東とう亜あ

と

う

あ

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

Refers to the geographical and cultural region of East Asia. 'The Orient' is an older, sometimes literary translation, but 'East Asia' is the primary modern meaning.

東とう亜あの国くに々ぐには経けい済ざい的てきに結むすびついている。
The countries of East Asia are economically interconnected.
彼かれは東とう亜あの歴れき史しを研けん究きゅうしている。
He is researching the history of East Asia.

See all 6 example sentences ›

Kanji

東east
亜Asia, rank next, come after
亞rank, follow

Related words

東ひがしアジアN3
東アジア is the standard neutral modern term for East Asia, while 東亜 is an older, more formal or historically loaded word (associated with pre-war/wartime usage).

Don't confuse with

東とう南なんアジアN3
東亜 refers to East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, etc.), while 東南アジア refers to the distinct region of Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, etc.), so the two are easily confused by their similar names but denote different areas.

Written forms

東とう亜あUsage99%
Standard modern kanji spelling for East Asia.
東とう亞あUsage1%
out-dated kanji form
Outdated kanji form using 亞 instead of 亜; still encountered in historical texts.

Etymology

Compound of 東 (east) and 亜 (Asia, originally an abbreviation for 亜細亜). The term was coined in Japan during the Meiji era as a translation of 'East Asia'.