North-South-West-East in Kanji symbols of Recent Article

Learn how to write the four compass directions in Japanese kanji symbols.

 

Writing the North, South, West, and East in Japanese kanji symbols.

When putting them together, you will put them in the following order.

1. North (北)
2. South (南)
3. West (西)
4. East (東)

But, in Japan they are written like this.

1. East (東)
2. West (西
3. South (南)
4. North (北)

As you have read so far, there are two different ways to pronounce them in Japanese.

If it is used as a single kanji character, you have to read them as "East-Higashi, West-Nishi, South-Minami, North-Kita".

These are the Japanese original pronunciations that are called "Kunyomi".

 

When putting them together, you have to read them as "East-Tou, West-Zai, South-Nan, Nort -Boku".

These are the pronunciations that are called "Onyomi", and these are the pronunciations imported from China to Japan.

 

Free download: North, south, east, and west.pdf

 

How to write and pronounce them in Japanese.

The pronunciation in parentheses is "Okuri-gana".
Additionally, there are some examples in which these kanji is used. please refer.

 

 

The image expands by the click.

North			hoku		kita

English	Kanji	Hiragana	Pronunciation
The north	北	きた	kita
go north	北上	ほく じょう	hoku jou
Japanese place-name Hokkaido"	北海道	ほっかいどう	hokkaidou
The orth Pole	北極	ほっきょく	hokkyoku
North latitude	北緯	ほく い	hoku i
Northern district	北国	きた ぐに	kita guni
north of; and northward	以北	い ほく	i hoku
north of the (Yellow) river	河北	か ほく/こう ほく	i hoku/kou hoku
Northeast	北東	ほく とう	hoku tou
The northwest	北西	ほく せい	hoku sei
The north-northeast	北北東	ほく ほく とう	hoku hoku tou
The north-northwest	北北西	ほく ほく せい	hoku hoku sei

 

Family name of Japan where kanji "North" is included

Family name	Hiragana	Katakana	Pronunciation
北	きた	キタ	kita
北岡	きたおか	キタオカ	kita oka
北川	きたがわ	キタガワ	kita gawa
北島	きたじま	キタジマ	kita jima
北村	きたむら	キタムラ	kita mura
北原	きたはら	キタハラ	kita hara
北城	きたしろ/きたじょう	キタシロ/キタジョウ	kita shiro/kita jo
北里	きたさと/きたざと	キタサト/キタザト	kita sato/kita zato
北沢	きたざわ	キタザワ	kita zawa
...etc.

By the way, my family name is "原[=Hara]".
The meaning is "Field".

A lot of family names in Japan is Sato, second is Suzuki, and third is Takahashi.
The family name named Hara is the 62nd.

 

 

South			nan, na		minami

English	Kanji	Hiragana	Pronunciation
The south	南	みなみ	minami
The South Pole	南極	なん きょく	nan kyoku
The Southern country	南国	なん ごく	nan goku
Southern sea	南海	なん かい	nan kai
South wind	南風	みなみ かぜ	minami kaze
Vietnam * (Substitute character)	越南	べとなむ	betonamu
The southeast	南東	なん とう	nan tou
The south north	南北	なん ぼく	nan boku
The southwest	南西	なん せい	nan sei
The south-southeast	南南東	なん なん とう	nan nan tou
The south-southwest	南南西	なん なん せい	nan nan sei

Family name of Japan where kanji "South" is included

Family name	Hiragana	Katakana	Pronunciation
阿南	あなん	アナン	a nan
南条	なんじょう	ナンジョウ	nan jo
南山	みなみやま	ミナミヤマ	minami yama
南原	みなみはら	ミナミハラ	minami hara
南野	みなみの	ミナミノ	mminami no
南	みなみ	ミナミ	minami
南田	みなみだ	ミナミダ	minami da
南島	みなみじま	ミナミジマ	minami jima
南里	みなみざと	ミナミザト	minami zato
...etc.

 

 

East			tou		higashi

English	Japanese	Hiragana	Pronunciation
The east	東	ひがし	higashi
Tokyo	東京	とうきょう	toukyou(tokyo)
The Orient	東洋	とう よう	touyou
Oriental	東洋人	とう よう じん	tou you jin
East side	東側	ひがし がわ	higashi gawa
The east United States	東アメリカ	ひがし あめりか	higashi amerika
East Japan	東日本	ひがし にほん	higashi nihon
The Kanto region	関東地方	かんとう ちほう	kantou chihou
The southeast	東南	とう なん	tou nan
East northeast	東北東	とう ほく とう	tou hoku tou
Southeast by east	東南東	とう なん とう	tou nan tou

 

Family name of Japan where kanji "East" is included

Family name	Hiragana	Katakana	Pronunciation
東野	ひがしの	ヒガシノ	higashi no
東山	ひがしやま	ヒガシヤマ	higashi yama
東尾	ひがしお	ヒガシオ	higashi o
東小野	ひがしおの	ヒガシオノ	higashi ono
東崎	ひがしざき	ヒガシザキ	higashi zaki
東坂	ひがしざか	ヒガシザカ	higashi zaka
東谷	ひがしだに	ヒガシダニ	higashi dani
東沢	ひがしざわ	ヒガシザワ	higashi zawa
東条/ 東條/ 東城	とうじょう	トウジョウ	tou jou
...etc.

 

 

West			sei, sai,		nishi

English	Japanese	Hiragana	Pronunciation
The west	西	にし	nishi
Afternoon sun	西日	にし び	nishi bi
West side	西側	にし がわ	nishi gawa
The west wind	西風	にし かぜ	nishi kaze
The Atlantic Ocean	大西洋	たい せい よう	tai sei you
The northwest	西北	せい ほく	sei hoku
The southwest	西南	せい なん	sei nan
West-northwest	西北西	せい ほく せい	sei hoku sei
The southwest west	西南西	せいなんせい	sei nan sei
Kansai (south-western half of Japan, including Osaka)	関西	かん さい	kan sai
Kansai area people in Japan	関西人	かんさいじん	kan sai jin
all times and places	古今東西	ここん とう ざい	kokon tou tou zai

 

Family name of Japan where kanji "West" is included

Family name	Hiragana	Katakana	Pronunciation
西条	さいじょう	サイジョウ	sai jo
西賀	さいが	サイガ	sai ga
西園寺	さいおんじ	サイオンジ	sai onji
西郷	さいごう	サイゴウ	sai gou
西塚	にしずか	ニシズカ	nishi zuka
西村	にしむら	ニシムラ	nishi mura
原西	はらにし	ハラニシ	hara nishi
西山	にしやま	ニシヤマ	nishi yama
小西	こにし	コニシ	ko nishi
...etc.

 

 

Let's practice writing the Japanese Kanji symbols

The exercise sheet of Japanese Kanji.
Trace on Kanji in numerical order.

 

Stroke order of north-south-east-west in kanji.pdf