“Hinokuni” is the old name of Japan. “Hi” meaning the sun and “kuni” means country. “Japan” is the name that the foreigners “Nippon”: Nip=HI=Sun, pon=origin, and so Nippon denoets “the sun rising country”. Therefore Hinokuni, Nippon, and Japan have the same meaming.
Settlement of Japan begun from Izumo and northern kyushu in the ancient times by rice culture peoples, after which Yamato became civilized.
The author discoveved a series of these place-names in these ancient civilized district Namely they are as follows.
Taale I
The most conspicuous fact is that the place-name of Yamato can be found in all the civilized regions of ancient Japan listed above. But “Yamato” was interpreted untill now a smeaning “the placewhich mountains lie” because it seemed to be so only by the linguistic analogy; Yama=mountain, to=place. The author has found ita reasonable explanaton through the Malay word Yamtuan=King, Sovereign.
