周防

⟨supau⟩ → */suɸau/ → /sufau/ → /suhau/ → /suoː/

From Old Japanese. First cited to 720 in the Nihon Shoki.

Firstly written in Kanji as 周芳, then written as 周方. Both are found in Japanese mokkan (wooden slip or tablet used for shipping tags, small message or memoranda) near Nara and Fujiwara. In Kadokawa Old Japanese Dictionary, it is marked with the reading すはう. The ultimate origin is unknown and obscure.

周(す)防(おう) • (Suō) ^{←すはう (Sufau)?}

1. Suō Province, an old province of Japan
2. a surname

• “〈周防〉”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026