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 Table of Contents
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A Personal Invitation by the Autho

INTRODUCTION TO KANJI CALLIGRAPHY

WHAT IS KANJI?
THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF KANJI
STYLES OF KANJI
Kaisho
Gyousho
Sousho

THE MODERN JAPANESE LANGUAGE

OVERVIEW OF THE JAPANESE WRITING SYSTEM
Kanji Characters
The Roman Letter Alphabet (Romaji)
Arabic Numerals (Sanyou suuji)
Hiragana
Katakana
SPECIFICS OF THE KANA SYSTEM
GOJYUU’ON 10
Voiced Sounds (Daku’on)
Half-Voiced Sounds (Handaku’on)
Vowel Palatalization
Geminate Sounds
OTHER SOUND CHANGES AND WRITING VARIATIONS
Long Vowels
Small Characters
Sequential Voicing (Rendaku)
PRONOUNCING JAPANESE SOUNDS
THE REPEAT SYMBOL
ROMANIZATION METHODS
PRACTICING KANA

HIRAGANA CHART

KATAKANA CHART

THE STRUCTURE OF KANJI

FORWARD
BUILDING BLOCKS OF ENGLISH
Level-1 Elements: Letters & Other Characters
Level-2 Components: Word Roots & Affixes
Level-3 Structures: Independent Words
 THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF KANJI
Level-1 Elements: The Strokes
Level-2 Components: Radicals
Level-3 Structures: Kanji Characters
RADICAL CHART
KANJI PATTERNS
RADICAL POSITIONS
KANJI CATEGORIZATION & LOOKUP METHODS
KANJI PRONUNCIATION METHODS
Onyomi
Kunyomi
Jinmeiyomi

THE TOOLS OF CALLIGRAPHY

THE BRUSH
INK & INDIA INK
THE INK STONE
CALLIGRAPHY PAPER
THE PAPER WEIGHT
THE BRUSH MAT
THE BRUSH HOLDER

WRITING POSTURE & HOLDING THE BRUSH

WRITING POSTURE
BALANCE OF THE SHOULDERS
USING THE BODY
HOLDING THE BRUSH
BRUSH PRESSURE & STROKE SHAPE

BASIC BRUSH STROKE TECHNIQUE

GENERAL
THE BRUSH STROKE
COMMON TRAITS OF THE 8 BASIC STROKES
The Head
The Body
The Tail
PRACTICING THE BASIC STROKES

THE EIGHT BASIC STROKES LIBRARY

BASIC STROKES PRACTICE PAGES

BEGINNING KANJI CALLIGRAPHY

THE STROKE ORDER
GENERAL ORDER OF CONSTRUCTION
CHARACTER SHAPE VARIATIONS

THE KANJI CHARACTER LIBRARY

 ABOUT THE LIBRARY
WRITING PREPARATIONS
RENDERING THE CHARACTERS
SINGLE CHARACTER SECTION
DOUBLE CHARACTERS
CHARACTER INDEX
CHARACTER INDEX BY MEANING

Index
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kunii Takezaki was born and raised in Koza City, Okinawa, Japan, and since opening
a Japan Penmanship Education Foundation affiliated school in Ginowan City, she’s
been busy spreading the message that everyone can enjoy the beauty of calligraphy.

• 1998 Received the Japan Penmanship Education Foundation’s Instructor

Certification and granted the pen name “Gyokushu”.
• 1998 - 2001 Became a lifetime member as an instructor in the Ginowan City
Calligraphy Circle.
• 2000 Received the 8th Level Instructor Certification, the highest level of
achievement recognized for a Japanese shodo master.
• 2002 Participated in a calligraphy demonstration visit at a Japanese school in
Melbourne, Australia.
• 2003 Conducted calligraphy demonstrations at the U.S. Air Force Academy
in Colorado.
• 2004 Participated in street exhibitions and calligraphy demonstrations in New
York City’s Central Park.
• 2004 Carried out numerous calligraphy demonstrations in the Little Tokyo
district of Los Angeles, and in Santa Monica, California.
• 2005 Joined the World Uchinanchu Business Association (WUB).

Zen beckons us to unleash the unlimited creative power within our

heart, for it is not bound to any single language or culture.
4.7” x 4.7”
12 cm x 12 cm

Ancient Chinese proverbs frequently take the form of the “yonji ikku”, an
expression made with a unique series of four kanji characters.
During the Liang Dynasty (504 C.E.), Emperor Wu ordered the writing of a 1000
character scroll comprised of 250 consecutive “yonji ikku” proverbs with no repeated
characters to be used for kanji study by his children.
Since that time, Japanese Calligraphy masters have made it a tradition to
complete such works to hone their skills.
This scroll was rendered by the author in a single six hour sitting in 2005.

19.3” x 52.8”
(49 cm x 134 cm)
The Stone of Three Styles

This is a reproduction, created by the author, of a Chinese Gi Dynasty (240 C.E.)

engraving that shows a variety of characters rendered in the three sacred scripts of
Chinese calligraphy, kobun ( ), tensho ( ), and reisho ( ).
17.7” x 23.2”
(45 cm x 59 cm)

Dance

Sprinkled with gold leaf on a violet background, “Dance” is reminiscent of the liveliness
of many Okinawan festivals.
13.4” x 24.4”
(34 cm x 62 cm)
Samurai

“In my effort to spread the joy of calligraphy around the world, people often request
famous Japanese themes or historical figures. This is one that I think everyone will
understand.”
26” x 41.3”
(66 cm x 105 cm)

A Personal Invitation by the Author

Due to its limited natural resources and proximity to Japan, China, Korea, and
other South East Asian nations, Okinawa has been involved in international trade and
commerce for many centuries. As a result of this experience, thousand of Okinawans
have emigrated to many nations all over the world.
It’s a shame that many of the second, third, and
fourth generation children born of these emigrants
seldom have a chance to be exposed to the culture,
writing, and language of their ancestral homeland.
As a practicing calligraphy instructor, I’ve noticed
an increase in the number of non-Japanese students
who have an interest in learning how to write kanji and
speak Japanese. I tried to locate a book written in
English from which they could both study calligraphy
and learn the basics of the Japanese language, all to
no avail.
To my students, the descendants of Okinawans living abroad, and all those
interested in Japanese kanji calligraphy, I truly hope that this book will help you
experience the enjoyment of calligraphy, as have so many others before us.

Kunii Takezaki, “Gyokushu”

September 21, 2005
Okinawa, Japan
Published by Tuttle Publishing an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.

www.tuttlepublishing.com

Copyright © 2005 by Kunii Takezaki and Bob Godin except as otherwise noted.
Edited by Bob Godin
Translation: Kiyoko Fujita
Photography by Rob Oechsle

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.

ISBN: 978-1-4629-0592-8 (ebook)

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SKIP (System of Kanji Indexing by Patterns)

Copyright © 1993 by Jack Halpern

SKIP is used in several comprehensive kanji dictionaries, including Kodansha’s Kanji Learner’s
Dictionary, and the New Japanese-English Character Dictionary. SKIP data has been included in the
kanji library section of this publication specifically to familiarize the reader with its ease of use. The
SKIP system is Copyright©1993 by Jack Halpern and has been used in this book with permission.

The utilization of SKIP and SKIP numbers, whether in printed material or software form, is strictly
forbidden without written permission from the copyright holder.
For complete information on SKIP and dictionaries that use the SKIP system, please see The CJK
Dictionary Institute’s website at: http://www.cjk.org
 INTRODUCTION TO
KANJI CALLIGRAPHY
The word calligraphy literally means “beautiful writing” and is an art form that has been
used by nearly every civilization whose language had a written script to stress the
importance of its culture, religion, and philosophy.
As calligraphy became widespread, it began to be used more for purely artistic
expression. In Asian art, calligraphic poety is often accompanied with illustrations of
landscapes, decorative plants, or other natural beauty.

WHAT IS KANJI?

The word “kanji” is a Japanese word that refers to a group of thousands of symbols
that are used in Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian languages.
Kanji characters are sometimes called pictograms, or a number of similar terms,
because many of the oldest known kanji characters graphically depicted the object or idea
that they represented.

