1.
foreign land; strange land; place far from home
A land that is unfamiliar or far from one's hometown. Carries a literary or emotional tone, evoking feelings of distance, loneliness, or the experience of being an outsider.
異郷の地で暮らす。
To live in a foreign land.
異郷で一人、故郷を懐かしく思った。
Alone in a distant land, I felt nostalgic for my hometown.
彼は異郷の文化に触れて、自分の世界が広がったと感じた。
By encountering the culture of a foreign land, he felt his world had expanded.
A literary word composed of 異 (different, strange) and 郷 (homeland, village). It evokes a more emotional and poetic register than neutral terms like 外国 or 海外. Often used in literature, essays, and reflective writing to express the emotional weight of being away from home.
The word pairs naturally with 故郷 (hometown), creating a contrast between the familiar and the foreign.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 異郷の地: a foreign land (emphatic)
- 異郷で暮らす: to live far from home
- 異郷に骨を埋める: to be buried in a foreign land (to die far from home)
- 異郷の人: a stranger; someone from a faraway place
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 外国: foreign country — neutral, everyday term
- 海外: overseas — practical term for abroad
- 他郷: another place; away from home — similar literary register
- 故郷: hometown — the emotional opposite