Japan (日本, Nihon, Nippon) is a main character in the series Hetalia. He is the personification of Japan.
In 2008, Himaruya gave human names to some of the characters, and he received the name Honda Kiku (本田菊). In Japan, name order is the reverse of how it is in several other countries: Kiku is his given name and Honda is his surname/family name.
He is a short, slim man with short black hair, dark brown eyes, and is often depicted wearing a white naval uniform with black and gold accents and a katana sword often at his left hip. His first appearance in both the anime and the published manga shows him briefly wearing a more ornate version, with gold epaulets and frog clasps down in the front of the jacket. When he first appeared in the webcomic series, he wore a standard gray/black uniform until sometime after joining the Axis. He can be seen wearing this uniform during more formal occasions.
In some of Himaruya's official art, his hair is dark brown, and his eyes are a lighter brown.
In the anime, his height often fluctuates. Although he is one of the shorter characters, he can be seen standing at different heights, such as being anywhere from chest height to near eye level height when standing next to America. His eyes also began to change as the series progressed, becoming a lighter shade and not appearing as "void" as he originally appeared.
On occasion, Japan can be seen wearing glasses similar to America's but with a black frame instead of silver.
Personality and Interests
A shy, quiet, and hard-working man, Japan does not know very much about the outside world, partially due to his self-isolation, and needs time to adjust to other people. He is very curious and interested in learning things from other nations. His distinct island customs may seem mysterious to others, although he finds them perfectly normal. He tends to have the behavior of an "old man" and was a hikikomori for a long time, having spent about 250 years in isolation and keeping contact only with Netherlands. Though he appears horrified at the idea of nudity or intimate contact, he has erotic woodcuts in his possession, which he tries to hide secretly between his non-erotic books. Japan also voiced his preference for 2D girls over 3D girls to England, Greece, and France in one strip, hinting that he has an otaku side. His otaku side is further shown when he decides to buy a Shonen Jump magazine in his preparations for the New Year.
Japan seems to be fond of food in general, very similar to China's fondness, his country's food in particular, as evidenced by his annoyance of having his salted salmon taken off Germany's diet plan. However, unlike China, Japan seemed willing to share recipes and ingredients of some dishes. He expressed dismay at the increase of the price of eggs due to a bad economy. He also had the urge to touch the Italy brothers' ahoges due to them reminding him of vegetables. It is said that cockroaches are one of the things that Japan hates the most, to the extent where he could cry over them. Although he appears relatively calm most of the time, it is suggested that his anger would be the "scariest". However, it is shown that it is hard for him to get that angry, as he is mostly able to only summon an "unpleasant feeling".
He loves animals, especially cats, and owns a white dog called Pochi that resembles an Akita or Shiba Inu, both Japanese breeds. He also eventually gets a rabbit and a guinea pig. He tends to have a weakness for things that are soft and fluffy.
Although he has lost connection to his spiritual side that allowed him to see and communicate with the mystic spirits of his land, Japan is still very respectful towards spirits of the deceased and tries to prevent the other countries from doing anything that would upset them out of both respect and fear of what an angry spirit would do.
Background
Found as a young boy by China, Japan was raised by the older man in a brotherly manner although it is implied that Japan did not view China in such a way. Japan's desire to become stronger and more independent eventually drove a wedge between himself and China and soon after Japan left after attacking China and leaving a large scar on his back.
For a while, Japan had closed his borders to the world and only maintained contact with Netherlands. It was through his friendship with Netherlands that Japan learned that the young America would be approaching to try to get him to open the country but may do it in an unintentionally bold way that Japan may not be ready for.
After the country opened up, Japan began catching up on what he had missed during his isolation and even began forming friendships with other Nations, eventually entering an alliance with Germany and Italy to become part of the Axis.
Relationships
Germany: Japan and Germany get along relatively well and tend to be the only ones who adapt to the situation while joined together as the Axis Powers. Japan had known Germany for some time (as depicted in the original strips), although Germany said he can never tell what Japan has in mind. Japan seems to admire how put together Germany is and how productive and efficient he can be in his work.
Italy Veneziano: The two became acquainted with each other as part of the Axis, though Italy had once had a dream where he met a younger Japan. Japan is shown to often be unnerved by Italy's "shameless" and unusual behavior, even as going as far as to order him to "take responsibility" and marry him after having been hugged and kissed. The two have been shown to have a mutual respect of each other's history and artwork and seem to be close friends although Japan is often caught off guard by Italy's affections and energetic nature.
