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Nippon

The internet reminds us how cool it is with this Minecraft recreation of the Japanese islands

While browsing the net over the last week, I’ve been bombarded by a barrage of pictures uploaded from block-busting game Minecraft. The next thing I knew, a Japanese fan had generously shared his original world data for the entire country of Nippon.

Just wait till you see his incredibly precise rendering of the Japanese islands in all of their Minecraft glory!

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Nippon or Nihon? No consensus on the Japanese pronunciation of “Japan”

As any student of Japanese will tell you, its use of Chinese characters known as kanji can be a nightmare at times. And although they can be really useful at deducing the meaning of complex words, they give little in the way of clues as to how one should pronounce them.

Take the kanji for Japan (日本) for example. Even a first grader can tell you what it means, but ask a group of adults how to pronounce it and you might get a mixture of “Nihon” or “Nippon” and maybe even an occasional “Yamato” if one of those people happens to be a smart-ass.

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