As more characters were developed, it became increasingly difficult to ‘draw a picture’

that represented the complex ideas of each new character. So, even though the idea that
kanji are pictograms may be true for many of them, it is, by far, not an accurate description
of the majority of characters in use today.
Since the 2nd century, Chinese kanji scholars have used six categories to classify
kanji characters according to their make-up:

• Pictographs, or “shoukeimoji ” ( ), are rough

sketches of the object they represent, such ‘eye’ in the
graphic shown.
• Ideographs, or “shijimoji ” ( ), represent abstract
concepts like numbers or directions, such as up ( ),
down ( ), two ( ), and three ( ).
• Compound ideographs, or “kaiimoji ” ( ), are
generally a combination of two or more pictographs that
represent a complex idea or relationship, such as ‘east’
in the graphic on the right.
• The phonetic-ideographic, or “keiseimoji ” ( ), account for about 85% of all kanji and are
 made of two main parts. Originally, one part indicated the
meaning, and the other, the Chinese pronunciation.
Though this type may or may not provide a hint about
their pronunciation in Japanese, in most cases, you can’t
guess their meaning.
• Derivative characters, or “tenchuumoji ” ( ), are
characters whose meaning was derived from characters
of a completely different meaning.
• And last, phonetic loan characters, or “kashamoji ” (
), are kanji whose meaning is ignored, but borrowed for
their sound alone. In kashamoji, America is sometimes written ( ), “Amerika”. This
usage is like writing “UR2” in place of ‘you are, too’.

THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF KANJI

The origin of kanji can be traced back to the earliest known civilizations of China.
Though little information that all historians agree upon exists, many legends exist about its
inception.
Though scholars disagree, the popular myth is that the first kanji were invented by a
Chinese scribe by the name of Ts’ang Chie who began to develop them after studying the
foot prints of various birds and animals in the royal gardens.
Bone and tortoise shell carvings that were used for fortune telling show the use of kanji
in ancient China as far back as about 1,500 B.C.E. And by the turn of the millennium, kanji
was a fully established writing medium.
Around the fifth century, Buddhism spread to Japan, bringing kanji with it. At that time,
the Japanese had no writing system and the common class of people didn’t have the
education needed to read the thousand of characters.
At first, they adopted of a very small set of Chinese kanji whose
sounds could be used to express the spoken Japanese language. A
collection of popular Japanese poems was rendered in these characters
which resulted in their widespread acceptance and use.
This set, eventually called manyogana, generally had their Chinese
meaning ignored and were used to represent the sounds of Japanese
only. Simplification of the characters resulted in two writing styles,
hiragana and katakana.
Scholars, considering kana to be inferior, continued to work on
devising methods to read “kanbun”, or Chinese literature, using rules to
alter the word order and pronouncing the words using Japanese sounds.
This resulted the adoption of many new Chinese words and concepts,
and also, the sounds of onyomi pronunciation. But to adopt kanji in a way
that would result in true Japanese kanji, the characters had to be paired
with preexisting Japanese words based on their meaning. And this linked
the kunyomi sounds to kanji pronunciation. Both of these methods will be
discussed later in the book.
Meanwhile, kana had been on its way to becoming the mainstream
writing system of the common people, and by the eighth century, it was in
widespread use.
Eventually, all three of these scripts settled into the specific roles they play in the
Japanese writing system of today.

STYLES OF KANJI

There are six main styles of written kanji and each has its own characteristic
appearance and historic usage. Of these, only three pertain to modern Japanese
calligraphy.
 Kaisho
Kaisho is a plain style that is the easiest to read. It is also used by
those first learning to write kanji. Its simplicity allows students to clearly
see all of the brush strokes of each character. Kaisho is the style that is
the closest to the modern printed fonts of today, and is the style taught
in this book.

Gyousho
Gyousho is a semi-cursive style that is akin to the English cursive
handwriting that people use after they become proficient at writing the
characters. It sometimes blends strokes into a cluster and may slightly
simplify some complex structures.

Sousho
Sousho, or “grass script”, is a fully cursive style of writing that uses
flowing lines to merge many of the brush strokes together. Even though
some of the characters are recognizable to the average reader, most
people cannot accurately read sousho script because so many of the
characters are modified to the extent that the resemblance is not always
apparent.

Naturally, all of the major styles originated in China, and some are
still used for purposes other than calligraphy in Japan today.
Such a style is the seal script, or “reisho”, which was originally used
on the name stamps of calligraphers and craftsmen. Red or orange
name stamps are still used today as an official signature for individuals
and companies on legal documents, but only the biggest companies use the reisho style.
 THE MODERN JAPANESE LANGUAGE
OVERVIEW OF THE JAPANESE WRITING SYSTEM

The modern Japanese language, especially, the writing system, is very complicated
compared to English and most other western languages.
First of all, it uses a total of five different types of writing scripts: kanji, hiragana,
katakana, Roman letters, and Arabic numerals.

Kanji Characters
Though the majority of kanji ( ) characters are of Chinese origin, some were
created in Japan, while others have been simplified for use in Japan. Generally speaking,
we can treat all kanji alike regardless of their origin.
Though over 60,000 kanji characters are known to exist, most of these are obsolete
Chinese characters. Modern Japanese uses between 2,000 and 3,000 kanji. Currently, the
public schools teach the “Jouyou Kanji” ( ) which is a list of 1,945 characters often
encountered in daily life in Japan.
Kanji is typically used for Japanese words and words of Chinese origin.

The Roman Letter Alphabet (Romaji)

“Romaji” ( ) refers to characters that originated in Rome, or what we call the
Roman letter alphabet. The Roman letter alphabet was first introduced to Japanese during
the sixteenth century and was used to preach sermons in Japanese by foreign
missionaries who couldn’t read kanji or kana. This is its main usage.
In Japan, even though many English and European words are written in their native
Roman letter script, its main purpose is to provide a method for those who cannot read
Japanese kanji or kana to read Japanese words with Roman letters.

Arabic Numerals (Sanyou suuji)

The Arabic numerals ( ) such as 1, 2, 3, etc. were adopted in Japan about the
same time as Roman letters. The name “sanyou suuji” means ‘numerals for calculation’,
so as you can guess, mathematics, financial documents, price lists, and the like, are
normally written in Arabic numerals.
The Japanese numbering system using kanji is normally only used for smaller
numbers, likes a person’s age, or prices in a menu.

Hiragana
Hiragana ( ) is one of the two phonetic alphabets used to write purely Japanese
words. It is also used to write what is called okurigana, when the root portion of a word is
written in kanji and the second half, which includes the tense and mood, is written in kana.
More details about hiragana are in the section below, SPECIFICS OF THE KANA
SYSTEM, and also on pages 14 and 15.

Katakana
Katakana ( ) is the other phonetic alphabet that is used to write all words of
foreign origin, animal sounds, human sounds (like the English ah ha, oh, etc.) and
sometimes used to emphasize regular Japanese words.
More details about katakana are in the section below, SPECIFICS OF THE KANA
SYSTEM, and also on pages 16 and 17.

SPECIFICS OF THE KANA SYSTEM

I have decided to cover this topic in detail because I’ve found that many of my foreign
students want to know how to pronounce the kanji characters they learn. To pronounce
kanji correctly, you must know the basic sounds of the Japanese language. The kana
system contains all of the sounds used in the Japanese language and has the rules
pertaining to sound changes, as well.
Though hiragana and katakana have different shapes and are used for different types
of words, nearly everything else about them identical. They both have the same number of
characters, they share exactly the same sounds, and the rules of the two writing systems
about the same.
So, from this point on, I will say “kana” when talking about things that are common to
both hiragana and katakana.
Despite the complexity of Japan’s writing system, most of the sounds are easy to
pronounce for English and Spanish speaking students, alike.

GOJYUU’ON

Refer to the chart on the right (Gojyuu’on: The

Sounds and Characters of Kana) when reading
the next few pages. Each individual sound block
on the chart has three sections. The grey section
shows hiragana, the colored section shows
katakana, and white section shows the
Romanization of each sound shown.
The sounds of the Japanese language are called “gojyuu’on” ( ) which means ‘
the fifty sounds ’. Though only 46 of the 50 original basic sounds (section ) are used
today, the name of the chart remains unchanged.
Unlike the English alphabet in which each letter’s name is different than its sound, the
name of each character in both of the kana alphabets is exactly the same as the sound
they make. This makes learning them a fairly easy task for the dedicated student.
The character names and sounds can be learned by reciting them in the order of the
kana alphabet, as follows:

a, i, u, e, o ka, ki, ku, ke, ko sa, shii, su, se, so

ta, chii, tsuu, te, to na, ni, nu, ne, no ha, hi, fu fu, he, ho

ma, mi, mu, me, mo ya, yu, yo ra, ri, ru, re, ro wa, wo n

Most of the sounds are in sets of five with each of the five Japanese vowel sounds
corresponding to a single consonant. Notice that there are four sounds (chi, tsu, shi, fu) in
which the consonant does not match the other four in its group. Also notice that the “y-”
and “w-” lines do not use all five vowels.
Each one of the 46 basic sounds, except for the first five (a single vowel) and the last
(a single consonant), is a consonant-vowel combination. Also, each is represented by a
single symbol and is considered to be an individual sound according to Japanese
phonology. When pronounced, each symbol is given the same amount of time.
Using pronunciation marks and various character combinations, there are four main
types of variations that can be made from the basic sounds.

Voiced Sounds (Daku’on)

(See the section of the chart marked .)

