It's our special niece, Kayla's birthday today, and the sun must now be rising on that side of the world :-) We are thinking of you and wish you a very happy, fun-filled 4th June. Special month, as nine days ago our nephew Alex celebrated his first birthday. Kayla today. Our mum, Cherly in five days and Barry, our brother in a further six days. At the start of July, very special date of the 13th, we have our sister, Moniques birthday too. I will make us a cake to enjoy on all those special days, just for you-what a spoiling few weeks of Cake :-) Loving it, yum!

So, talking about the sun rising on your side of the world as we speak, let me share some history and etymology with you:

The English word Japan derives from the Chinese pronunciation of the Japanese name, 日本, pronounced Nippon or Nihon in Japanese. The pronunciation Nippon is more formal, and is in Japanese used for most official purposes, including international sporting events.

Japanese people refer to themselves as Nihonjin (日本人) and to their language as Nihongo (日本語). Both Nippon and Nihon mean "sun-origin" and are often translated as Land of the Rising Sun. This nomenclature comes from Japanese missions to Imperial China and refers to Japan's eastward position relative to China.