Mnemonic
Under a tattered flag marking a remote mountain temple, a nun sits cross-legged, stirring ceremonial tea with a wooden spoon. She raised the flag years ago when she took her vows, and the spoon is the only possession she kept from her former life.
Additional thoughts
Picture the flag (尸) draped over the temple roof and the spoon (匕) tucked inside—just as the spoon radical sits inside the flag radical in the kanji 尼. One flag, one spoon, one devoted life.Quick recall
A Nun raises a flag over her temple and stirs tea with a single spoon—her only possession.Details
The keyword for 尼 is nun. This kanji refers to a Buddhist nun or, more broadly, a woman who has entered religious life and taken vows. In Japanese, it is most commonly associated with female Buddhist monastics who have shaved their heads and devoted themselves to spiritual practice. The character can also appear in borrowed words and place names, but its core meaning centers on a woman of the cloth.
- On'yomi
- に
- Kun'yomi
- あま