The “daku’on” ( ) mark is a double tear drop that can be applied to the upper right
corner of 20 of the kana coming from four rows of the basic sounds, when applied, these
characters are changed into daku’on sounds. Characters from rows other that the “ka, sa,
ta, ha” rows cannot use the daku’on mark.
In daku’on sounds, the consonant portion of each sound (the letter(s) in front of the
vowel in the Romanized spelling) changes from a non-voiced sound into a voiced sound.
The yellow arrows in the chart show the specific sound changes.

Half-Voiced Sounds ( Handaku’on)

(See the section of the chart marked .)

 Notice that one row of five sounds from the basic 46 sounds can become “handaku’on”
( ) sounds by the addition of a small circle to the upper right side of the character.
In handaku’on sounds, all consonants change to the “p” sound as indicated by the
green arrow.

Vowel Palatalization

(See the sections of the chart marked , , and .)

Of the 46 basic sounds, the sounds that end in “i” can be palatalized, meaning they
can have their “i” vowel sound replaced with one of the palatal sounds, the “ya”, “yu”, or
“yo” sounds from the 8th row of the basic chart. This results in a mixed sound that is
pronounced as one unit.
The “palate” refers to the roof of the mouth, the area where the sides of the tongue
make contact when the “y” sound is pronounced.
The symbols that are mixed come from the second columns of chart areas , , and
(under the blue bar), and are mixed with the “ya”, “yu”, or “yo” sounds (pink bar)
resulting in the palatalized sounds of section . Sections and are the palatalized
daku’on and handaku’on sounds (purple).

GeminateSounds
When written in Roman letters, some Japanese words have a double consonant, like
the “-pp-” in the word “happyou” ( ). This doesn’t seem possible considering there are
no kana characters that end in the consonant “p”, or any other consonant, nor are there
any double consonant kana characters. And the only single letter consonant available to
add to the end of another sound is the “n” ( ) sound.
Double consonants, or geminate sounds, are the result of certain natural sound
combinations in some multiple-kanji words that are intentionally pronounced and written in
a slightly different way. Look closely at the Romanization of the kanji characters in the
following two examples:

In both cases, the “tsu” sound at the end of the first syllable is changed to a small “tsu”
( ) causing the first sound of the next character to be doubled. This usually happens
when the “tsu” sound is immediately prior to one of the fricative consonants (“ch-”, “s-”,
“sh-”) or a stop consonant sound (“k-”, “t-”, “b-”, “p-”). These are called “soku’on” ( )
sounds.
Though the combinations mentioned generally result in the geminate sound being
used, this is not always true.

OTHER SOUND CHANGES AND WRITING VARIATIONS

There are a number of other writing and sound changes that occur in Japanese. I will
briefly explain the major ones so you can understand how various changes in the sound of
a word can take place.

Long Vowels
A very common variation in the basic sounds is to turn sh ort vowel sounds into long
vowels, or “choubo’in” ( ). The concept of short and long vowels in Japanese is very
different than in English.
Japanese is what is called a mora timed language. Basically, that means that the
sounds represented by the individual characters and character combinations on the kana
sound chart are pronounced for one beat. Short sounds that are pronounced for a single
beat are one mora long.
So a long vowel sound is a vowel that consists of two characters and is merely
pronounced for twice as long as a short vowel.
For example, the short “o” sound in the word “okami” is very similar to the “o” sound in
the word “over”. In comparison, the long vowel “oo” in the word “ookii” is closer to the “-o
o-” in the phrase “no over night parking”, which is different than “nover night parking”.
Sometimes, as in the example above, the same vowel is repeated twice as a double
vowel. This happens often in Japanese words. And word meanings are highly dependent
upon the correct length vowel, so incorrectly pronouncing a long vowel as a short, or vice
versa, may confuse the listener.
In other cases, long vowels are compound vowels that consist of two different sounds,
like the “ei” at the end of “sensei”. See the chart on the right for a list of common long
vowels and how to pronounce them.
To write a compound vowel in hiragana you simply write both characters, “ei” is ,
for example. Double (repeated) long vowels are written in the same way. The long “oo” is
written , for example.
In katakana the rule is slightly different for repeating the same vowel. A double
(repeated) long vowel is written followed by a long hyphen ( ). Long “oo” is written ,
long “ee” is written , and so on. If the vowels are different, both characters are simply
written in succession.
The dash ( ) is not used to extend vowel sounds in hiragana.

Small Characters

Other than the soku’on “tsu” that was explained earlier, other characters may
occasionally appear in small size, as well, usually, in katakana.
Katakana is used to write words of foreign origin, or “gairaigo” ( ), which often
contain sound sequences that are not found in native Japanese words. To make these
non-Japanese sound combinations, it may use small characters mixed in with regular
sized ones.
The classic example is the combination or which is often used to
produce the “tea” sound of the word “teacher”. If you refer back to the chart of basic
sounds, you’ll notice that the Japanese language does not have this sound. It’s not that no
one can pronounce it, it just means that there is no character to write it. So the
combination serves the purpose.
Most of the sounds of gojyuu’on are consistent with the convention of matching a
single consonant with all five vowels per group but there are exceptions and missing
sounds.
 NOTES ON PRONUNCIATION
Note 1: The Japanese “o” sound is similar to the first part of the English long “o” sound, but
without the rounded off “u” sound on the end of the American pronunciation. Long “o” words like
“rope , boat ”, and “hope ” sound like a combination of the Japanese “o” sound followed by the
“u” sound. For example, say the English word “tow ”. Then say it again, but this time stop before
you get to the sound change attributed to the “w” at the end. This “to-” is very similar to the
Japanese “o”.

Note 2: The “z” is very short and not slowly blended to other sounds like the English “z”. The
Romanized “ze” is pronounced similar to the “-ds e- ” in “words everywhere ”.

Note 3: The Japanese “tsu” is the only kana sound with the “ts” sound combination. This may
seem difficult, but is very close to the “ts” on the end of “that’s”.

Note 4: The “f” sound only occurs in Japanese words using the “fu” combination. This “f” sound is
unlike in English where the teeth touch the lips. The Japanese “f” is very gentle with the lips
pursed as if one were blowing into a flute.

Note 5: The Japanese “r” is a flapped “r” as in Spanish with the tongue making contact with the
roof of the mouth. In this respect, the Japanese “r” may sound more like an English “d”. The
Japanese word for “next month” is Romanized as “raigetsu ”, though many beginners pronounce
it more accurately when spelled “daigetsu ”.

Page 17 shows some other unusual combinations found in katakana.

Sequential Voicing (Rendaku)

The term “rendaku” ( ) refers to sound changes that sometimes take place when
two kanji characters (or other words) are pronounced in a sequence as a single word.
Generally speaking, in words comprised of two kanji characters, rendaku sometimes
causes the second character to be pronounced as a voiced (daku’on) sound.

For example:
no rendaku kata + k ana = katakana (no change)
rendaku hira + k ana = hiragana (k changed to ‘voiced’ g)

Linguists have been unable to establish a definitive rule as to why some sounds
change and some don’t. It seems to be a matter of phonological weight.
You don’t have to understand it how it works unless you are creating new kanji
combinations and new words. But you should understand that sometime the second
character takes on the daku’on pronunciation because of rendaku.

PRONOUNCING JAPANESE SOUNDS

When learning a foreign language, using the correct sounds is very important. So for
foreign students learning Japanese, correctly pronouncing the sounds of gojyuu’on is
necessary to make oneself understood.
Naturally, learning all of the sounds takes a little time and practice. If possible, you
should listen to the pronunciation of native speakers. There are many CDs and internet
resources available to the students who want to work on pronunciation. Or even better,
you could make some Japanese friends.
As a simplified guide to get started with, the chart on the left will give you a general
idea of what Japanese sounds like.

THE REPEAT SYMBOL

There are many Japanese words that repeat a kanji character twice in a row, such as
( ), which is normally written with the repeat symbol in place of the second character
( ). This often results in a rendaku pronunciation for the repeated half of the word.
For example:
hitobito people
tokidoki sometimes, occasionally
hibi days

ROMANIZATIONMETHODS

Romanization is the process of converting Japanese language sounds into a Roman

letter alphabet spelling. There are about five or six main Romanization methods that have
been developed over the years. The method most commonly used in Japanese-English
dictionaries is the Hepburn method, however, readers with a limited understanding of it
frequently mispronounce the Japanese vowels.
Japanese methods, such as “Nihon-Shiki” and “Kunrei-Shiki”, more accurately show
the kana vowel content, but their use of the English consonants is poor and tends to cause
English speakers to mispronounce them, as well.
For the sake of simplicity, I have decided to use a direct kana-Romaji transcription
method. The kana chart on page 10 shows each kana character and the Romaji used in
this book.

