<Li> Ōyashima (大 八 洲) meaning the Great Country of Eight (or Many) Islands, Awaji, Iyo (later Shikoku), Oki, Tsukushi (later Kyūshū), Iki, Tsushima, Sado, and Yamato (later Honshū); note that Hokkaidō, Chishima, and Okinawa were not part of Japan in ancient times, as they were not yet discovered or known by the ancient Japanese . The eight islands refers to the creation of the main eight islands of Japan by the gods Izanami and Izanagi in Japanese mythology as well as the fact that eight was a synonym for "many". </Li> <Li> Yashima (八島), "Eight (or Many) Islands" </Li> <Li> Fusō (扶桑) </Li> <Li> Mizuho (瑞穂) refers to ears of grain, e.g. 瑞穂 国 Mizuho - no - kuni "Country of Lush Ears (of Rice)." From Old Japanese midu> Japanese mizu ("water; lushness, freshness, juiciness") + Old Japanese fo> Japanese ho ("ear (of grain, especially rice)"). </Li>

Why is japan called the empire of the rising sun