島(しま) しま noun island geography 1. island A piece of land surrounded by water. Japan itself is an island nation (島国) composed of many islands. 日本(にほん)は島国(しまぐに)です。🔊 Japan is an island country. あの島(しま)に行(い)きたいです。🔊 I want to go to that island. 沖縄(おきなわ)にはたくさんの島(しま)があります。🔊 There are many islands in Okinawa. 夏(なつ)に島(しま)へ泳(およ)ぎに行(い)きました。🔊 I went to an island to swim in the summer. この島(しま)には人(ひと)が住(す)んでいないので、とても静(しず)かで海(うみ)がきれいです。🔊 No one lives on this island, so it's very quiet and the sea is beautiful. 島(しま) means island. 日本(にほん) is an 島国(しまぐに) (island nation) with over 6,800 islands.Major islands本州(ほんしゅう): Honshu (main island)北海道(ほっかいどう): Hokkaido九州(きゅうしゅう): Kyushu四国(しこく): ShikokuCommon expressions島(しま)に渡(わた)る: to cross to an island離(はな)れ島(じま): remote island無人(むじん)島(とう): uninhabited islandReadings in compoundsしま: standalone or in native compounds (島国(しまぐに))じま: after other words (rendaku): 離(はな)れ島(じま)とう: in Sino-Japanese compounds (無人(むじん)島(とう))The word appears in many place names: 広島(ひろしま), 鹿児島(かごしま), 宮島(みやじま). basic Added 2026.1.7 21:37 · Revised 2026.8.9 21:25 00500/00885_shima