PRACTICING KANA

The next four pages have charts showing the correct way to write the basic hiragana
and katakana characters. Be sure to following the correct stroke order according to the
numbers.
While practicing, you should write each character about five to ten times while reciting
it’s sound. This will help you associate the written character with its name (sound) more
quickly.
 HIRAGANA
HIRAGANA DESCRIPTION
The chart on these two pages shows the 46 basic characters of gojyuu’on shown in hiragana
characters. Hiragana is one of the two phonetic scripts comprising the kana writing system that is
used to write the Japanese language. Some of these characters can be modified using either daku’on
or handaku’on marks, and some can be grouped into various combinations. All of the main variations
and combinations are shown on the chart on page 10.

CHARACTERISTICS
Hiragana are characterized by graceful strokes written with a continuous flowing style.

HOW TO USE THESE CHARTS

Study these charts closely when practicing the hiragana characters. Memorize the shape and
spacial balance of each character and be sure to follow the stroke order numbers in sequence.

FOLLOWING THE KANA ALPHABET ORDER: You should practice writing these characters in the
same order that they are recited in the kana alphabet. To do so, start at the top left ( ) and go down
to ( ). Continue at the top of the next column ( ) and go down to ( ). Continue this pattern across
the page to write them in the proper order.

STROKE ORDER: Be sure to follow the numbers shown in each block when writing individual
characters in order to write them correctly. This is called “stroke order”, and is very important when
writing kana, as well as kanji. The dotted lines show the brush’s path when it’s not touching the paper.

HISTORY
The hiragana script was developed around the 8th century, alongside the katakana script. At the
time, it was called “onnade” ( ), or women’s writing, and was considered to be the feminine version
of katakana, the masculine script. See page 8 for more information about the history of kana.

MODERN USAGE
Any word of Japanese origin can be written in hiragana, but many are written in kanji according to
historical use. Words that are normally written in hiragana include: Japanese words with no kanji
assigned to them; the grammatical markers in a sentence, called particles ( after the subject and
or after the object); and the kunyomi pronunciation of kanji characters in kanji dictionaries.
Nouns may be written in hiragana, but normally they’re not if a kanji character is available. Most
verbs, adjectives, and adverbs take the “okurigana” form, as explained below.

OKURIGANA ENDINGS
Many Japanese verbs are formed with a kanji character as the word’s root, followed by one or
more hiragana characters which provide either the tense, form, or level of politeness. Hiragana used
in this way is called “okurigana” ( ). An example is the word “go” ( i ku). (Okurigana in
red.) Some okurigana variations include: (going i tteiru), (want to go i kitai),
(went [informal] i tta), (went [polite] i kimashita). A example for adjectives and
adverbs is the word “proper”, ( tada shii), which becomes the adverb “properly”, ( tada
shiku).
WHY THE NAMES HIRAGANA & KATAKANA?
KANA
Hiragana and katakana are both called ‘ kana’, written ( ) in kanji. The first character means
‘temporary’, and the second character means ‘name’.
Looking at kana history, we see that both character sets were simplifications or derivations of
Chinese kanji that were temporarily used to represent the sounds of the Japanese language until a
purely Japanese system could be developed. The word kana originally referred to the borrowed set of
kanji and its derivative characters.

KATAKANA
Katakana is the word ‘kana’ with the kanji ‘kata’ ( ), or ‘ fragment’ used as a prefix in front of it.
( - katakana) Kanji scholars assigned this name because first-generation katakana were merely
fragments of the manyogana kanji that were clearly 100% Chinese. With such a close foreign origin,
there’s no doubt why this set is only used to write foreign words (and sounds) today.

HIRAGANA
Hiragana is the word ‘kana’ with the kanji ‘hira’ ( ) in front of it ( - hiragana). Hira means
‘even, smooth’. Women of the era, who were not allowed formal schooling, enthusiastically adopted
kana and modified the harsh-looking borrowed fragments into the graceful characters that eventually
became the hiragana set. Today, this set is used as the standard to write all words of Japanese origin
that do not have a kanji equivalent.

So, the kana characters of today are the offspring of the ‘temps’ used to represent the sounds of
the Japanese language 1,500 years ago.
See ‘The Origin and History of Kanji’ on page 8.
 KATAKANA
HIRAGANA DESCRIPTION
The chart on these two pages shows the 46 basic “gojyu’uon” written in the phonetic katakana
script. Most of the main variations and combinations are shown on the chart on page 10, but a few
unusual ones are show in the insert on page 17.

STYLE
Katakana is characterized by mostly straight lines that are written in a bold style.

HOW TO USE THESE CHARTS

See page 14 for details.

HISTORY
Developed around the 8th century, katakana characters are (originally) derived from a very small
set of Chinese kanji that were borrowed by Japanese for their sound. This set, eventually called
manyogana, was used to mimic the sounds of the Japanese language. Each of the katakana
characters is single fragment of the original Chinese character from which is was derived. (See the
chart on page 8.) Katakana is the masculine complement to hiragana.

MODERN USAGE
Katakana is typically used to write foreign words that are not of Chinese origin, such as those
from English and other European languages. (Words of Chinese origin are written with kanji.) It is also
used to express animal or human emotional sounds; as heading markers in alphabetical lists; and
also to place special emphasis on Japanese words within a context.

FURIGANA
Katakana characters are called furigana when they are used to show how a word or character is
pronounced. Furigana is often used to show the pronunciation of:
1) words written in a foreign language script,
2) the onyomi pronunciation of kanji in kanji dictionaries,
3) proper nouns, like peoples names and the names of places. This is necessary for two reasons.
One is that many of the kanji characters used in proper nouns are no longer taught in public schools.
The other reason is that a proper name written in kanji characters may have two or three different
pronunciations because most characters have multiple pronunciations. (Unlike most common nouns,
the names of things, for example, when written in kanji usually have only one commonly used
pronunciation. But, this is not true for proper nouns. So even a Japanese may look at another
Japanese person’s name and not be sure how to pronounce it.)

OKURIGANA ENDINGS
Katakana is not typically used for okurigana in modern writing.
SPECIAL VARIATIONS & COMBINATIONS
 Since katakana is typically used for foreign words, sometimes odd combinations are needed to
recreate many foreign word sounds that do not naturally occur in Japanese words.
In some cases, a small vowel is paired after another character to create the needed consonant-
vowel combination.
A good example is the “fo” sound at the beginning of the word “photo”. There are no native
Japanese words that have this sound in them, so the “ ” combination is used create the “f” + “o”
combination. See page 12 for more on this.
Most of the sounds mixed this way are a close approximation of the English. However, for some
combinations for which a sound is totally nonexistent in Japanese like the “v” sound, for example, the
kana equivalent does not sound at all like the English sound.
Here are some other unusual character combinations that you will find in katakana only:
 THE STRUCTURE OF KANJI
FORWARD

The information on the next four pages is not typically found in most calligraphy books
and not necessary to begin learning to write kanji calligraphy. However, I’ve decided to
include it because it will give the reader a much needed understanding of the fundamental
structure of kanji.
The essential skill of calligraphy is to mentally visualize the complex structures of a
kanji character, then to render them in a balanced manner using a brush. Thus, an
understanding of kanji structure puts you far ahead of most beginners who write as if they
were blindly following a maze.
To the untrained eye, individual kanji characters may at first look like a jumble of
unique abstract lines. But, in fact, all kanji characters use a finite set of building-block
components that are arranged into specific geometric patterns.
To refresh our memory on how various bits and pieces of language are used to put
words together, let’s first review the elements of written English, then compare them to the
elements of kanji.

BUILDING BLOCKS OF ENGLISH

Modern written English uses the Roman alphabet, which consists of 26 letters, along
with mathematical, logical, numerical, and other symbols.
First, let’s divide all writing into three classes that I will call level-1, level-2, and level-3.
Level-1 elements are the rudimentary bits and pieces of written communication that
have a function in the construction process, but do not have any further meaning or use. In
English, the Roman letters and a number of other symbols fall into this category.
Level-2 components are intermediate structures that function to hold the major level-3
structures together, but are not used alone. Portions of words like prefixes, word roots, and
suffixes fall into level-2.
Level-3 are words that can function in a sentence that are independent of other level-1
and 2 bits and pieces.

Level-1 Elements: Letters & Other Characters

The basic unit of written English is the letter. Since fragments of letters are not
identifiable by themselves, I will say that the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet are the
basic units of writing.
Of the 26 Roman letters, only the letters “a” (when used to mean “one” or “any”) and “I”
can function as single words. These are the only level-1 elements that can also used as
independent level-3 words. All the other letters are level-1 only.
In addition to the Roman letters, written English also uses Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3
etc.) and other symbols such as “&” and “%” that represent individual words, these
elements, like the word “a”, are functional level-3 objects, as well.

