本 is typically a more formal way of expressing “this,” but in this context it’s closer to “source” or “origin.”

Japan’s name uses the same characters in both Chinese and Japanese, but is pronounced differently: “ri ben” in Chinese and “ni hon” in Japanese.

a rubics-cube-shaped bling pendant

I’m imagining a different character on each face of each cubelet, which you would throughly scramble each time for a one-in-whatever-gagillion string? Am I getting that right?

Music major here. Please tell me you need a soundtrack.