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Yomi
にしむくさむらい
Rōmaji
nishi muku samurai
Type
idiom
Literal Meaning
samurai facing west
Meaning
A handy Japanese phrase to remember which months have less than 31 days (Feb, Apr, Jun, Sep, Nov).
2 = に, 4 =し, 6 = む, 9 =く, and 11 = 士 (さむらい) = “十一 (eleven)” being placed vertically
(Note that samurai is more commonly written as 侍 in kanji.)
Example
もう11月か。えーと、「西向く士」だから月末は30日だな。
It’s November already. Uhm, “samurai facing west”, so this month ends on the 30th.