古代 kodai Ancient

古代 is the distant past, ancient times. As a period of history it falls between prehistory and the Middle Ages. In Japan it usually means the Nara and Heian periods. Before another word it means ancient, as in 古代ローマ (kodai rōma), ancient Rome.

The Japanese word 古代 meaning "Ancient" is composed of the kanji 古 (read ko) meaning "old" and 代 (read dai) meaning "period; age; generation".

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