掌 means 'palm'

Donald Richie said the Japanese perceive their nation as small (though it's not) because they feel it's gross to be large. Indeed, an affection for itty-bitty things runs through these essays. The prefix 豆- characterizes tiny books, small dolls, and trivia as "miniature." With 掌 the Japanese describe books as "palm-sized" and stories as "very short." The prefix 姫- indicates that a Chinese crabapple is adorably petite or that an animal is diminutive. And with 零 as "small" one can lament the loss of mom-and-pop bakeries and offer advice to small business owners engaged in David-versus-Goliath battles.