of, relating to, or characteristic of Japan, its people, or their language
noun
2.
(pl) -nese. a native or inhabitant of Japan or a descendant of one
3.
the official language of Japan: the native language of approximately 100 million people: considered by some scholars to be part of the Altaic family of languages
Word Origin and History for Japanese
1580s, Iapones; see Japan + -ese. Japanese beetle attested from 1919, accidentally introduced in U.S. 1916 in larval stage in a shipment of Japanese iris.