Learn Kanji: North, South, East and West
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Having a practical purpose for learning something is always the best way motivator and so with that in mind I am going to take you through the four corners of the compass.
So what is the practical purpose of that, you may ask?
Well these four kanji can come in handy about 5 minutes after getting off the plane in Japan. The first sign you come across could have something like 北口 (きたぐち) meaning North Entrance or perhaps 西口 (にしぐち), which means West Entrance.
If you’re in an airport or any area populated by foreigners there will normally be English words beside any kanji on most signs. However, when you’re in a city like Tokyo and you’re making your way around the huge subway system, it is very handy to know what exit you need to use to find a specific shop or tourist attraction and conversely the entrance you need to remember to get back on the right train to make it safely back to your hotel.
Even moderately-sized subway stations in the larger underground systems can be like mini-cities with long walkways off in all directions so knowing a few points of the compass in kanji will mean that you don’t end up going around in circles. Believe me, it can happen ^_^
Below are a few examples to get your started.
Examples
| Kanji | Hiragana | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 北 | きた | North |
| 南 | みなみ | South |
| 東 | ひがし | East |
| 西 | にし | West |
| 北口 | きたぐち | North Entrance |
| 出口 | でぐち | Exit, Way Out |
| 入口 | いりぐち | Entrance, Entry, Gate |
Great article – having been to Tokyo and got (slightly) lost in a subway I know what you mean with the kanji ^^
Hehe, I remember when I was in staying in Shinjuku, and passed through the Shinjuku station almost every day… I was there for about two weeks or so, and I rarely found the same exit
Back then I didn’t know many kanji, but luckily there was a really tall building close to my hotel, so as long as I saw that building, I could just walk in that direction and I would eventually find my way home
If all else fails the tall building is always a great option ^_^
I try to learn station names while riding on the train. I wish there was a OCR translator on mobile phones. That would be nice. ^^
^_^ Yeh would be awesome. I have heard that Evernote can do that but haven’t tested it yet
Is is true that kanji characters bears the similar meaning to chinese characters?
Yes some meanings are quite similar and others differ. The pronunciation and readings can be different too.