幡
flag
Readings
On'yomi
- マン
- ハン
- バン
- ホン
Kun'yomi
- はた
Nanori
- は
- わた
Meaning
幡 centers on a flag or banner, a piece of cloth used as a symbol or signal.
Most common words using 幡
- 八幡はちまん
Hachiman (god of war)
- 幡ばん
pataka (banner)
- 八幡宮はちまんぐう
shrine dedicated to Hachiman; Hachiman shrine
- 因幡いなば
Inaba (former province located in the east of present-day Tottori Prefecture)
- 八幡の藪知らずやわたのやぶしらず
Yawata no Yabushirazu (bamboo grove in Chiba; impossible to find one's way out of according to popular legend)
- 八幡大学やはただいがく
Yahata University
- 八幡大菩薩はちまんだいぼさつ
Great Bodhisattva Hachiman (title of Hachiman due to Shinto-Buddhist syncretism)
- 八幡知らずやわたしらず
labyrinth; maze
- 八幡神はちまんじん
Hachiman (god of war)
- 八幡船ばはんせん
Japanese pirate ship (of the Middle Ages)
- 南無八幡なむはちまん
O Great God of Arms, I beseech your aid against my enemy
- 南無八幡大菩薩なむはちまんだいぼさつ
O Great God of Arms, I beseech your aid against my enemy!
- 因幡の白兎いなばのしろうさぎ
White Hare of Inaba
- 幢幡どうばん
hanging-banner used as ornament in Buddhist temples
- 弓矢八幡ゆみやはちまん
Hachiman, god of war and archery
- 諏訪八幡も照覧あれすわはちまんもしょうらんあれ
may Takeminakata (Suwa) and Hachiman bear witness; samurai vow of truthfulness
- 黄幡おうばん
Ōban; one of the eight gods of the traditional calendar
Study
Etymology
幡 combines 巾 (cloth) with 番, which likely contributes the sound. The character originally referred to a flag or banner made of cloth.
Meaning mnemonic
The left side 巾 means cloth, and the right side 番 looks like a field with a cross, like a flag planted in the ground. Picture a cloth flag waving over a field.
Reading mnemonic
For マン, imagine a man waving a huge flag: man -> マン, and the flag flaps in the wind.