The name Japan originally came from the Chinese term meaning

• A. Land of the rising sun
• B. Island of the East
• C. Bridge of the Sun
• D. Sea of Japan

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is how Japan’s name connects to the sun and its eastern location. The Chinese characters 日本 literally mean “origin of the sun” or “sun-origin.” In English this idea is commonly expressed as “the land of the rising sun”—a poetic way to describe a country located to the east where the sun rises. So the best option captures that traditional, descriptive sense of Japan as the land where the sun rises. The other options don’t fit because they aren’t the meaning carried by 日本: they don’t reflect the sun-origin idea or the eastward rising sun concept.