Level-2 Components: Word Roots & Affixes

Without getting deeply into etymology and morphology, you may recall that English
words are made of components called prefixes, roots, and suffixes.
Prefixes like “de-” and “im-”, for example, are word-fragments that are attached to the
front of a word-root, or stem, that change its meaning.
 Though some prefixes like: “under-, over-, counter-”
can also be used independently as level-3 words, most of
them are merely intermediate-level components used to
build words.
Spelling is easier because of word fragments that we
use over and over again. Writing long words like
“de•part•ment•al•ize” or “inter•nation•al•ization” is like
assembling pre-built components into a whole, and it also
makes it possible for us to guess the meaning of long
words when hearing them for the first time.

Level-3 Structures: Independent Words

Words are complete units of meaning, usable at the sentence level, that are made
from a combination of level-1 elements, level-2 components, and in many cases, other
words.
To be able to structurally analyze English words you must know 26 level-1 elements
and thousands of prefixes, roots, and suffixes. If you do, you can not only split words into
syllables, you can also guess the meaning of nearly any English word.
As different as it may appear to the beginner, written kanji is very similar in some
ways, yet strikingly different in others.

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF KANJI

In contrast to the 26 elements of English, Kanji uses only 8 level-1 symbols, called the
basic brush strokes, that are used to build 214 level-2 components which act like prefixes,
roots, and suffixes. These components are then combined in various patterns to form
thousands of level-3 kanji characters.
To structurally analyze the thousands of level-3 kanji characters you must know the 8
level-1 elements and the 214 level-2 components.
Unlike English, a structural analysis of a given kanji character’s components may or
may not provide any hints as to its pronunciation or meaning.

Level-1 Elements: The Strokes

The most fundamental element of written kanji is the single brush stroke of which there
are eight basic strokes and a number of variations. Each stroke is a single coordinated
brush movement from the point the brush tip touches the paper until it’s removed.
Only one of the 8 strokes, “ichi” ( ) which means “one”, can be used independently as
a level-3 word. All of the other basic strokes are mere building-block elements that are
used to build level-2 and level-3 structures.

These eight strokes were first defined as the basis of kanji in ancient Chinese writing
called “The Eight Ways of Eternity”. The symbol for “eternity” was used because it contains
all eight of the basic strokes.
 Level-2 Components: Radicals
The level-2 structure is called the radical. There are 214 radicals
that play a very important role as the building blocks of kanji.
Of the 214 level-2 radicals, 134 of them are used as fully
independent level-3 kanji characters in Japanese, and many of those
are very common characters.
For students, learning to recognize the radicals as soon as
possible will help you remember new characters much quicker. It will
also help you memorize the stroke order of characters you see for the
first time.
See the radical chart on page 20.

Radical Variations

Some radicals change their shape or stroke count when occurring in specific pattern
positions inside of a kanji character. The radical chart on page 20 shows the major
variations for each radical in commonly used positions.

Level-3 Structures: Kanji Characters

Effectively speaking, kanji characters are words that can be used independently in a
sentence. Level-3 structures may be build in several ways, here are some of the possible
combinations:

1) A single level-1 basic stroke. (Only 1 character) [ ]

2*) A combination of two level-1 strokes. (14 characters) [ ]
*The blue characters are also defined as a radicals.
3) A level-2 radical alone. (About 134 characters) [
etc.]
4) Level-1 stroke(s) and a level-2 radical mixed. (Uncounted) [ etc.]
5) A combination of level-2 radicals. (Uncounted) [ etc.]
6) A combination of level-3 characters. (Uncounted) [ etc.]

From this point on, I will refer to level-3 kanji as simply, kanji.
Anything less I will call either a stroke, a combination of strokes, or a radical.
KANJI PATTERNS

Each kanji character is a unique combination of either strokes and/or radicals that are
arranged in a specific pattern. Replacing any one of its components or changing its pattern
completely changes its identity.
Kanji are divided into a number of geometric patterns into which the strokes and
radicals of a character are arranged. Here are some common paterns:

For the beginner, seeing which pattern a kanji character uses may seem difficult at
first, but after you’ve learned to recognize the strokes and radicals (even if you don’t
remember their names), you can easily see the pattern of their layout.
As a student, rather than concerning yourself with trying to memorize a large number
of patterns, you should simply try to remember the pattern of each character by the unique
layout of its components relative to each other.

RADICAL POSITIONS

All complex kanji characters have some type of pattern, and all patterns have at least
one key position. This key radical position is used as a reference location to classify kanji
characters in the “bushu”, or radical classification system.
Of the many patterns, the greatest majority of kanji can be divided into either a left-
right pattern or a top-bottom pattern. For this reason, of the seven key positions (see the
chart), the first four say ‘many radicals’ because there is a huge number of characters in
which these key radical positions are used.
Radicals occurring in key positions often have their names changed by the addition of
the position name onto the end of the radical name.
For example, when the radical #120 “ito”, or thread ( ), occurs in the “hen” position,
it’s name is changed to “itohen”. There are about 170 Japanese kanji that are classified as
itohen characters ( etc.). Note that in some cases the hen position name may
change to “-ben” because of rendaku (see page 13), such as “gonben”, which is radical
#149 in the hen position.
Another example is radical #118 “take”, or bamboo ( ), in the “kanmuri”, or crown
position results in “takekanmuri”, or bamboo crown. There are about 125 bamboo crown
characters used in Japanese. ( etc.)
A characteristic of many radicals that are also used as independent words, such as
bamboo ( ), is that, as a radical component, it occurs in certain positions only. For
example, bamboo occurs as a radical in the crown position only. Most of the other radicals
have similar peculiarities as to which positions they may occur in.

The name of each key position is shown in blue (daku’on pronunciation in green). Many radicals
are used in the first four positions. Both ‘nyou’ and ‘tare’ positions are filled by five separate
radicals each. There are six ‘kamae’ named positions with only 1 or 2 radicals per pattern. Note
that ‘ukebako’ does not follow the (-gamae) naming convention, and ‘gyougamae’ is the only
radical split into 2 pieces with other components in the middle.

Radicals that habitually occur in certain positions have that information listed in each
row of the radical chart on the left page. Since some radicals occur in several positions,
only the most common positions are listed.
Radicals for the key positions are also shown in the graphic above.

KANJI CATEGORIZATION & LOOKUP METHODS

Over the years, many systems have been devised to sort kanji into various categories
that are used in kanji dictionaries. Knowledge of these methods is necessary for foreign
students who are studying Japanese or Chinese kanji.
English dictionaries typically have their words arranged alphabetically according to
their spelling. However, sorting Japanese kanji by the spelling of their Romanized sound
creates complex problems because most characters have two or more ways that they can
be pronounced. So unless you have the various sounds of each character memorized,
searching by sound spelling is not always possible.
Generally speaking, when we search for a character, we know nothing about it other
than its appearance. For these reasons, kanji-specific methods are used.

The Stroke Count Method

 In this method, commonly used in dictionaries for Japanese readers, the characters
are placed in order according to number of brush strokes they contain. So you must be
able to accurately count strokes. The difference between counting 11 strokes, verses 12
strokes, may take you hundreds of characters off in the character index.
Since a good dictionary may list well over 500 characters with 12 strokes, next, they’re
ordered (usually) according to the radical used in the character’s key position. If you don’t
know which radical is in the key position, it may take you a while.
The bottom line is that counting strokes is sometimes useful, but not always.

The Bushu Method

The bushu ( ) method is a system that classifies kanji according to which radical
falls into the character’s key position, as explained in the previous section on patterns. The
fact that most characters have several radicals can make locating characters a kanji
dictionary very confusing. Also, variations in radical shapes and differences between
dictionaries further complicate its use.

The SKIP Method

The SKIP method is a modern system of kanji classification designed for foreign
students and researchers and is used in several excellent kanji dictionaries. It classifies
characters according to a three segment number which is based on four basic patterns
and simpler stroke count method. This system is probably the easiest for beginners to
master. Some of my students who use this system can locate nearly any kanji character in
a large dictionary in about ten seconds.
For a complete description, see Jack Halpern’s “The Kodansha Kanji Learner’s
Dictionary” or the “New English-Japanese Character Dictionary (NEJCD)”.

Other Methods
There is a variety of other new methods that have been developed in the last few
decades, but most of them require extensive knowledge of kanji and/or the radicals to be
of practical use. Also, most of newer methods have not been implemented in printed
dictionaries, so their usefulness is somewhat limited.

KANJI PRONUNCIATION METHODS

Japanese kanji are pronounced with the sounds of kana, so if you can pronounce the
kana alphabet, you can pronounce Japanese kanji correctly.
Nearly all Japanese kanji have sounds that fall into three different categories, and
some characters have as many as five or more different sounds.
Which sound one should use for any given character is determined by the type of word
it is used to make.

