本ほん国ごく

also: ほんこく

ほ

ん

ご

く

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

noun

home country; one's own country; country of origin

Only with reading ほんごく

Refers to the country a person or thing originally comes from, or the country one considers home. Common in contexts of nationality, products, or returning from abroad.

彼かれは5

Related words

母ぼ国こくN1sense 1
母国 emphasizes an emotional, nostalgic tie to the country of one's birth, while 本国 is more neutral and can refer to legal or administrative origin.
祖そ国こく sense 1
祖国 carries a patriotic or historical weight like 'fatherland', whereas 本国 is a plainer, more practical term used for things like product origin or nationality.
自じ国こくN1sense 4
自国 simply means 'one's own country' in contrast to other countries, while 本国 more specifically points to the country of origin or ancestral homeland.
本ほん土ど
本国 means the home country or metropolitan state as opposed to colonies, while 本土 more often points to the physical mainland itself.

Opposites

外がい国こくN5sense 1
外国 means 'foreign country', the direct opposite of 本国's sense of one's own home country.
植しょく民みん地ちN2sense 2
植民地 is the colony or vassal territory, the opposite counterpart to 本国 in its sense of 'suzerain/colonizing power'.
現げん地ちN2
本国 means one's home country, the opposite of 現地 when discussing staff or residents currently based abroad.

Written forms

本国Usage100%
- ほんごく
  Standard kanji spelling; the reading ほんごく is the most common and is used for all senses except the rare reading ほんこく.
- ほんこく
  Rare reading; may appear in older or formal contexts but is not the primary reading.
ほんこく

Meanings

Usage patterns