六

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 六月は梅雨です。▶ —
   June is the rainy season.
2. 六時に起きました。▶ —
   I woke up at six.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Roku (六) is the on-yomi for six in Japanese; the Yamato readings are muttsu (6 items) and muika (6th of month or 6 days). Rokuji (6 oclock), rokugatsu (June, the tsuyu rainy season), rokunin (6 people), rokujuu (60), roppun (6 minutes — rendaku alternation). Japans tsuyu rainy season is the East Asian shared mei-yu, running early June to mid-July for about six weeks. Cultural senses: rokkan (sixth sense = intuition, on top of the five senses), Roppongi (Tokyo Minato Ward district, "six trees" etymology, foreign and international business hub), the six-character Lotus Sutra title in Nichiren Buddhism, rokudou (six Buddhist realms of rebirth: deva, asura, human, animal, hungry ghost, hell). The kanji is shared: Sino-Korean ryuk, Chinese liu, Japanese roku. Rokugatsu-byou (June illness — fatigue striking new hires and freshmen after the initial adjustment) is a uniquely Japanese social phenomenon and vocabulary item.

Quick check

1. Meaning of rokugatsu-byou (六月病)?

   • Lethargy hitting freshmen and new hires by June after initial adjustment
   • Summer cold
   • June allergy
   • June depression in general