based on historical English exonym
Harbin	哈爾浜, 哈爾賓		Harubin[9]	Hā'ěrbīn	Russian: Харбин, romanized: Kharbin,[9] Manchu: ᡥᠠᠯᠪᡳᠨ, romanized: Halbin
			Harupin[9]
Hong Kong	香港	NKōkō[10][11]	Honkon[12]	Xiānggǎng	Yue Chinese: Hoeng1gong2	Pronunciation based on English exonym
India	印度	Indo	—N/a	Yìndù	Hindi: भारत, romanized: Bhārat	Usually written with katakana
North Korea	北朝鮮	Kita Chōsen	—N/a	Běi Cháoxiǎn	Korean: 북조선, romanized: Bukjoseon	北 (kita) means 'north'.
South Korea	韓国	Kankoku	—N/a	Hánguó	Korean: 한국, romanized: Han'guk
Macau	澳門	Ōmon	Makao	Àomén	Yue Chinese: Ou3mun2	Pronunciation based on Portuguese exonym
Myanmar	緬甸†[13]	Menden	—N/a	Miǎndiàn	Burmese: မြန်မာ, romanized: Mranma	Also ビルマ (Biruma) and ミャンマー (Myanmā)
Nanjing, Nanking	南京	NNankyō	Nankin[6]	Nánjīng		Pronunciation based on historical English exonym
Oxford	牛津		Okkusufōdo	Niújīn	牛 means 'ox' and 津 means 'ford' in Chinese.
Pyongyang	平壌	Heijō‡	Pyon'yan	Píngrǎng	Korean: 평양, romanized: P'yŏngyang
Shanghai	上海	Jōkai[6]†[8][5]	Shanhai[5]	Shànghǎi	Wu Chinese: Zaan22 he44
Shenzhen	深圳	Shinsen	Shenchen‡	Shēnzhèn
Tai Po	大埔	Taiho	Taipō	Dàpǔ	Yue Chinese: Daai6bou3	Based on Cantonese pronunciation
Taipei	台北	Taihoku	Taipei	Táiběi
Taiwan	台湾	Taiwan	—N/a	Táiwān
Tibet	西蔵	Seizō	Chibetto	Xīzàng	Standard Tibetan: བོད, romanized: Bod	Pronunciation based on the English exonym
Ürümqi	烏魯木斉		Urumuchi	Wūlǔmùqí	Uyghur: ئۈرۈمچى, romanized: Ürümçi
Vietnam	越南	Etsunan‡	Betonamu	Yuènán	Vietnamese: Việt Nam
Yangtze	長江	Chōkō[14]	Changawa‡	Cháng Jiāng
	揚子江	NYōshikō	Yōsukō[15]	Yángzǐ Jiāng

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• Endonym and exonym
• Names of Asian cities in different languages
• Japanese place names
• List of Japanese prefectural name etymologies