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'

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

ちょう

exoticism; exotic atmosphere

taste for the exotic; exoticism