Myths of Japan

Question: Long was surprised, why Japan is called ‘ Japan ‘ in English. I know, why Korea is called ‘ Korea ‘ in spite of the fact that on-korejski it sounds as ‘ Hanguk ‘. Explain, please, etymology a word ‘ Japan ‘, why not ‘ Nihon ‘?
The answer. The word ‘ Japan ‘, has probably come from Portuguese or Dutch. Seamen, dealers and missionaries from Portugal – the first representatives of the West who has visited Japan, and they already named its Zipangu (’ Zipangu ‘) or Dzhipangu (”Jipangu”) as heard that in the north of China it named Dzhipenkuo (’ Jihpenkuo ‘). Under one theory it is a word has occurred from Dutch “Japan” which is taken from a word “Yatpun” , used by inhabitants of southern China. As the name has appeared still before there was a concept политкоректности, Portugueses and Dutches haven’t been interested absolutely not in using Japanese words “Nippon” (Ниппон) or “Nihon” (Нихон).

Question: Why on cherry trees there are no cherries?
The answer: There are two kinds of cherry trees. One kind grow up because of their beautiful flowering (sakura – an Oriental cherry), and another – because of fruit (sakuranbo). If you get accustomed more attentively to an Oriental cherry will notice small cherries.

Question: Why Japanese say, what it is necessary for the woman bears the child TEN months?
The answer: No, Japanese children same, as well as we. Japanese consider not calendar months, and lunar which consist precisely from 28 days. These in the end of each of 9 months make some days one more additional month. Here whence there were 10 months (pregnancy to last 40 weeks = 10 times for 4 weeks = 10 months) “.

Question: Why Japanese say, what at them dark blue signals of a traffic light, though actually they green?”
The answer: According to the book “Japan from And to I: Secrets of an everyday life with James’s explanations and Michiko Verdaman”, the first signals of a traffic light in Japan were not green, but dark blue. However dark blue fires were difficult for distinguishing from the big distance, therefore them have replaced with the green. Вардаман says that the custom to refer to dark blue fires of a traffic light has remained since those times.
Like it the problem in that would sound a reasonable explanation, however, Japanese can tell “green” and subjects (for example, cucumbers, spinach, and sometimes on a grass), which actually dark blue. Has simply historically developed so that Japanese considered green color as a shade dark blue. For example, the Chinese hieroglyph designating dark blue color (said as ao), consists of two symbols iki (life) and i (a reservoir, a well) and refers to color of plants which grew round a reservoir, i.e. color between green and dark blue. When Chineses have seen this hieroglyph, they have told that it means “green”, and Japanese – “blue”. In the Japanese book of paints it is said that there are four tertiary colors: red, dark blue, white and black, and all other colors are shades of these of four. Hieroglyph Ao, however, is a kind ideal dark blue, halfway between green and dark blue. The sky is considered dark blue color, but dark blue is a shade ao, also as well as traffic light fires. Leaves of trees are considered green, but also green too a shade ao, also as crimson it is considered a shade red. One more interesting feature of various understanding of colors is that Japanese children always draw the sun red, instead of yellow.