Onyomi

The “onyomi” ( ) method of reading kanji produces the kana sounds that mimic
the character’s original Chinese language pronunciation. In kanji dictionaries, onyomi
sounds are normally written in katakana.
As a rule of thumb, the onyomi pronunciation is most often used for any word that is
comprised of two or more kanji characters. The majority of these words are nouns, their
adjective derivatives, and type 3 Japanese verbs. Type 3 verbs, also called irregular verbs,
are two character Japanese nouns that become verbs when “suru” ( ), or ‘do’, is added
onto the end. For example, the noun “shinpai” ( ), ‘anxiety’, and its verb form “shinpai
suru” ( ), ‘to worry’.

Kunyomi
 The “kunyomi” ( ) method of reading kanji produces kana sounds for words that
are considered to be entirely of Japanese origin. In kanji dictionaries, kunyomi sounds are
normally written in hiragana.
Once again, as a general rule, the kunyomi pronunciation is most often used in words
that are written with a single kanji character, or a single kanji character whose
pronunciation is completed by one or more hiragana characters.
There are many nouns in this group, but most are type-1 and type-2 verbs. In these
verbs, a single kanji character represents the word root, and the inflection on the end is
written in hiragana. For more information about this, see the paragraph entitled “Okurigana
Endings” on the hiragana chart on page 14.

Jinmeiyomi

“Jinmeiyomi” ( ) is the way characters are read when they are used in proper
nouns -- people’s names and, often, in the names of places. At times, the sounds may be
the same or similar the character’s onyomi or kunyomi sounds, but usually, they are not.
 THE TOOLS OF CALLIGRAPHY
As with any art, having appropriate tools and knowing how to use them correctly is
very important. Though the cost and quality of your tools may reflect the level of
importance you place on this art, a skilled calligrapher can produce impressive results with
even the most inexpensive tools.

THE BRUSH

The brush, or “fude” ( ), is the most

important tool of the calligrapher.
Calligraphy brushes consist of two main
parts; the bamboo handle called the “fudejiku”
( ), and animal hair bristles that forms the tip,
or “fudesaki” ( ). Though brushes come in
many different sizes, their basic design and use
is the same.
Brushes are selected according to the size of
the characters desired, as well as artistic affect.
Soft tipped brushes are better for smooth flowing
lines, while brushes with stiff bristles render
characters with a scratchy, brash look.
Beginning students should select a brush
similar to in the picture, with a total length of
about 10 inches (25 cm) with bristles of medium
stiffness.
Brushes should always be thoroughly
washed after use to be sure the ink does not dry
on them.

INK & INDIA INK

Traditionally, calligraphers used solid blocks or bars of ink made of lampblack. These
blocks, called “kokeizumi” ( ), are preferred by many instructors because it gives the
artist the ability to control the thickness of the ink. Also, the process of mixing also allows
the calligrapher to reflect on ones work and slowly consider how to artistically render the
next character to achieve the desired result.
The thickness of the ink should be adjusted according to the type of paper being used.
It should not be so thin as to run, yet, ink that is too thick will not flow well from the brush
onto the paper.
Thin ink is generally favored for cursive styles since all of the characters are written
consecutively with a smooth flowing motion, but it tends to run quickly on porous paper.
Kokeizumi is seldom used by students due to its high cost and inconvenience. These
days, most students use premixed bottled ink, or “sumi” ( ), which is inexpensive and
widely available in art supply shops. Though most of these are very similar in thickness
and quality, you may wish to try a variety of them to find one that matches your personal
preferences.
 THE INK STONE

The ink stone, or “suzuri” ( ), is used

to prime the brush and wipe off excess ink
before you begin to write.
The standard design has a flat basin
with an ink well at the rear, which is called
the ‘sea’, or “umi” ( ), and gradually
shallows to a flatted area in the front,
which is called the ‘land’, or “riku” ( ).
Other simpler designs just have a sunken
well, but are equally as functional.

Suzuri made of carved stone can be expensive, so most students

use modern inexpensive ones made of ceramic and other synthetic
materials which is fine for bottled ink. But, if you are using kokeizumi,
you should use a suzuri made of stone. Stone has a rough surface that
help the kokeizumi break up into fine particles when mixing. Ceramic
and other types are extremely smooth which makes dissolving the
solidified ink particles a lot more difficult.
After use, the ink stone should be thoroughly washed to prevent
ink from drying on the surface.

CALLIGRAPHY PAPER

Standard Japanese calligraphy paper is called “washi” ( ) and comes in many

sizes, colors, and qualities.
Washi paper is made in a process using the mitsumata tree, bamboo, hemp, mulberry,
or a variety of other natural fibers. Generally, its fibers can be seen in the paper’s grain.
Because washi is much stronger than paper made from wood pulp, it is also used for
origami, lanterns, umbrellas, and many other uses.
The calligrapher normally selects paper for its color, grain, roughness, and durability.
The grain and roughness effects how well the ink permeates into the paper and changes
the appearance of the kanji. For practice purposes, “hanshi” ( ) sized paper is most
commonly used due to its convenient size.

THE PAPER WEIGHT

“Bunchin” ( ), or paper weights, are a long thin bars used to hold the paper in place
while you are writing.
Paper weights are commonly made of metal or stone and available at craft shops that
carry calligraphy supplies. The bottom should be smooth so it does not damage the paper.
A single weight is normally placed at the top of the paper pior to writing.

THE BRUSH MAT

The brush mat, or “shitajiki” ( ), is a thin felt mat on which the paper is placed
during calligraphy work. Its purpose is to provide a soft surface on which the paper can flex
while the brush moves over the surface.

THE BRUSH HOLDER

The brush holder, or “fudemaki” ( ), is a rollable mat

commonly made of bamboo slats woven together. It is used to
store or carry brushes in order to protect the bristles from
being bent or otherwise damaged.
Unless you carry your supplies around often, the fudemaki
is not an absolute necessity since most brushes come with a
plastic cap that can be used to protect the bristles when
they’re being transported.
 POSTURE & HOLDING THE BRUSH
WRITING POSTURE

The traditional position to write calligraphy is called

“seiza” ( ), which is seated on a mat on the floor with
your back straight and erect.
However, you may also be seated in a chair or be
standing when you’re writing on a standard height table.
The flexibility to be able to swivel and bend at the waist
is very important because you are going to use your body
to write, not just your hands.

BALANCE OF THE SHOULDERS

The elbows of both arms should be pointed away from

the body at about a 45° angle.
The arm of the hand that you write with is held away from
the body to allow for plenty of maneuverability, while the
opposite arm is held out to maintain body balance and
symmetry.

USING THE BODY

When writing calligraphy, the movement of your arm muscles should account for only
about half of the brush’s total movement. The other half should be induced by the
positioning of your body, almost as if an imaginary brush mounted on your shoulder was
writing the same character in the air at half the normal size.
Calligraphy written using your body tends to be more lively and expressive than hand-
only written characters.

HOLDING THE BRUSH

The brush should be held between the fingers firmly and not allowed to rest on top of
the hand as it does when writing with a pen or pencil. The wrist should be relatively
straight and your four fingers should be slightly bent and pointing toward the tip of the
brush. The thumb should be nearly straight.
The brush should be pointed down toward the paper at about an 80° to 90° angle. This
angle may change slightly as the brush is pulled along the surface, but not by much.

BRUSH PRESSURE & STROKE SHAPE

As you learn to use the brush, you’ll quickly find that changing the amount of pressure
that you apply drastically changes the shape of the stroke that’s
rendered.
The brush is always, to some
degree, ‘floating’, even when it’s
touching the paper. And as it
floats, the calligrapher constantly
adjusts the amount of pressure
applied to the paper in order to
achieve the desired result.
Like when using a pen, the
left-right and forward-backward
axises affect the path that the tip
takes. But unlike the pen, the 3rd
axis, which is brush pressure,
changes the thickness of that path,
critically affecting the shape of each stroke.
Manipulation of the brush in all three axises is necessary to render good calligraphy
and involves the coordinated movement of both the body and the hand.
 BASIC BRUSH STROKE TECHNIQUE
GENERAL

In this section you will learn some of the basic do’s and don’ts about using the brush,
as well as several important techniques that will make all of your brush strokes look
consistent.
The method taught in this book uses eight basic strokes, but one stroke is actually a
combination of strokes. This optimized group will allow you to more easily write any
character you see without having to guess which strokes to use.
After reading these two pages, try to memorize the name of each of the strokes from
page 28 and 29 by their characteristics, which is easy. To help you remember their names,
recite the name of each stroke in your head when you practice kanji. This will help you
associate the stroke sequence names with each character. For example, reciting
“horizontal, vertical, left, handle” as you write .
Before we get into the details of each particular stroke, let’s first define what a stroke
actually is, then we’ll look to see what a stroke is made of.

