I don't know Japanese, however the word "Horaisan" is of deep interest to me.

I've learned that it comes from Horai, the mythical mountain which is similar
to the Garden of Eden myth in Japanese mythology. Horaisan is used to refer to
the part of a garden which is inaccessible but visible.

Is there any deeper etymology for the naming of Horai? Does it come from
anything? Like "distant" or "bounding" or "inaccessible" or so?

The Japanese original rendering is: 蓬莱 (Hōrai ほうらい)
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etymology
What is the etymology of Horaisan?
「[蓬萊]{Hōrai}」is actually the wholesale assignment of the name of a Chinese
mythological location to a superficially similar but quite distinct Japanese
legend. It may otherwise be called「蓬萊山」( _lit. Mount Hōrai_ ) or abbreviated
as「蓬山」; this name is due to the Chinese legendary location being a mountain
hosting the [_Eight
Immortals_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Immortals).

Some of its earliest appearances in Japanese literature include [_Nihon
Shoki_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihon_Shoki) and the lost work
『[丹後國風土記]{Tango no kuni fudoki}』, a
[_Fudoki_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fudoki) on [Tango
Province](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tango_Province) written during the
[Nara Period](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nara_period). Quote from the
opening text of _Tango no kuni fudoki_ :

> 與謝郡。
>
> 日置里。
>
>
> 此里有筒川村。此人夫，日下部首等先祖，名云筒川嶼子。為人，姿容秀美，風流無{{ko:類}}。斯，所謂水江浦嶼子者也。是，舊宰伊預部馬養連，所記無相乖。故，略陳所由之旨。
>
>
> 長谷朝倉宮御宇雄略天皇御世，嶼子獨乘小船，汎出{{ko:海}}中為釣。經三日三夜，不得一魚，乃得五色龜。心思奇異，置于船中即寐，忽為婦人。其容美麗，更不可比。
>
>
> 嶼子問曰：「人宅遙遠，{{ko:海}}庭人乏，詎人忽來？」女娘微咲對曰：「風流之士，獨汎蒼{{ko:海}}。不勝近談，就風雲來。」嶼子復問曰：「風雲何處來？」女娘答曰：「天上仙家之人也。請君勿疑。垂相談之愛。」爰嶼子知神女，鎮懼疑心。女娘語曰：「賤妾之意，共天地畢，俱日月極。但君奈何，早先許不之意。」嶼子答曰：「更無所言，何懈乎？」女娘曰：「君宜迴棹，赴于
> **蓬山** 。」嶼子從往。
>
> * * *
>
> (My own translation given below.)
>
> [_Yosa District_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosa_District,_Kyoto).
>
> _Township of Hioki_.
>
> There was a village named _Tsutsukawa_. A man named _Tsutsukawa no Shimako_
> lived here, who was the ancestor of the chiefs of the _Kusakabe Clan_. He
> was peerless in his grace and elegance. Thus, he was known as _Mizunoe no
> Urashimako_. The contents of this record are the same given as that by the
> [official](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokushi_\(official\)) _Iyobe no
> Umakai_ , and it is declared that this is a summary.
>
> During the _Reign of[Emperor
> Yūryaku](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Y%C5%ABryaku)_, one day
> _Shimako_ boarded a small boat alone and drifted out to sea to do some
> fishing. After three days and three nights passed, he did not catch one
> fish, but finally caught a five-coloured turtle. He thought this was very
> peculiar, and took the turtle in his boat and went to go to bed, when
> suddenly it turned into a woman, whose beauty was second to none.
>
> _Shimako_ asked the woman in surprise: "This place is far from the homes of
> people, and there is no-one out on the sea. How did you suddenly appear?"
> The young lady smiled, replying: "A graceful and elegant man, drifting alone
> out in the blue sea. I could not see this and resist approaching and talking
> to you, and rode the wind and clouds to come." _Shimako_ replied, asking: "
> Where did the wind and clouds come from?" The lady replied: "From the
> immortal people in heaven. Please don't be suspicious. Let's talk and love
> together." After _Shimako_ found out that the lady was a goddess, his
> suspicions were gone. The lady spoke: "I want to pledge myself to you, from
> heaven to earth, until the end of time. What are your thoughts about this?"
> _Shimako_ replied: "I have nothing to add; do you have any reservations?"
> The lady replied: "Turn the boat around, and let us journey to **蓬山**."
> _Shimako_ complied.

By most interpretations,「蓬山」is supposed to be read as「[常世の國]{Tokoyo no Kuni}」,
which is a realm in Traditional Japanese mythology of everlasting life
somewhere out in the distant sea. In the majority of records to do with
specifically _Japanese_ mythology, the name or characters「蓬山」(and
similarly「蓬萊」,「蓬萊山」) are
**[borrowed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji#Special_readings)** for this
purpose due to their superficially similar idea to the Chinese _Penglai_ , but
there isn't an actual mythological connection between _Penglai_ and _Hōrai_.

* * *

The superficial connection can be seen if one reads the texts behind Chinese
_Penglai_. Quote from the [Classic of Mountains and
Seas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Mountains_and_Seas), a
mythological geography account of
pre-[Qin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty) China:

> 蓬萊山在{{ko:海}}中郭曰上有仙人宮室皆以金玉爲之鳥獸盡白望之如雲在渤{{ko:海}}中也
>
> _Mount Penglai_ , in the middle of the sea _[Guo
> Pu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guo_Pu) notes: "On the mountain resides
> [Immortals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xian_\(Taoism\)) and their palaces
> are made of gold and jade. The birds and beasts there are completely white.
> To stare at the mountain is like gazing at clouds. It is located in the
> middle of the [Bohai Sea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohai_Sea)."_

Linguistically, there is a striking similarity between 「蓬萊」([Old
Chinese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Chinese): /*boːŋ rɯː/) and several
words for _sea/ocean_ in some Southeast Asian languages
([Burmese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese_language) and
[Jingpho](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingpho_language): _panglai_ ,
[Shan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shan_language): _paaŋ2 laaj2_ ).
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answer