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In Japanese, I found two common translations of the English word "north
star/polaris".

  1. 北辰
  2. 北極星

Could someone tell me the difference between the two?

I saw that 北辰 is used for the design on the Hokkaido flag, so maybe 北辰 is more
"romantic" and 北極星 is more "scientific"?

Thank you!

ETA: "North star/pole star" in English means "a visible star that is
approximately aligned with the Earth's axis of rotation" (from Wikipedia).
"Polaris" is the name of the star that is currently the north star/pole star
now. (Thanks virmaior)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-29T01:50:41.967
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2014-07-29T04:03:04.560
2014-07-29T02:45:14.563
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question
word-choice
Difference between 北辰 and 北極星
[北極星]{ほっきょくせい} is the word you hear and see to refer to the North Star
basically 100% of the time in present-day Japan. That is the word you learn in
school as a kid and use the rest of your life.

[北辰]{ほくしん} is seen mostly in company names and such. I could not speak for
other Japanese-speakers but I could say that the word 北辰 is basically non-
existent in my life for referring to the North Star.

Thus, 北極星 is both far more "scientific" and "romantic". To me, there is not
even comparison.

I would love to hear different opinions from my fellow Japanese-speakers here.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-29T04:03:04.560
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2014-07-29T04:03:04.560
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answer