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30 Japan-Made Chinese Words

Perhaps you have heard about a large portion of Japanese vocabulary is borrowed from traditional Chinese characters. Surprisingly, the borrowing of words actually goes in both directions between the two languages. Known as wasei-kango (和製漢語), these words were ‘made in Japan’ and later were adopted into Chinese in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Japan made these terms in order to translate Western concepts into Japanese. In addition, a couple of them are about Japanese concepts (a good example is a Japanese-origin food: sushi) as well. Let’s take a look at these 30 Japan-made Chinese words!

Wasei-Kango (和製漢) English
系統 system
電話 telephone
電気 electricity
旅行 travel
自転車 bicycle
野球 baseball
科学 science
歴史 history
哲学 philosophy
病院 hospital
派出所 police station
銀行 bank
弁当 lunchbox
味噌 miso
寿司 sushi
抹茶 matcha (Japanese powdered green tea)
煎茶 sencha
文化 culture
和紙 washi
鉛筆 pencil
雑誌 magazine
美術 art
時間 time
空間 space
入口 entrance
出口 exit
市場 market
投資 investment
企業 enterprise
広告 advertisement
国際 international

How many words do you know? 😊

 

Read: Chinese Characters of Japanese Kanji and Chinese Hanzi and Are Not All The Same!

 

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