King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Japanese symbol for “nook”

Romaji: sumi
corner; nook; recess

In Japanese, nook is , read (sumi).

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Meanings

  1. n, n-suf corner; nook; recess
  2. n downstage right (on a noh stage)

Written forms: . Readings: .

Kanji and stroke order

corner, nook
on: グウ
kun: すみ
12 strokes · JLPT 2

Other Japanese words for “nook”

WordReadingMeaning
かたすみ katasumicorner; nook
いちぐう ichiguucorner; nook
くま kumacorner; nook; recess
すみっこ sumikkocorner; nook; recess
ヌック nukkunook (small and oft. secluded space in a home)

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

WordReadingMeaning
かたすみ katasumicorner; nook
よすみ yosumifour corners
いちぐう ichiguucorner; nook
すみっこ sumikkocorner; nook; recess
おおすみ oosumiŌsumi (former province located in the east of present-day Kagoshima Prefecture, including the Amami Islands)
ひだりすみ hidarisumileft-hand corner; lower left

See also: Chinese symbol for “nook”.

Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.

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