島(しま)

しま

noun

island

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 more than 14,000 islands (a 2023 government recount; the older figure was 6,852).

RELATED WORDS (main islands):

Common 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 island

Pronunciation

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).

Related Words

Related: 本州(ほんしゅう) (Honshu)

Related: 北海道(ほっかいどう) (Hokkaido)

Related: 九州(きゅうしゅう) (Kyushu)

Related: 四国(しこく) (Shikoku)

basic

Added 2026.1.7 21:37 · Revised 2026.10.8 15:23

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