What is the right translation and saying for ”Paper World”


I would like to know the right translation and saying "紙界"(Paper World) in
Japanese. Should it be "pepa kai", "kami kai" or something else?

Google translate "紙" as "Kami", and "Kami" as "神" when reverse. People also
use "ペーパー"(Pepa) as Paper. I'm a bit confused.

**Update**  
I also found "和紙" (washi), "洋紙" (youshi), and "千代田紙" (Chiyodashi). Does it
mean "紙" also called "shi"?




> Should it be "pepa kai", "kami kai" or something else?

I think that you are going to get a variety of answers. I think that in this
case, you will actually be better using the katakana version of the English
phrase 'Paper World,' which is ぺーパーワールド. Using the Japanese 界 may be
confusing, as かい (kai) could be interpreted as [one of many
things](https://jisho.org/search/%E3%81%8B%E3%81%84), including large bodies
of water.

Not only does the katakana form avoid potential misunderstandings (Japanese
people will understand these words I think), but the English element also adds
a little bit of a coolness factor that you don't get with something that is
more Japanese.

> Google translate "紙" as "Kami", and "Kami" as "神" when reverse. People also
> use "ペーパー"(Pepa) as Paper.

**紙** : This is the Japanese word for paper, it is read as 'kami'.

**ペーパー** : This is a Japanese cognate word that is used for combination words
like 'Paper towel' (ペーパータオル), paper plate (ペーパープレート), and other words like
this. You won't use this to describe a single sheet of paper, or a ream of
paper.

**神** : This is also read as 'kami', but it actually the character for the
word god. This will vary between religious contexts, but for the most part, it
is used in the most, if not all, of the same contexts English speakers use the
word 'god' (with or without capitalizing the 'G').

I digress. There are many cases where different characters have the same
reading. I mentioned one case above with the reading for the world character,
the sea character, [and others](https://jisho.org/search/%E3%81%8B%E3%81%84).
In this particular case, [かみ](https://jisho.org/search/%E3%81%8B%E3%81%BF)
(kami) could be 紙 (paper), 髪 (hair), or 神 (god). That's why Google translate
does not work in reverse very well.

Things like this are also why I would **_never_** recommend that a beginning
Japanese student use Google translate. Trust the textbooks, and avoid the
translating tools like Google translate until you are at more of an
intermediate level. If you want an online dictionary, try jisho.org

> I also found "和紙" (washi), "洋紙" (youshi), and "千代田紙" (Chiyodashi). Does it
> mean "紙" also called "shi"?

し is another reading for [紙](http://%E7%B4%99%20#kanji). You will discover as
your studies progress that kanji characters have multiple readings. The
reading depends on context, but as you are a beginner, I wouldn't recommend
worrying about it just yet. For now, I think it is important to know that
these differences exist. When you start to expand on those studies, you can
start digging deeper then.




If this "Paper World" is an existing Western company name, you usually have to
leave it untranslated or use katakana ペーパーワールド. (Note that there is already [a
company with the same name](https://paperworld.jp/company/index.php).) Unlike
Chinese which [tries to convert every foreign name into
kanji](https://blog.hutong-school.com/brand-name-multinationals-china/),
Japanese people usually just use Latin alphabet or katakana for branding of
foreign names. You should not ignore this tradition unless there is a really
good reason.

If you absolutely need a kanji name, 紙世界 ( _kami sekai_ ) is a possibility,
but people would probably guess the company is mainly about traditional
Japanese paperwork like _origami_.

紙界 ( _kami kai_?) sounds like an unfamiliar made-up word, and people usually
imagine it's an imaginary world where everything is made of paper (like _Paper
Mario_ ). 紙の界 sounds very strange, regardless of the purpose, because 界 is a
suffix but not a standalone word.

For historical reasons, [Japanese has tons of
homonyms](https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/12/homonyms.html), and most
kanji [have more than one reading](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/onyomi-
kunyomi/). But you can (or should) forget about kanji at least in this case.