THE BRUSH STROKE

Many beginning students are under the assumption that a stroke is simply a line. Well,
each stroke certainly follows a line, but they are much more.
Calligraphy uses brushes and brushes make shapes, not lines. Lines are what you get
when you write with a pen or a pencil.
A brush stroke is a shape that changes thickness and
character as it travels along the path to creating a shape. Each
brush stroke has a specific shape or outline. Naturally, the
shape may be magnified or diminished by the style used or the
brush size.
Kanji written with mere lines is not calligraphy. It’s
handwriting.
From this point on, pay close attention to the shape of each stroke.

COMMON TRAITS OF THE 8 BASIC STROKES

When looking at any given character, we normally don’t focus much attention on the
appearance of individual strokes unless they stand out for some reason. But the shape
and consistency of each stroke has a big impact on the way we perceive a character and
using the proper technique is what produces consistent results.
Though there are a few exceptions that I will point out, most of the eight basic brush
strokes have 3 segments in common: a head, a body, and a tail.

The Head
The head is the portion of a stroke where the brush first makes contact with the paper.
A properly rendered head makes each stroke look more defined and also gives each
stroke a sense of direction.

The manner in which the brush initially touches the paper determines the shape
and orientation of the head on each stroke, so proper technique is very important.
First touch the tip and pull back to lay the bristles down on the paper at a 45
 degree angle. Approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of the total length of
the bristles should be laying flat on the paper. Once the brush
is fully seated, then continue on to render the body.

Remember this while practicing

and you will be able to consistently
make nice-looking stroke heads.
Depending upon the style effect,
brush stroke heads may be very
pronounced or nearly imperceptible,
but they should be consistent.

The Body
The section between the head and the tail is called the body
and, in the case of most strokes, is the largest part of a stroke. As such, the body carries a
great deal of influence over a character’s appearance.
The two things that affect the body the most are the path and the brush pressure. The
path includes direction and distance, so you must take into account how the stroke fits into
the space of each particular character. And the brush pressure will affect the stroke’s
thickness which changes as you move along the path.
Mastering the body requires close coordination between the different movements
made for path and pressure. You should mentally visualize the movements you are going
to make before you begin to move the brush.

The Tail
The tail is where the stroke ends and the brush is pulled away from the paper. As
another main point that defines the shape of the stroke, it must be executed in a specific
manner.
You may notice that different strokes may have several types of tails on them, in
particularly, you may notice the four different tails on the vertical line stroke.
Tails can be generalized into three main types: plain, tapered, and styled.

The Plain Tail

The plain tail is of medium weight and does not stand out. It is rendered by simply
stopping the brush at the end of the body and lifting the brush from the paper.
 The plain tail is found on nearly every tear drop stroke, and most horizontal and
vertical line strokes.

The Tapered Tail

The tapered tail is used at the end of nearly all left and right strokes,
and is also represented by the floating needle tail on the vertical line
stroke. Strokes with the tapered tail have a high degree of directionality
because the head is strongly complemented by the gradually tapering
point of the tail.

To make the tapered tail, slowly decreased the amount of brush

pressure from about the middle of the body. Then lift the brush tip completely away
from the paper while the brush is still in motion.

Styled Tails

Of the two types of styled tails, the first one, the hooked tail, occurs quite frequently
and is counted as one of the eight basic strokes. This tail is commonly found on the
vertical line, the bend, and the handle stroke.

To make the hooked tail, complete the body as if it were going to have a plain tail on it.
But after coming to a stop at the end of the body, instead of lifting the brush, hook it in the
desired direction while slowly lifting the brush from the paper. The lifting movement is very
similar to that of the tapered tail.
 The other styled tail, the iron post, is very heavy and tends to stand
out as the central stroke of a character. It is not very common and only
found on the vertical or horizontal line stroke.
To make the iron post, complete the body as if it were going to have
a plain tail on it. Then after just barely beginning to pull the brush away
a 1/16 of an inch, perhaps, reseat the brush down on the paper as if you
were rendering a head on a new stroke. Then pull the brush completely
away from the paper.

PRACTICING THE BASIC STROKES

Use the next eight pages to study and practice the basic strokes. Practice them
repeatedly until you have learned the proper hand and body movements and can write
them instinctively, without having to thinking about each little movement.
Mastering the basic strokes is the first step in learning kanji calligraphy. Putting them
together in a balanced manner and in the correct stroke order is the next step.
THE EIGHT BASIC STROKES LIBRARY
Basic Strokes Practice Pages
 BEGINNING KANJI CALLIGRAPHY
Now that we’ve covered kanji from the ground up, let’s finish up with a few very
important things about putting all the pieces together.

THE STROKE ORDER

Long ago, those who first developed kanji placed special emphasis on establishing the
specific order in which the strokes of each and every character should be written. This is
called stroke order, or “hitsujun” ( ). The correct order renders the character in the
optimum number of strokes with no wasted movements. Also, elements, such as radicals,
that are instrumental in building-up the character are written first, so you are more likely to
end up with a nicely shaped character by following the correct stroke order.
Deviations in the stroke order will result in a character with an altered shape. As a
beginner, you may doubt this, but once you begin memorizing the strokes of the radicals,
and make that order a habit, soon you’ll find the same radicals repeated over and over
again in other characters. So an error in the stroke order of one radical is now multiplied
into all characters that share that radical.
The correct stroke order for each character in this book is located in the kanji character
library.

GENERAL ORDER OF CONSTRUCTION

For guidance when writing characters you see elsewhere, this is the general order of
priority, but many characters make exceptions to these rules.
Characters using the hen-tsukuri (left-right) pattern are built from left to
right. Characters using the crown-foot (top-bottom) pattern are built from the top
down.
Horizontal lines usually precede vertical lines, and the left stroke usually
precedes the right stroke.
In solid characters like ( , , ), the left side vertical stroke is first and the
bottom enclosing horizontal stroke is last.
In solid characters that are enclosed in a box, or semi-box, such as the first 4 kamae
patterns in the chart on page 21, the outside box is written before the inside.
Vertical, horizontal, left stroke or right strokes that cut through the entire character
generally come last.

CHARACTER SHAPE VARIATIONS

Just as each brush stroke has its own characteristic shape, each kanji character also
has a natural shape to it.
The seasoned calligrapher tries to accentuate the natural shape of each character
when writing because variations in the geometry of successive characters looks more
visually interesting than the same shape repeated over and over again.
Here are a number of characters and the shapes they have.
To help you find a character’s natural shape, surround its outer edges within lines.
Then compare it to the standard geometric shapes.
 THE KANJI CHARACTER LIBRARY
ABOUT THE LIBRARY

The following section is the Kanji Library which contains 166 characters that are
commonly found in Japanese calligraphy. These characters have been selected for their
functionality, as well as their beauty.
The first ten characters are the numbers one through ten. Not only are the numbers
used commonly in many calligraphy works, but they are also used as components within
the patterns of other complex kanji characters.
All of the characters after the numbers are arranged in stroke order so you learn the
simplest ones first. This is important since all of the complex characters are built with
simpler components. Naturally, you can skip around if you like, but writing the complex
ones will be easier if you practice the simpler ones first.

Notes About the Kanji Charts

WRITING PREPARATIONS

Before beginning to write, preparations must be done. First prepare the writing space
by setting all of your tools in the correct location. Place a piece of paper on the shitajiki and
weight in down, then ink the stone.
Before beginning to write any characters, most calligraphers do a practice exercise as
a warm-up and to calibrate their hand-to-eye coordination. It consists of drawing a grid of
successive horizontal and vertical lines that looks like a screen. You should make the lines
thick and very close, but not touching.
Next, open the book to the page with the character you wish to practice and study it
closely. Notice how it’s balanced within the open space, the angles and thickness of the
strokes, and memorize the stroke order.
After the review, some new students like to write the character several times on
scratch paper with a pencil to help them remember the stroke sequence. If you can, call
out the names of the strokes as suggested in the section on the basic eight strokes. This is
not suggested if you already know the character.

RENDERING THE CHARACTERS

Finally, prime your brush with just enough ink for one character and begin writing using
the techniques taught. Immediately after rendering a character, compare it to the example
in the book. Be critical and site specific differences between yours and the example. Write
the character again, and this time, try to minimize the differences you noticed the first time.
Repeat these steps until you can write the character accurately without looking at the
example.
 DOUBLE CHARACTERS

In this section, I’ve selected compound character words using characters from the first
section.

CHARACTER SPACING

When writing grouped characters, aligning them together correctly can be difficult and
takes practice. The two important points to consider are 1) the spacing between the two
characters and 2) the proper centering of the second character under the first.
Keep in mind that the positioning of each character is determined by where you put the
first stroke, so think carefully before you begin to write.
After finishing the first character, carefully consider the alignment of where the first
stroke should be under the first character. Trying to envision the entire character on the
paper before writing is helpful.

