Nishi Muku Samurai
There are two types of month; that has the 31st day, or doesn’t have the day.
西向く侍
Today, I will introduce the Japanese phrase “nishi muku samurai,” which is used for remembering months that don’t have the 31st day (that is, February, April, June, September and November).
12ヶ月の中には、31日まである月とそうでない月があります。
The literal meaning of “nishi muku samurai” is “a samurai who are facing the west,” and it can be divided into “ni”, “shi”, “mu”, “ku”, and “samurai”.
今日は、31日までない月、すなわち2月、4月、6月、9月、11月を覚えるための言葉「西向く侍」を紹介します。
Here, “ni” means “two” (February), “shi” means “four” (April), “mu” means “six” (June), and “ku” means “nine” (September) in Japanese.
「西向く侍」を分解すると、「に」「し」「む」「く」「さむらい」となり、それぞれ「２」「４」「６」「９」「１１」を表します。
Furthermore, “samurai” implies “eleven” (November), but the reason is a little complicated.
この中で、「侍」が「１１」を表す理由だけが、少し変わっています。
Eleven is written as “十一” in kanji, and when you arrange it vertically, it becomes “士”.
「１１」を漢字で書くと「十一」となり、これを縦に並べると「士」となります。
“士” (shi) means “武士” (bushi), and “武士” is equivalent to “侍” (samurai), hence “侍” can express “eleven”.
「士」は「武士」を表し、「武士」は「侍」を表すため、「侍」と書いて「１１」を表すようになりました。