America: Japan is depicted to have a close friendship with America since the younger country got him to open his borders. Their relationship became better when Japan confided in America how he was worried about getting along with others and America used his "table turning" prank to instead assure Japan that he has nothing to worry about. While they get along quite well and visit each other's houses often, Japan is often confused by many things about America, such as his food intake and his fear of the supernatural; something that Japan has tried to help him overcome. Despite their close bond, Japan can become annoyed/angered by many of America's spontaneous outbursts and actions, especially when Japan is on the end of said actions, such as when America had tricked him into hosting a Christmas party. They share a love of technology and video games, and the two are often used to show the differences between their cultures.
China: After being discovered by China as a small child, Japan was raised by the older man, who taught him how to use kanji (which Japan used to create the hiragana alphabet). One day, Japan turned against China and attacked him with a katana, leaving a disfiguring scar on China's back. From this point, the two were enemies in war, and China despaired over how war had changed Japan. It can be inferred from a reference made about the Battle of Keichou that their relations were already starting to strain before the betrayal, combined with their differing views and Japan's vow to "become stronger". It is also to be noted that while China considered Japan a younger brother, Japan himself denied there being such a connection when asked.
England: The two nations are often shown to get along well. Despite not having much in common, Japan suggests they can be lonely together, as both of them do not have many friends. They also formed an alliance (Anglo-Japanese Alliance). They both appear to share a love for tea/tea ceremonies as they can often be seen enjoying tea together.
Russia: In the Lietuvis strips, Japan is shown to abhor Russia, his grudge stemming as far back as the Russo-Japanese War (although he defeated him, he wound up using up his life savings and became poor). After hearing of the alliance between Russia and Germany, Japan became distraught, claiming "That man is a monster created by fallout from nuclear tests! He tears down buildings! He breathes fire!". When Germany insists on continuing his relationship with Russia, Japan makes a resolution to dissolve himself and to become known as Minami-Centrair. This is loosely based off of an event that happened where the whole Japanese cabinet resigned due to the increasingly good relations between Russia and Germany.
During Russia's visit to Germany's house, Japan made many attempts to get revenge:
Put caltrops on his seat, but failed as Russia noticed them and did not sit down.
Hid in the ceiling and attempted to harpoon him, only to miss and for Russia to shake him down, revealing his hiding place.
Placed an object (possibly an explosive or needle) in an ohagi in hopes that Russia would eat it, only for him to eat it and remain unaffected.
More Like Gamba Vs. Noroi shows that Russia was able to curse Japan and make him fall ill from simply staring at him, an allusion to when Japan was affected by the Great Kantou earthquake.
Osaka: Japan is rather close to Osaka and gets along with quite well with him. He often relies on Osaka during diplomatic situations and is the Japanese prefecture he is most often seen with.
Greece: The two nations have a very friendly relation, and multiple strips can be seen of them visiting each other or bonding over their mutual love of cats. Their relationship could be associated with the real-life Greco-Japan diplomatic relationship, which started in 1899. It is implied in Lazy Comic Country that they slept together when Japan stated he had no "experience", and Greece said he would fix that. He then woke up naked in bed with Greece, though Japan has denied that anything happened between them, believing that it was only a dream.
Korea: Japan and Korea appear to not get along very well. Japan is often on the end of Korea's hatred and false claims of stolen ideas and inventions. He is also very unnerved at Korea's many attempts to grab his chest with the claim it belongs to him.
Netherlands: When Japan had isolated himself from the world, he was revealed to have kept an open trade with Netherlands during that time as they had a companionship for many years before this. Japan is shown to be able to speak with Netherlands with relative ease.
Prussia: While their only canonical meeting was in Prussia's Cleaning game, in which he helps him clean after Japan misinterpreted his demands as enthusiasm, Himaruya has stated that their relationship is near inseparable, and that it was something he wanted to show in Prussia's April Fools blog but did not get to. It is also notable, that Japan calls him "Prussia-kun", emphasizing this. Prussia possibly goes to Japan's house very often, as he said that he "usually" has tea and manjuu when he goes. When they finished cleaning, to show his gratitude, Japan gave him the cakes he had previously been asking for, however the work exhausted Prussia, so he could "only" eat 34. To date, their most notable anime interaction together is when Prussia asked Japan for help finding a pine tree for Christmas and Japan, not having any pine trees, decided to give Prussia his treasured bonsai tree.
Italy Romano: Though they have yet to meet in any of the actual strips, Himaruya has stated that they would both get along rather well and that Japan would refer to the other as "Romano-kun" (after initially "-san").
