Japan is the island country of Tokyo, sushi, and cherry blossoms. Travel to Japan, made in Japan, the Sea of Japan.
It is an archipelago of thousands of islands on the meeting point of four tectonic plates, which is why it has both the volcanoes and the earthquake engineering. The cherry blossom front is tracked northward each spring as a national event. Note that japan is also a hard black varnish, named from the lacquerwork the country was known for.
1nounjapanThe island country of Tokyo and cherry blossoms.
“Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan.”
2nounhardA hard black varnish.
“The Victorian tea tray was covered in black japan decorated with gold flowers.”
japan is a country, or a varnish.
From Japan, due to this varnishing process being an imitation of East Asian processes. Sense “to ordain” in reference to the black clothes worn by the clergy.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA