島 means “island”

しま · shima

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

しま

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

トウ

JLPT N2 · Taught in grade 3 · 10 strokes

The story

A bird (鳥) whose feet have become a mountain (山): picture a seabird resting on a peak that juts out of the sea. 島 is an island; Japan calls itself a 島国, an island nation, and a 2023 official count found 14,125 islands.

Used in 半島 (hantou, peninsula), 島国 (shimaguni, island nation), and 列島 (rettou, archipelago)

More from Maps & Borders

• 境 border
• 州 state
• 域 region
• 欧 Europe
• 辺 vicinity
• 湾 bay
• 周 around
• 央 center
• 河 river
• 坂 slope
• 郊 suburbs
• 湖 lake

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Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.