Taiwan: Taiwan has a great preference for Japan, much to China's dismay; this probably stems from the fact that, in reality, the island of Taiwan was annexed by the Japanese government, an event yet to be addressed in the comics. Japan's relationship towards her has yet to be addressed as well. In Hetalia: World☆Stars Chapter 42, it is stated that Taiwan finds the idea of giving chocolates to guys "kawaii", and it also shows her giving Valentine's chocolate to Japan, in which he accepts.
Turkey: Turkey seems to have a soft spot for Japan, and Japan, in turn, has mutual respect for him. In one strip, Turkey starts fighting with Greece when he sees the two together, presuming Greece wanted to take over Japan. Despite this, Japan had not stated whether he likes Turkey or Greece more. Turkey also threatened France on April Fools with "Don't you dare try anything on Japan. Or else I'll invade you."
In The Anime
Japan first appears in Episode 01 at the "Meeting Of The World", where he agrees with America's ridiculous solution for global warming. He is also given an official cameo at the end of Episode 03 as a teaser before he is formally introduced in Episode 04.
In Episode 06, while stranded on an island, Japan suggests to Germany that they call their team "Suujiku" (枢軸) (Axis); eine Achse in German, and un Asse in Italian.
Since the anime is based more off the published version of the manga than the original webcomic, Japan does not wear his black uniform in his introduction, instead wearing the decorative version of his naval suit before he becomes part of the Axis Powers. He is also depicted in his WWII naval suit in instances where he originally wore other clothing in the equivalent manga strips.
Name
The Western order for his name would be Kiku Honda, with the Eastern being Honda Kiku.
Kiku comes from the Japanese word for the Chrysanthemum flower, which is also the family crest of the Japanese Imperial family. Honda is a common Japanese surname that includes the kanji 本 hon, as in 日本 Nihon (Japan).
His birthday, February 11th, corresponds to the date of National Foundation Day in Japan, which celebrates the foundation of Japan in 660 BCE by Emperor Jimmu.
Though his exact age is unknown and Himaruya listed it as a "secret", some Japanese fans consider him to be approximately 2,670(+) years old.
Although being younger than China, Japan has expressed his old age on more than one occasion. In Salted Salmon, Germany and I, Japan explains how he no longer enjoys his birthday, suffers from high blood pressure which causes him to wake up early and wander his neighborhood, and has hip pains.
Although Japan considers these problems to be related to his older age, they may actually be symptoms relating to his high sodium intake as he is often seen eating highly salted foods and high salt levels in the body are known to cause high blood pressure and joint pains due to inflammation. Should he lower his salt intake, these issues may clear up.
In one published strip it is shown he sees the world as an RPG, another hint at his otaku nature.
According to Himaruya, Japan would most likely have the blood type A (most likely due to it being a common blood type in Japan).
As Hetalia was originally planned as a one-chapter story, Himaruya did not expect Japan to become a popular character and drew him as a type of character he did not often utilize, with "soulless" eyes. He noted that if he had known the series would become bigger, the design would have been drastically different.
While it is a trait not often shown, Japan appears to be a skilled swordsman.
Notes
↑In the post where Himaruya listed some of the nations' ages (Japanese; English), he specifically said that Japan's is "unknown".
↑In one comic (Japanese; English), is very strongly implied that he had sex with Greece, and though Japan insisted it was a dream, Greece is shown sleeping next to him.
↑Japan's National Foundation Day, which celebrates the foundation of Japan in 660 BCE by Emperor Jimmu. Click here for more information.
↑Japan-cat/Neko Japan. He is the one of the only nation cats other than Italy-cat to be given an actual name by Himaruya.
↑Supernatural beings in Japanese folklore. Click here, here, and here for more information. Also, in the comic where England visits Japan and talks with a kappa that lives around Japan's house, it is revealed that Japan can no longer see them or other magical creatures, though it is unknown if he has become able to see them again since that point.
↑Eaves are the lower border of a roof that overhangs the wall.
↑The national flowers of Japan. Cherry Blossom is also known as Sakura in Japanese, and this flower has a strong cultural value. The imperial seal of Japan is in the shape of a chrysanthemum (and Japan's human name, Kiku, means chrysanthemum). Click here and here for more information.
↑Four popular Japanese dishes. Sushi is versatile and can be made in many different ways, though is typically made of rice and a variety of different fillings, most notably raw seafood, and is often wrapped with seaweed. Shiozake refers to Japanese salted salmon. Nimono is a dish with many varieties, but at its core is a main ingredient simmered in shiru stock and then seasoned. Tsukemono are preserved vegetables usually pickled in salt, brine, or a bed of rice bran. Click here, here, here, and here for more information.
References
↑Himaruya, Hidekaz. May 2007. "Old Blog 2007/05". Japanese. English.
