狭 means “narrow, cramped”

せまい · semai

Also: contract, tight

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

せまい, せばめる, せばまる, さ

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

キョウ, コウ

JLPT N4 · Taught in secondary school · 9 strokes

The story

An animal radical (犭) squeezed between tight spaces (夾). Japan's relationship with narrowness is intimate, from the famously narrow 路地 (roji, alleyways) of Kyoto's Gion district to tiny 狭い (semai) apartments in Tokyo. Yet in these tight spaces, Japan creates extraordinary beauty: 狭い is honest about limitations, and within limits, art flourishes.

Used in 狭い部屋 (semai heya, cramped room), 狭量 (kyouryou, narrow-minded), and 幅が狭い (haba ga semai, narrow width)

Example sentences

• この道は狭いです。 This road is narrow.
• 狭い部屋に住んでいます。 I live in a small room.

More from Measurement & Size

• 重 heavy
• 軽 light (weight)
• 深 deep
• 浅 shallow
• 厚 thick
• 薄 thin
• 低 low
• 遅 slow
• 量 quantity
• 測 measure
• 少 few
• 倍 double

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