Wa

Japanese Wa (倭^?, "Japan, Japanese", from Chinese Wō 倭, Hangul Wae 왜) is the oldest recorded name of Japan.

Chinese, Korean, and Japanese scribes regularly wrote Wa or Yamato "Japan" with the Chinese character 倭 until the 8th century, when the Japanese found fault with it, replacing it with 和 "harmony, peace, balance".

The earliest textual references to Japan are in Chinese classic texts.