From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
Japan
n 1: a string of more than 3,000 islands to the east of Asia
extending 1,300 miles between the Sea of Japan and the
western Pacific Ocean [syn: Japan, Japanese Islands,
Japanese Archipelago]
2: a constitutional monarchy occupying the Japanese Archipelago;
a world leader in electronics and automobile manufacture and
ship building [syn: Japan, Nippon, Nihon]
3: lacquerware decorated and varnished in the Japanese manner
with a glossy durable black lacquer
4: lacquer with a durable glossy black finish, originally from
the orient
v 1: coat with a lacquer, as done in Japan
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Japan \Ja*pan"\ (j[.a]*p[a^]n"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Japanned
(j[.a]*p[a^]nd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Japanning.]
[1913 Webster]
1. To cover with a coat of hard, brilliant varnish, in the
manner of the Japanese; to lacquer.
[1913 Webster]
2. To give a glossy black to, as shoes. [R.] --Gay.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Japan \Ja*pan"\ (j[.a]*p[a^]n"), n. [From Japan, the country.]
Work varnished and figured in the Japanese manner; also, the
varnish or lacquer used in japanning.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Japan \Ja*pan"\, a.
Of or pertaining to Japan, or to the lacquered work of that
country; as, Japan ware.
[1913 Webster]
Japan allspice (Bot.), a spiny shrub from Japan
(Chimonanthus fragrans), related to the Carolina
allspice.
Japan black (Chem.), a quickly drying black lacquer or
varnish, consisting essentially of asphaltum dissolved in
naphtha or turpentine, and used for coating ironwork; --
called also Brunswick black, Japan lacquer, or simply
Japan.
Japan camphor, ordinary camphor brought from China or
Japan, as distinguished from the rare variety called
borneol or Borneo camphor.
Japan clover, or Japan pea (Bot.), a cloverlike plant
(Lespedeza striata) from Eastern Asia, useful for
fodder, first noticed in the Southern United States about
1860, but now become very common. During the Civil War it
was called variously Yankee clover and Rebel clover.
Japan earth. See Catechu.
Japan ink, a kind of writing ink, of a deep, glossy black
when dry.
Japan varnish, a varnish prepared from the milky juice of
the Rhus vernix, a small Japanese tree related to the
poison sumac.
[1913 Webster]