日本 (Rì Běn) is the standard Mandarin name for the country Japan. The character 日 (Rì) means 'sun' or 'day', and 本 (Běn) means 'origin' or 'source'. Together, they form the literal meaning 'origin of the sun', reflecting Japan’s geographic position to the east of China — where the sun rises — and its historical designation as the 'Land of the Rising Sun'. This name has been used in Chinese texts since at least the 7th century.

The term is exclusively a proper noun referring to the nation-state and appears in formal, academic, journalistic, and everyday contexts. It is not used for people (use 日本人 Rìběnrén for 'Japanese person') or language (use 日语 Rìyǔ). Unlike some other country names in Chinese, 日本 is never shortened in neutral or formal speech, though colloquial abbreviations like 日 (Rì) may appear in informal writing or headlines — but these are stylistic and context-dependent.