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Some references[3] source this from DutchEuropa; however, Dutch phonology makes this less likely, as the ⟨eu⟩ vowel combination has apparently been pronounced as the monophthongs/œː/ or /øː/ since the time of Middle Dutch. Meanwhile, in Portuguese, the ⟨eu⟩ vowel combination has been pronounced as the diphthong/ew/, a closer match for the borrowed Japanese pronunciation.
Although this term is a 外来語(gairaigo, “word of non-native or non-Middle Chinese origin”), it was borrowed early enough to be subject to the sound change from /eu/ to /joː/ during Late Middle Japanese. Compare similar developments in English (/ɛu̯/ → /juː/; /jʊ/, /jɔː/, /jɜː/ before /r/) during the Great Vowel Shift, which yields the modern English pronunciation of Europe.