Nippon or Nihon?

In the 18th year of Meiji era (1868-1912), it is said that the name “Nippon” was printed on ¥１00 bills for the first time. The reason for using the name was that the then finance minister and The Bank of Japan governor were both originally from Satsuma (the old name for Kagoshima Prefecture), where people used to call “Nippon” at the time.

Nowadays Japanese people call Japan “Nihon” most of the time. But “Nippon” is still used by the Bank of Japan and the Nippon Broadcasting System Corporation.

 Most people say “Ganbare, Nippon!” when they want to encourage the Japanese athletes to do their best during the Olympic Games for example.

Source: Pera Pera Penguin by Hitomi Hirayama