--- title: Japanese Scientists Name Atomic Element 113 'Nihonium' description: The Japanese scientists who discovered atomic element 113 have named it “nihonium” — “nihon” meaning Japan in Japanese. canonical: https://time.com/4362339/japan-nihonium-name-atomic-element-113/ author: Casey Quackenbush article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-09T10:01:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:29:15.410Z article:section: Science og:title: Japanese Scientists Name Atomic Element 113 'Nihonium' og:description: 'Nihon' means Japan in Japanese og:url: https://time.com/4362339/japan-nihonium-name-atomic-element-113/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d7cbe70961f96d7/69889710656a3f1cf0bcbd9a/gettyimages-502983318.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: JAPAN-SCIENCE-CHEMISTRY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Japanese Scientists Name Atomic Element 113 'Nihonium' twitter:description: 'Nihon' means Japan in Japanese twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d7cbe70961f96d7/69889710656a3f1cf0bcbd9a/gettyimages-502983318.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Japanese Scientists Coin the Term 'Nihonium' for Atomic Element 113 by [Casey Quackenbush](/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Jun 9, 2016 10:01 AM CUT  Kosuke Morita, the leader of the Riken team, smiles as he points to a board displaying the new atomic element 113 during a press conference in Wako, Saitama prefecture on December 31, 2015 Kosuke Morita, the leader of the Riken team, smiles as he points to a board displaying the new atomic element 113 during a press conference in Wako, Saitama prefecture on December 31, 2015Kazuhiro Nogi—AFP/Getty Images by [Casey Quackenbush](/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Jun 9, 2016 10:01 AM CUT The Japanese scientists who discovered atomic element 113 [dubbed it “nihonium”](http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/06/08/national/science-health/japanese-scientists-plan-name-atomic-element-113-nihonium/#.V1kZ-JN95UO "undefined") — “nihon” meaning Japan in Japanese — on Wednesday evening, the _Japan Times_ reports. Led by Kyushu University professor Kosuke Morita, the Riken institute research team created the superheavy synthetic element three times in 2004, 2005 and 2012 by colliding zinc ions with bismuth. A U.S.-Russian team also claimed to have uncovered the element, but the International Union of Pure Applied Chemistry and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics corroborated that it was the Japan team who did so first. The Japanese team earned the naming rights in December, and Morita proposed “nihonium” in March, the _Times_ says. The name will be open to public commentary before it is made official. The team’s proposed name follows suit with other atomic elements like polonium named after Poland, francium after France, and americium after the United States. \[[_Japan Times_](http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/06/08/national/science-health/japanese-scientists-plan-name-atomic-element-113-nihonium/#.V1kZ-JN95UO "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4362339/japan-nihonium-name-atomic-element-113/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4362339/japan-nihonium-name-atomic-element-113/"},"headline":"Japanese Scientists Coin the Term 'Nihonium' for Atomic Element 113","datePublished":"2016-06-09T10:01:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:29:15.410Z","description":"The name will be open to public commentary before it is made official","url":"https://time.com/4362339/japan-nihonium-name-atomic-element-113/","keywords":["Chemistry","Japan","Science topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d7cbe70961f96d7/69889710656a3f1cf0bcbd9a/gettyimages-502983318.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Casey Quackenbush","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d7cbe70961f96d7/69889710656a3f1cf0bcbd9a/gettyimages-502983318.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"JAPAN-SCIENCE-CHEMISTRY","caption":"JAPAN-SCIENCE-CHEMISTRY","creditText":"Kazuhiro Nogi—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/chemistry/","name":"Chemistry"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4362339/japan-nihonium-name-atomic-element-113/","name":"Japanese Scientists Coin the Term 'Nihonium' for Atomic Element 113"}}]}] ```