Introduction

You use the cardinal directions more often than you think, and it will be the same in Japanese. This article aims to list all the vocabulary related to the absolute directions in Japanese: north, south, east, west, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest and some other useful words.

The principal directions: north, south, east, west

The cardinal directions—North (北, Kita), South (南, Minami), East (東, Higashi), and West (西, Nishi)—are integral to our understanding of geography and navigation. In both English and Japanese, these terms are foundational for describing location and direction.

The secondary directions: northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest

Once you know the cardinal directions, you can easily learn the secondary directions: northeast (北東, Hoku-tō), northwest (北西, Hoku-sei), southeast (南東, Nan-tō), and southwest (南西, Nan-sei). These are simply combinations of the cardinal directions, with the first kanji of the first direction and the second kanji of the second direction. For example, northwest is 北西, which is 北 (north) + 西 (west).

Here is an illustration of all the directions:

The cardinal directions in Japanese

Related words

Here’s a list of other useful words related to directions:

• Longitude (経度, Keido): the distance of a point east or west of the prime meridian, measured in degrees.
• Latitude (緯度, Ido): the distance of a point north or south of the equator, measured in degrees.
• Compass (コンパス, Konpasu): an instrument containing a magnetized pointer that shows the direction of magnetic north and bearings from it.
• Map (地図, Chizu): a diagrammatic representation of an area of land or sea showing physical features, cities, roads, etc.
• GPS (ジーピーエス, Jīpīesu): Global Positioning System, a global navigation satellite system that provides geolocation and time information to a GPS receiver anywhere on or near the Earth.
• Coordinates (座標, Zahyō): a set of values that show an exact position. Coordinates are often expressed as two numbers called latitude and longitude. Latitude is a measurement of location north or south of the Equator. Longitude is a measurement of location east or west of the prime meridian at Greenwich, England.