VocabularyJLPT N5 · core

鼠

ねずみ

hepburn nezumi

mouse, rat

Part of speech · noun

Pattern visualization

no decomposition available

Examples

猫が鼠を追いかける。
A cat chases a mouse.
今年は子年です。
This year is the Year of the Rat.

Collocations

鼠 (nezumi, mouse / rat)子 (ne, rat in zodiac)猫 (neko, cat)子年 (ne-doshi, Year of the Rat)ねずみ算 (nezumi-zan, geometric growth)

Mnemonic

Nezumi (鼠) is the general Japanese word for mouse or rat. In the 12-zodiac (eto), ne (子, rat) is first, opening the 60-year sexagenary cycle. Ne-doshi (Year of the Rat) puts rat illustrations on standard New Year cards (nengajou). Folk overlay: Daikokuten (one of the Seven Lucky Gods, deity of wealth) keeps rats as messengers — grain and abundance symbol. Mickey Mouse (debut 1928) plus the 1983 Tokyo Disneyland opening fused Eastern and Western rodent imagery. The 12-zodiac is an East Asian cultural code shared by China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam — but Vietnam swaps rabbit for cat (phonetic confusion during transmission). Japanese coined nezumi-zan ("mouse multiplication") for geometric growth, referencing rodent fecundity.

Quick check

Meaning of nezumi-zan (ねずみ算)?