PRONUNCIATION
 As stated in the pronunciation section, words comprised of two of more kanji
characters grouped together generally use the onyomi pronunciation. All of the words on
the next few pages use the onyomi pronunciation. Two of them, school, “gakkou” , and
marriage, “kekkon” use the small “tsu” ( ) to make the characteristic soku’on double
consonant.
 CHARACTER LIBRARY ORDER

Simple Numbers

one 34

two 34

three 35

four 35

five 36

six 36

seven 37

eight 37

nine 38

ten 38

2 Strokes

power 39

person 39

3 Strokes

small 40

river 40

ten thousand 41

mountain 41

child 42

mouth 42

down 43

evening 43

dirt 44

up 44

thousand 45

big 45

woman 46

4 Strokes

heart 46

water 47
 change 47

culture 48

father 48

huge 49

moon 49

stop 50

day 50

king 51

heaven(s) 51

hair 52

tree 52

hand 53

dog 53

fire 54

few 54

inside 55

5 Strokes

without fail 55

north 56

success 56

eternity 57

city 57

winter 58

outside 58

left 59

right 59

eye 60

field 60

mother 61

even 61

righteous 62

life 62

world 63

white 63

reason 64

half 64

book 65
 6 Strokes

ground 65

pond 66

act, go 66

fondness 67

bamboo 67

color 68

meeting 68

thread 69

character, letter 69

many 70

light 70

hundred 71

consider 71

name 72

around 72

spirit 73

ear 73

west 74

self 74

become, form 75

7 Strokes

village 75

society 76

town 76

benefit 77

red 77

foot 78

art 78

flower 79

voice 79

man 80

wheel, car 80

8 Strokes

cooperation 81
 samurai 81

bright 82

gate 82

forest 83

peace 83

gold, metal 84

fortune 84

sky 85

jewel 85

blue 86

learn 86

long 87

east 87

9 Strokes

affair 88

sea 88

spirit 89

south 89

food 90

autumn 90

spring 91

realm 91

thought 92

sound 92

beauty 93

necessity 93

wind 94

fly 94

heavy 95

10 Strokes

school 95

paper 96

ability 96

sword 97

summer 97

house 98
 blessing 98

write 99

smile 99

horse 100

diligence 100

11 Strokes

sympathy 101

marriage 101

strong 102

cat 102

belong 103

active, move 103

fish 104

yellow 104

black 105

12 Strokes

lake 105

sun 106

success 106

conclusion 107

light 107

goodness 108

tooth 108

brush 109

wisdom 109

way 110

13 Strokes

Chinese 110

fortune 111

poem 111

dream 112

love 112

feeling 113

pleasure 113
 14 Strokes

happiness 114

purity 114

hair 115

hear 115

16 Strokes

dragon 116

17 Strokes

gratitude 116

CHARACTERS INDEXED BY MEANING

ability 96

act 66

active 103

affair 88

around 72

art 78

autumn 89

bamboo 67

beauty 93

become 75

belong 103

benefit 77

big 45

birth 62

black 105

blessing 98

blue 86

book 65

bright 82

brush 109
 C

car 80

cat 102

change 48

character 70

child 41

Chinese 110

city 58

color 68

conclusion 107

cooperation 81

culture 48

day 50

diligence 100

dirt 44

dog 54

dragon 116

dream 112

ear 73

east 87

eight 37

eternity 57

evening 43

eye 60

father 49

feeling 113

few 54

field 60

fire 56

fish 104

five 36
flower 79

fly 94

fondness 67

food 90

foot 78

form 75

forest 83

fortune 84

fortune 111

four 35

freedom 64

gate 82

go 66

gold 84

goodness 109

ground 65

gratitude 116

hair 52

hair (on the head) 115

half 64

hand 53

happiness 114

hear 115

heart 47

heavy 95

heaven(s) 51

horse 100

house 98

huge 45

hundred 68

inside 55

J
jewel 85

king 51

lake 105

learn 86

left 59

letter 70

level 61

life 62

light 71

light (weight) 107

long 87

love 112

man 80

many 71

marriage 101

meet 69

metal 84

money 84

moon 50

mother 61

mountain 41

mouth 42

move 103

name 70

necessity 93

nine 38

north 56

34
one

outside 57

over 44

paper 96

peace 83

person 39

pleasure 113

poem 111

pond 66

power 39

purity 114

realm 91

reason 64

red 77

right 59

righteous 62

river 40

samurai 81

sea 88

self 74

seven 37

smile 99

school 95

six 36

sky 85

small 40

society 76

sound 92

south 90

spirit 89

spirit 73

spring 91
strong 102

stop 52

strength 39

success 56

success 106

summer 97

sun 106

sword 97

sympathy 101

ten 38

ten thousand 42

thought 72

thought 92

thousand 45

thread 69

three 35

tooth 108

town 76

tree 53

two 34

under 43

up 44

village 75

voice 79

water 47

way 110

west 74

wheel 80

white 63

wind 94
winter 58

wisdom 109

without fail 55

woman 46

world 63

write 99

yellow 104
 Index

Note: Page numbers correspond to the print edition.

Arabic Numerals 9

B
basic strokes
bend stroke 29
body 27
common traits 26
definition 26
handle stroke 29 head 26
hook stroke 28
horizontal line 28
left stroke 29
library 28
practice 27
right stroke 29
tails
plain tail 27
styled tails 27
tapered tail 27
tear drop 28
vertical line 28
bend stroke. See basic strokes: bend stroke
brush pressure 25
brush stroke. See basic strokes
Buddhism 8

calligraphy
tools
bottled ink 23
brush 23
brush holder 24
brush mat 24
calligraphy paper 24
ink 23
ink stone 24
paper weights 24

D
daku’on. See gojyu’on: pronunciation

E
English
prefixes 18
word roots & affixes 18

F
fifty sounds 10
floating needle. See brush stroke: tails: tapered tail
furigana. See katakana: usage

G
gojyu’on
pronunciation
dakuon 11
geminate sounds 11
handakuon 11
long vowels 11
palatalization 11
rendaku 13
pronunciation chart 12
gojyuon
detailed description 10
grass script 8

handaku’on. See gojyu’on: pronunciation

handle stroke. See basic strokes: handle stroke
hiragana
character chart 14
development 8
order 14
stroke order 14
usage
general 9
modern 14
okurigana 14
writing long vowels 12
holding the brush 25
hook stroke. See basic strokes: hook stroke
hooked tail. See basic strokes: hook stroke
horizontal line. See basic strokes

I
ideograms 7
iron post. See brush stroke: tails: styled tails

Japanese language
adjectives 14
adverbs 14
double consonants 11
general description 9
number of kanji used 9
particles 14
pronunciation. See gojyu’on: pronunciation
single consonant 10
verbs 14
vowels 10
Japanese terms
bunchin 24
fude 23
fudejiku 23
fudemaki 24
 fudesaki 23
hanshi 24
hen 21
hitsujun 32
kaiimoji 7
kanbun 8
kashamoji 7
keiseimoji 7
kokeizumi 23
okurigana 14
onnade 14
riku 24
seiza 25
shijimoji 7
shitajiki 24
shoukeimoji 7
sumi 23
suzuri 24
tenchuumoji 7
umi 24
washi 24
yonji ikku 4

K
kana. See also hiragana and katakana
orign and meaning 15
kanji
characteristic shapes 32
classes of
compound ideographs 7
derivative characters 7
ideographs 7
phonetic loan characters 7
phonetic-ideographic 7
pictographs 7
elements 19
Jouyou Kanji list 9
library of single characters 33
order of construction 32
origins 8
pattern positions
crown position 21
patterns 21
pronunciation
furigana. See katakana: usage:
furigana
jinmeiyomi 22
kunyomi 22
onyomi 22
pronunciation
development kunyomi 8
radical
classification system 21
rendering 33
search methods
SKIP. See SKIP
stroke order 32
writing preparations 33
writing styles
kobun 5
reisho 5
tensho 5
 written styles
gyousho 8
kaisho 8
seal script 8
sousho 8
katakana
development 8
odd combinations 17
small characters 12
usage
furigana 16
general 9
modern 16
writing long vowels 12

L
left stroke. See basic strokes: left stroke

manyogana 8

O
okurigana. See hiragana: usage: okurigana

radicals
chart 20
description 19
variations 19
repeat symbol 13
right stroke. See basic strokes: right stroke
romaji. See Roman Letters
Roman letters
as writing elements 18
general 9
introduced to Japan 9
Romanization
methods 13

S
soku’on. See gojyu’on: pronunciation: geminate sounds
stroke count. See kanji: search methods: stroke count
stroke order. See kanji: stroke order

T
tear drop. See basic strokes: tear drop
Ts’ang Chie 8

vertical line. See basic strokes: vertical line

voiced sounds. See gojyu’on: pronunciation: dakuon

W
warm-up. See kanji: writing preparations
writing posture 25