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dai-ichi (第一), is a compound, modifier phrase of Japanese origin, meaning number one, or first. In kanji, "dai" ("number") is 第 and "ichi" ("one") is 一. "Dai" is also defined "ordinal number marker." It is this feature that makes the phrase a modifier, or an adjective, describing a noun, as first. Number one functions in the same way.

The phrase is also used without the hyphen, as daiichi.

Dai-ichi is frequently used in proper names, hence capitalized; also Dai-Ichi and occasionally Dai Ichi.

The kanji in parentheses in this article are sometimes presented as just two equal-length parallel bars (like top and bottom of box with no or faint sides); and not the unequal parallel bars of "ni" (see below). If not here, the main, linked articles may have the kanji; also, the edit page may show the kanji.

Uses include but are not limited to:

• Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co - the third largest life insurer in Japan by revenues
• Dai Ichi Daihoumaru Ship case - a 1952 incident between the South Korean Coast Guard and the Japanese Dai Ichi Daihoumaru ship
• Fukushima Dai-ichi or Fukushima Daiichi - Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, (福島第一原子力発電所) (dai and ichi are third and fourth characters) - a six-unit nuclear plant complex struck in the 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami
• Dai-Ichi Kangyō Bank - was one of the largest banks in the world during the latter half of the 20th century
• Dai-ichi KōKū Kantai (第一航空艦隊) (dai and ichi are first and second characters) - 1st Air Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy; amongst a number of military-unit names incorporating the phrase
• Dai-ichi Hōsō - The 1st Broadcast (第1放送) (dai is first character; ichi is the numeral "1" instead of 一) on Radio Nikkei carries general programs and horse racing from eastern Japan ("hōsō" not listed in Wiktionary; click link to create listing)
• Dai-Ichi-dōri Station - a commuter station in downtown Hamamatsu city ("dōri" not listed in Wiktionary; click link to create listing)
• Morioka Dai-ichi High School - is a public, coeducational, university preparatory high school in Morioka city, Iwate, Japan
• Daiichi Sankyo (第一三共株式会社) (Dai and ichi are first and second characters) - a Japan-based major pharmaceutical company
• Daiichi Institute of Technology - a private university in Kirishima, Kagoshima, Japan.

Related phrases

Dai-ni (第二) means number two or second, using two parallel bars (二) or "2" for "ni"; also daini

Examples

• Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant (福島第二原子力発電所) (dai and ni are the third and fourth characters), Fukushima Dai-Ni Genshiryoku Hatsudensho, Fukushima II NPP, 2F) or "Fukushima Daini" - a four-unit nuclear plant complex struck in the 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami
• Radio Nikkei's 2nd Broadcast (第2放送) (dai is first character; ni is the numeral "2" instead of 二) (Dai-ni Hōsō) carries live company stock price announcement and horse racing from western Japan; Radio Nikkei is Japan's domestic shortwave commercial radio broadcasting station

Dai-san (第三) means number three or third, using three parallel bars (三) or "3" for "san"

Examples

• Kyōto 3rd district (京都府第3区)
• "the third beer" (第三のビール) (dai-san no bīru) - beer-flavored beverages developed to compete with Happoshu or low-malt beer

And continuing for 4, 5, 6 et c.

"Dai" meaning "number" is distinct from:

• Dai (大), a Sino-Japanese morpheme for "big," appearing in a number of Japanese words and names

References

1. Hobart-Hampden, Ernest Miles and Sir Harold George Parlett, eds., An English-Japanese dictionary of the spoken language, via Google Books. Retrieved 2011-03-18.
2. ^ Nakao, Seigo, Random House Japanese-English English-Japanese Dictionary, via Google Books, p. 39. Retrieved 2011-03-18.
3. Nakao, Seigo, Random House Japanese-English English-Japanese Dictionary, via Google Books, p. 95. Retrieved 2011-03-18.

See also

• Dai disambiguation

• Disambiguation pages