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日本銀行 is translated as "Bank of Japan".

(1) This would mean that it's a possessive, however no の is used. Is it omitted?

(2) Then, is it an appositive possessive, meaning 'Japan' identifies 'Bank'?

(3) Or is it one type of nominal apposition which does not have to use の anyway, which would mean that we could rephrase like this: 銀行は日本です.

2 and 3 would mean that "Bank Japan" would be the correct translation. We see it in "My friend John", and in German it is common, but I have been told by English speakers that it is uncommon to follow the "subject" with its name like this (University NewYork, Island Madagascar).

(4) Or is 日本 a noun adjunct, and it is not identifying the noun 銀行, it's not its name, therefore no appositive. Just like "Chicken soup", 日本銀行 would be a compound noun: "Japan-Bank" / "Japan Bank".

SevenOclock
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    It's probably best to not use the name in another language as the framework for analyzing the name in Japanese. They could have named it something different if they wanted, and it wouldn't change how the Japanese name works. – Leebo Sep 06 '22 at 00:18
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    It's the name of the bank. Its English name is the Bank of Japan because it happens to be *the* central bank of Japan. It could as well be Japan Bank or Nippon Bank. 日本大学 is the name of a university. It's NOT the University of Japan. It's just a name. – aguijonazo Sep 06 '22 at 00:35
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    I guess it is more of an English question. It is similar to *University of California*. – sundowner Sep 06 '22 at 00:54

1 Answers1

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The structure of 日本銀行 is not different from that of Chicago Stadium, Brooklyn Bridge, etc. It's a proper noun, so no の is usually used.

日本の銀行 usually means "bank(s) in Japan". See also: Why isn't 日本料理 written as 日本の料理?

日本 and 銀行 are not in apposition. Japan (日本) is not a bank but a country.

2 and 3 would mean that "Bank Japan" would be the correct translation.

Why? It's simply "Japan Bank", not "Bank Japan".

"Bank of X" and "X Bank" are two equally valid ways of naming the same thing in English, but there is basically only one way to name a bank in Japanese, which is "X銀行".

naruto
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