〜の北・南・東・西~ no kita / minami / higashi / nishi
No kita / minami / higashi / nishi (〜の北・南・東・西) means “directions relative to a country”.
My country is north of Japan.
directions relative to a country
In the course
How it works
To describe where a country is, you can use another country as a reference. Look at the picture: which side of Japan is China on?
In the picture, north is up, south is down, west is left, and east is right. Use Japan in the center as your reference and follow the arrows to read the directions.
In 「日本の西」, name the reference country first, then link it to the direction with 「の」. It means “west of Japan.”
China is west of Japan in the picture. Here, 「日本の西」 describes a relative position; it does not mean that the place belongs to Japan.
「私の国は日本の北です」 introduces where your country is. The country you are introducing comes before 「は」.
If someone asks 「中国はどこですか」, you can answer 「日本の西です」, using a reference country to explain the location.
For 「ロシアはどこですか」, answer 「日本の北です」. In the answer, you can leave out the country already mentioned.
Example sentences
- 私watashiのno国kuniはwa日本nipponのno北kitaですdesu
My country is north of Japan.
- アメリカamerika
In a conversation
- A中国はどこですか。
A: Where is China?
- B日本の西です。
B: It's west of Japan.
- Aロシア
Check yourself
Level 1 · Recognise
Which sentence is correct?
Level 1 · Recognise
Listen and choose the meaning
Level 2 · Build
Put the words in order
My country is north of Japan.
Level 3 · Use
What goes in the blank?
ニューヨークはロンドン です。
New York is west of London.
More grammar in this theme
- 〜の北・南・東・西directions relative to a country
