"日本は中国の東にあります。"

Translation: Japan is located to the east of China.

[Gregoriax]

I put "Japan is to China's east." Got it incorrect. That should be a good enough answer. Unless im missing something.

[fobsternd]

Japan is east of China" is more succinct.

[Kwag62]

this is what I put. Also got incorrect. Is there some notation for "located"?

[ph.zzX5Ce]

Japan is to the east of the china is not accepted at all.
And I don't get which part shows located which is in the answer

[MessSiya]

That's because it's China, not "the China".

[Lukas_M_S]

"Japan is in the east of China."
Also not accepted (2021-07-15)

[Genka_Gorin]

It sounds like Japan is the part of China and situated inside chinese borders

[vngdhuyen]

I'm not a native English speaker, but "Japan is to China's East" doesn't sound right.

[Shenzao]

It's not wrong, but it's both uncommon and more clunky than "Japan is East of China."

[ChaseSmith5]

Nihon wa (subject) chugoku no higashi ni (east of China)
no ni denotes location in this sentence relative to Japan.

And, of course arimasu (to be, is)

Japan is east of China.

[MelSuwako]

"Japan is in the east of China" What's wrong with my answer

[TyrantRC]

japan is to the east of china*, you use the "to" preposition with cardinal directions because their areas are not quantifiable.

[ErikaAsuna]

If you say Japan is IN the east of China, you mean Japan is within the borders of China or is apart of China.

[FTjkQDSV]

Japan is located at the east of China. I got it incorrect. How is that?

[IAmEki]

You wouldn't really say it like that in English, though people would of course understand it.

You could say "to the east of China" or just "east of China". Simply "Japan is east of China" is enough though.

[plottwistmotha]

ひがし's kanji looks like a guy with a hat who wants to hug you 東

[genderfuckyou]

you're an artistic genius

[steve9788]

North and east are confusing to remember as chinese

[ImportantHunter]

In Chinese, the word "northeast" is inverted. Meaning that instead of 北東 like in Japanese, it is 东北 (dōngběi) in Chinese.

[tami749688]

Shanghai is in the east of China not Japan

[MessSiya]

Dude, here's a simple explanation.

• Shanghai = INSIDE China
  
• Japan = OUTSIDE China

When you say "east of China (as a nation)", you're basically implying that it's located outside and to the east of the Chinese border.

[MWichtel]

Why に in this sentence vs eh?

[Archie848484]

Both can be used, but へ is kinda redundant. へ is a direction particle that can also mark destinations like に. But because 東 already marks a direction (East), へ kinda loses it's unique function and becomes just a less popular に.

It's like saying: "Japan is in the direction of East, from China" or "Japan is Eastward of China". It's not wrong, but it doesn't usually really serve a purpose to say it, because "is East" kinda relays that meaning already. If something is East, it's obviously also in the direction of East.

Maybe you'd use へ if someone specifically asked a question such as: "Which direction is Japan" for example. And then you might reply using へ, it's in the direction of East.

Of if the sentence has multiple に particles, you might use へ to simply make it more readable.