As every beginning student of Nihongo knows, Philippines–like most countries–is written in Japanese in the katakana syllabary as フィリピン (Firipin), or more formally–in katakana and kanji combination–as フィリピン共和国 (Firipin Kyōwakoku Republic of the Philippines).
(The only countries that are normally written in kanji in Japan are China (中国 Chūgoku), Taiwan (台湾 Taiwan), North Korea (北朝鮮 Kitachōsen), and South Korea (韓国 Kankoku), all part of the Sinophere with Japan, which uses (or used to, in case of North Korea) Chinese characters in their languages.)
Philippines is never written in hiragana (ふぃりぴん 
)
The Japanese language does not have the L sound familiar to Filipinos, so instead of Filipin, which would sound nearer to the original, what we have instead is Firipin, as pronounced by the Japanese.
Cover of a Japanese tourist magazine about the Philippines, with Cebu Island (セブ島) and Manila (マニラ) in the subtitle. Also mentioned is Bohol Island (ボホール島), Boracay Island (ボラカイ島) and Northern Palawan (北パラワン).
Filipinos
Filipino is written as フィリピン人 (Firipinjin), another katakana-kanji combination, the kanji 人 (jin person) affixed to the country name that makes フィリピン人 literally mean “Philippine person.”
Occasionally, you would read about フィリピーナ (Filipina) to refer to Filipino women, who were overwhelming the more populous gender during the Japayuki boom, but the use of this word is colloquial, and is usually found in the context of Philippine pubs.
Filipino
Filipino (the language) is another katakana-kanji combination of フィリピン語 (Firipin-go)–literally “Philippine language.” It is also not very uncommon to see Filipino written as フィリピノ語 (Firipinogo) or even ピリピノ語 (Piripinogo).
Not unexpectedly, Filipino is often interchanged with Tagalog (タガログ語 Tagarogugo lit. Tagalog language). The pronunciation of Tagarogugo is a bit clunky, and “Tagarugo” is sometimes used instead. Tagarugo is タガル語, which literally means “Tagal” language, whatever that is.
Philippine〜
The katakana-kanji combination is also used for other words and phrases such as:
- フィリピン海 (Firipinkai Philippine Sea)
- フィリピン軍 (Firipin-gun Armed Forces of the Philippines)
- フィリピン大学 (Firipin Daigaku University of the Philippines)
- フィリピン航空 (Firipin Kōku Philippine Airlines)
- フィリピン共産党 (Firipin Kyōsantō Communist Party of the Philippines)
You would expect that “Philippine Eagle” would be written as フィリピン鷲 (Firipinwashi), but it is written instead in all-katakana (フィリピンワシ) as most names of flora and fauna (especially those of other countries’).
Philippines in kanji (比律賓)
If you have been around old people in Japan, you would probably have heard them say フィリッピン (Firippin) which is actually one of the old pronunciation of Philippines, as is ヒリピン (Hiripin), and a number of other less common pronunciations in between.
Also, in the old times, before the name was standardized, Philippines was written in kanji, chosen not for their meaning (like the kanji for Japan 日本 Nihon or “Sun-origin”), but for their sound: 菲律賓 (which is how it is still written in Chinese), 比律賓 (the most common kanji-combination in Japanese), 非律賓, 比立賓, etc.
As stated above, the three kanji for Philippines were used for their sounds, not their meanings, but if you really like to attach a meaning to the kanji combination, it would be like this:
- 比 (hi COMPARE)
- 律 (ritsu LAW)
- 賓 (hin GUEST)
Which would be COMPARE-LAW-GUEST, which is gibberish.
Incidentally, if you read the kanji combination above in normal Japanese, the pronunciation would be Hirippin, which is very similar to how old people refer to the Philippines.
Philippines → Phils → PH
Because 比律賓 has become the standard kanji combination, “比” has also been standardized as the “initial” for Philippines.
So you have words such as 比国 (Hikoku lit. Philippine Country), a combination of phonetic “hi” and the kanji for country, and 比島 (Hitō lit. Philippine Islands).
Using 比国 for the Philippines follows the convention of naming nearby and important countries with their “initial” followed by 国, such as:
- 中国 (Chūgoku China)
- 韓国 (Kankoku South Korea)
- 米国 (Beikoku US)
- 英国 (Eikoku UK)
- 比国 (Hikoku Philippines)
A very old Philippine Islands War Chronicles (比島戦記 Hitō Senki) book about World War II.
Being an old word for the Philippines, 比島 (Philippine Islands) is used in such words as:
- 比島沖海戦 (Hitōoki Kaisen Naval Battle of the Gulf of Philippine Islands) otherwise known as the Battle of Leyte Gulf
- 比島戦没者の碑 (Hitō Senbotsusha no Ishibumi Philippine Islands War Dead Monument), a monument inside the Japanese Memorial in Caliraya, Laguna
- 比島作戦 (Hitō Sakusen Philippine Islands Military Operation), referring to the Philippine phase of the Pacific War
I’m translating 比島 literally as Philippine Islands, although one may just as well translate it as Philippines, depending on the context.
There is this recently published book of Philippine folk tales called 比島民潭集 (Hitō Mintanshū Philippine Islands Folk Tales Collection), which uses not the modern katakana フィリピン (Philippines) but the old kanji 比島 (Philippine Islands). The obi says “Funny, sad and a little cruel” and the subtitle is フィリピンの島々に伝わる話 (Tales from the islands of the Philippines), so the old 比島 is appropriate–not to mention more exotic sounding.
比島民潭集 Philippine Folk Tales (Loneliness Books).
And while we are discussing 比島, there is a Buddhist statue (a Bodhisattva) in the town of Hazu in Aichi Prefecture called the Hishima Kannon (比島観音: instead of Hitō, 比島 is pronounced Hishima) dedicated to the souls of the people who died in the fierce battles in the Philippines during World War II. An annual memorial service is held every 17th of October.
Hishima Kannon with Japanese and Philippine flags, by 脱藩浪士.
Philippines, abbreviated
Where the 比 initial becomes really convenient in lieu of the seven-syllable フィリピン are in phrases such as Japan-Philippines Relations (abbreviated as 日比関係 (Nichihi Kankei)), 日 (sun) being the kanji for Japan, and the Philippine-American War (米比戦争 Beihi Sensō), where 米 (rice) is the kanji for the US. (In the English phrase, Philippines comes first; in Japanese the kanji of US comes first.)
Another example is the recently concluded Reciprocal Access Agreement between Japan and the Philippines, officially known as 日・フィリピン部隊間協力円滑化協定 (Nihon-Firipin Butaikan Kyōryoku Enkatsuka Kyōtei Japan-Philippines Unit-to-Unit Cooperation Facilitation Agreement), usually shortened to 日比円滑化協定 (Nichihi Enkatsu Kyōtei JP-PH Facilitation Agreement).
Signing of Japan-Philippines Reciprocal Access Agreement (日比 円滑化協定 Nichihi Enkatsuka Kyotei)
Or the recently held Japan-US-Philippines Summit (日米比 首脳会合 Nichibeihi Shunōkai), using the three kanji for Japan, US and the Philippines.
Conclusion
Philippines, Filipino, Philippine Islands, etc in a nice, easy-to-read table.
| English | Japanese | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Philippines | フィリピン | Firipin |
| Philippines (in kanji) | 比律賓 | Firipin |
| Philippines (alternate) | 比国 | Hikoku |
| Philippine Islands | 比島 | Hitō |
| Philippines (initial) | 比 | Hi |
| Filipino | フィリピン人 | Firipinjin |
| Filipino (language) | フィリピン語 | Firipin-go |