The compass directions had come up in the book I've been using in lessons ( Japanese for Busy People - book 1 Kana edition, third edition ). They also came up in some of the tests I've done. But since the break between years I have forgotten them. So I've just looked them up and written them down. To keep practising them I wrote them on bits of paper and blutacked them to the wall at home.

I found this page that lists them all quite easily with some extra detail: http://skinner.hmdc.harvard.edu/ucdavis/techdocs/Cardinal.Directions.Chinese.Japanese.htm .

Here's a simple list of them:

  • 北 - きた
  • 南 - みなみ
  • 東 - ひがし
  • 西 - にし

I've ordered them in the common UK style, N-S-E-W. According to Wikipedia E-W-S-N is used in Japan.

Something interested about the Japan and it seems other countries is that they have a fifth element for the "Central" direction. This is what is used in Japan.

中 - ちゅう

This was not covered in the book I read or mentioned by our sensei.

Tags: Japanese | Cardinal Directions