異い国こく

い

こ

く

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

1

noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

foreign country; foreign land

Neutral term for a country other than one's own. Often used in literary or slightly formal contexts, but common in news and travel writing.

彼かれは異い国こくでの生せい活かつに憧あこがれている。
He longs for life in a foreign country.
異い国こくの文ぶん化かに触ふれるのは楽たのしい。
It's enjoyable to experience foreign cultures.

See all 35 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

異い国こくで暮くらすto live in a foreign country
彼かれは若わかいころ、異い国こくで暮くらした経けい験けんがある。
He has experience living in a foreign country when he was young.
異い国こくの文ぶん化かに触ふれるto experience/come into contact with foreign culture
旅りょ行こうで異い国こくの文ぶん化かに触ふれるのが好すきだ。
I love experiencing foreign cultures through travel.
異い国こくを旅たびするto travel through a foreign land
若わかいうちに異い国こくを旅たびしてみたい。
I want to travel through foreign lands while I'm young.

Kanji

異uncommon, different, queerness
国country

Related words

外がい国こくN5
外国 is the everyday, neutral word for any country other than one's own, while 異国 carries a more literary or exotic nuance suggesting unfamiliarity.
他た国こく
他国 is a formal term often used in political or diplomatic contexts, whereas 異国 emphasizes the cultural or experiential strangeness of a foreign place.
異い郷きょう
異郷 is a poetic word for a distant, unfamiliar land, close in feel to 異国 but even more literary and less used for actual countries.

Opposites

自じ国こくN1
自国 means one's own country, the direct opposite of 異国, a foreign country.
故こ国こく
異国 means a foreign land, the opposite of 故国, one's own native country.

Word family

異い国こく人じん
foreigner; stranger; outsider; alien
異い国こくの人ひと
foreigner; person from a foreign country
異い国こく情じょう緒ちょ
exotic mood; exotic atmosphere; exoticism
異い国こく情じょう調ちょう
exoticism; exotic atmosphere
異い国こく趣しゅ味み
taste for the exotic; exoticism

Etymology

Compound of 異 (i, 'different, unusual') and 国 (koku, 'country'). The combination straightforwardly means 'different country' or 'foreign land'.