Old Japanese *miti*, attested from the earliest texts (Kojiki, 712 CE). The kanji 道 (Sino-Japanese *dō/tō*) carries the broader philosophical sense of "the Way" (as in 武道 *budō*, martial arts; 茶道 *sadō*, the tea ceremony), a concept central to Daoism and later Japanese culture. The native reading *michi* focuses on the concrete, physical path.

道 (*dō*) as a suffix is deeply embedded in Japanese cultural identity: 武道 (martial arts), 茶道 (tea ceremony), 書道 (calligraphy), and 柔道 all frame their discipline as a "way of life," not just a skill. When a Japanese person asks 道に迷いました (*michi ni mayoimashita* — "I got lost"), the phrase can carry an almost poetic resonance of being lost in life, not just in a city. False-friend note: Chinese 道 (*dào*) is a direct cognate and means essentially the same thing, but Japanese *michi* in everyday speech is purely the physical road.