What is the Kanji for "South"?

If you are wondering what is the Japanese Kanji for "South", you've come to the right place!

The Japanese Kanji for "South" is "南".

This kanji has 2 readings:

Its kunyomi reading is "Minami".

Its onyomi reading is "Nan".

kunyomi readings are based on the pronunciation of native Japanese words, and onyomi readings are based on the Chinese pronunciation of the character.

If you visually breakdown this kanji, you can see is made up of 3 parts:

The kanji "十" means "Ten" and can be read as "Juu" and "Too". The radical "冂" means "Enclosure" . And The kanji "羊" means "Sheep" and can be read as "You" and "Hitsuji".

Now, let's make sure you understand this kanji the other way around too.

What does the kanji "南" mean in japanese?

"南" means "South".

Japanese School Students learn this kanji in Second Grade, while foreigners may learn this kanji in preparation for the JLPT N5 exam.

Here are some words that use this kanji:

南: "South". The noun '南 (みなみ)' refers to the direction south. It is one of the four cardinal directions and indicates the direction towards which the sun travels in the sky. This word is commonly used in geographical contexts to describe locations, directions, and orientations. For example: I live in the south of the country - (私は国の南に住んでいます). The south wind is blowing - (南風が吹いている).

南部: "South". The noun '南部 (なんぶ)' refers to the southern part or region of a place. It can be used to describe the southern part of a country, city, or any other geographical area. For example: The south part of the city - (街の南部), Southern Japan - (日本の南部)

南西: "Southwest". The noun '南西 (なんせい)' refers to the southwest direction, one of the four cardinal directions. It is often used to describe locations or the orientation of places relative to the southwest. Examples: My house is located in the southwest part of town - (私の家は町の南西の部分にあります). The wind is blowing from the southwest - (風は南西から吹いています).

南東: "Southeast". The Japanese noun '南東 (なんとう)' refers to the southeast direction. It is one of the cardinal directions, specifically the direction between south and east. This word can be used to describe the orientation or location of something in relation to the southeast. For example: The window faces southeast - (その窓は南東を向いている). The house is located in the southeast corner of the block - (その家は街区の南東隅にある).

南北: "South and north". The Japanese word '南北 (なんぼく)' refers to the cardinal directions of south and north. It is a noun that can be used to indicate the orientation or location of something relative to these two directions. For example: The road runs in a south-north direction - (道は南北に通っている). The northern and southern parts of the country - (国の南北の部分).

東南: "Southeast". The noun '東南 (とうなん)' refers to the southeast direction or region. It is often used in geography to indicate the southeastern part of a larger area. For example: I live in the southeast part of the city - (私は街の東南の部分に住んでいます). The southeast region of the country has a tropical climate - (国の東南地域は熱帯気候です).

南極: "Antarctica". The Japanese word '南極 (なんきょく)' refers to the Antarctic, the southernmost continent on Earth. It is an extremely cold, dry, and windy place, covered almost entirely by ice sheets. This region is known for its unique ecosystem, diverse wildlife, and scientific research stations. For example: The scientists are studying climate change in Antarctica - (南極で科学者たちは気候変動を研究しています). I want to visit Antarctica someday - (いつか南極に行きたい).

To make really sure you learn this Kanji, I've prepared an interactive lesson for you. You are going to learn the readings and meanings of this kanji.

But first, you need to know a little bit about Hiragana and Katakana.

Hiragana and katakana are japanese syllabaries, this means that each character represents a syllable.

This are the characters you need to know for this lesson:

The hiragana "な" is read as "na". The hiragana "ん" is read as "n". And The hiragana "み" is read as "mi".

Heres a quick tutorial on how to use it. You'll be asked three type of questions: meaning, reading, and writing.

For meanings questions all you have to do is type the english meaning. If there is more than one meaning, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Reading questions you have to type the reading in romaji (roman letters, our normal alphabet) and it'll be automatically converted to hiragana if necessary. If there is more than one reading, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Writing questions some options will appear and all you have to do is select the correct ones.