ペーロン

Almost certainly a borrowing from Mandarin. Specific source uncertain.

• Said by some dictionaries to be from feilong, perhaps 飛龍／飞龙 (fēilóng, “flying dragon; wyvern”). Also matches the Japanese spelling 飛(ペー)竜(ロン).
• Thought by many to be from 白龍／白龙 (báilóng, “white dragon”), matching the Japanese spelling 白(ペー)竜(ロン).
• Another possible etymology is 排龍／排龙 (páilóng).
• In his Amoenitatum exoticarum, Engelbert Kaempfer claims that the name is from that of the king of Manrigajima, a claimed island near Taiwan.

• (Tokyo) ペーロン [péꜜèròǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• (Tokyo) ペーロン [pèéróń] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [pe̞ːɾõ̞ɴ]

ペーロン • (pēron) 

1. (Nagasaki) dragon boat

   Synonyms: ドラゴンボート (doragon bōto), 龍舟 (ryūshū), 龍船 (ryūsen), (Naha) 爬竜 (hārī), (Itoman) 爬竜 (hārē), (Naha) 爬竜船 (hārībuni), 爬竜船 (haryūsen)

2. (Nagasaki) dragon boat race, dragon boat sport, dragon boat festival

   Synonyms: 龍舟競漕 (ryūshū kyōsō), 龍船競漕 (ryūsen kyōsō), 龍舟祭 (ryūshūsai), (Naha) 爬竜 (hārī), (Itoman) 爬竜 (hārē)

Used both for the dragon boat race of Nagasaki and for dragon boats and dragon boat races in general. While it is a Nagasaki dialect term, it sees at least some use all over Japan.

The pēron tradition of Nagasaki is related to the hari of the Ryukyu Islands, in Japanese generally referred to with the Okinawan loans 爬(ハー)竜(リー) (hārī, Naha dialect) and 爬(ハー)竜(レー) (hārē, Itoman dialect). The loan 爬(ハー)竜(リー)船(ブニ) (hārībuni) refers specifically to the boat, with the Sino-Xenic re-reading 爬(は)竜(りゅう)船(せん) (haryūsen) also extant.

• ペーロン競(きょう)漕(そう) (pēron kyōsō)