Japanese Word Images for Milky Way

天の川 means Milky Way

In Japan we use the word “天の川(あまのがわ-amanogawa)” for the English word “Milky Way”. The “Milky Way” looks white like milk so in English you call our Galaxy “Milky Way”. Japanese ancient people named the Galaxy in same way. The first letter “天(てん-ten or 　あま-ama)” means “Sky” and the last letter “川(せん-sen or　かわ-kawa)” means “river”, so the meaning of “天の川” is “a river of the sky”. From these two naming way to our Galaxy, I think the both of our ancient people had romantic thought to the sky.

And if you have interested in the Japanese words related to the space, please visit here.

Kanji Stroke Order for 天の川

Stroke Order for 天の川