Leaf

by Nao

ha, ba, yō

One of the problems that translators of Japanese sometimes face is how to distinguish countable nouns and uncountable nouns. This character is one of the examples. Paying attention to collocations might help you. When somebody says, “ha ga shigeru,” it means that leaves grow thick. “Ha ga irozuku” means that leaves are colored.

Kotoba is language.

In the preface to the book called Kokin wakashū, the Japanese poet and the editor of the anthology, Kino Tsurayuki (872-945), declared that Japanese poetry has been turning seeds of feelings into a myriad of leaves of words (man no koto no ha). The oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry is Man‘yōshū. It includes some love songs.

1. Draw the top-left dot.
2. Draw the horizontal line crossing the first dot.
3. Draw the sweeping dot from the top right.
4. Draw the long horizontal line from the left to the right.
5. Draw the vertical line in the middle.
6. Draw the vertical line on the right.
7. Draw the short horizontal stroke to connect the two vertical strokes you have just drawn.
8. Draw the L-shape.
9. Start drawing the lower part. Draw the long horizontal line from the left to the right.
10. Draw the vertical line crossing the previous stroke.
11. Draw the sweeping stroke from the previous strokes intersect. Let it sweep toward the lower left and make it thinner gradually.
12. Draw the sweeping stroke heading toward the other corner. Make it broader at the end.

Brave

by Nao

isa-mashii, yū

Isa-mashii is an adjective meaning brave and courageous. Yūkan and yūsō also mean brave and heroic. The kan of yūkan often becomes part of compounds that stress that you venture to do something or dare to do something.

The lower part of this character is chikara (power).

1. Draw the hook on the top.
2. Draw the dot.
3. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
4. Draw the upper and right side of the rectangle.
5. Draw the horizontal stroke in the rectangle.
6. Draw the vertical stroke in the rectangle, making a cross.
7. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
8. Draw the hook of the power.
9. Draw the sweeping stroke from the center to the lower left.

To Say

Please click -> here to find information on this character and visit http://www.japanesecalligrapher.com
for more characters.

Strong

by Nao

tsuyo-i, tsuyo-meru, tsuyo-maru, tsuyo-garu, shi-iru, kyō, gō

Tsuyo-i means strong.

Tsuyo-garu is a verb. If this is your attitude, you are pretending not to be afraid of something.

To force somebody to do something is shi-iru.

Kyōryoku can be translated as powerful or great power. Having a similar meaning, kyōdai collocates with a hegemonic power.

A stubborn person is described as gōjō. Jō means emotion.

Draw the left-hand side of the character first.

1. Draw the hook on the top left. Draw the horizontal part, change the direction of the brush, and draw the vertical part.
2. Draw the horizontal stroke from the left to the right. Attach the ending to the first stroke.
3. Draw the vertical stroke from where you start the previous stroke.
4. Draw the hook. After drawing the horizontal part, change the direction and then draw a slightly bent line. Before drawing an upward stroke, pause a little and change the direction.
5. Go to the top right. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top.
6. Draw the stroke that slopes from right to left. Draw it from the left.
7. Draw the dot at the end of the previous stroke.
8. Start to draw the rectangle. Draw the left side.
9. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
10. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
11. Draw the vertical stroke crossing the rectangle.
12. Draw the stroke at the bottom. This also slopes from right to left a little. Draw it from the left.
13. Draw the dot.

The third and forth strokes are supposed to be one. The fifth and sixth strokes are connected, too. When you look up this in a dictionary, it is an 11-stroke character.

Power

by Nao

chikara, riki, ryoku

This character means power.

The end of some compounds is this character. They often mean the strength of power or kinds of power. Chiryoku means intellectual power. Jitsuryoku is competency. Dōryoku is energy, such as electricity, waterpower, wind-generated, nuclear power and so on. Both inryoku and jūryoku mean gravity. The former is more about attraction, a jargon used in physics. The in of inryoku means to attract or to pull. The jū of jūryoku means heavy.

Jiriki is one’s own strength. Nenriki means willpower or psychokinesis.

Sokojikara is potential. Bakajikara is incredible power. In these cases, chikara is voiced. The former is composed of soko and chikara. The latter is from baka and chikara. Soko means the bottom. Baka means fool.

See saku (to make) for rikisaku.

First, draw the hook, and then the sweeping stroke.

Step

by Nao

aru-ku, ayu-mu, ho, bu, fu, po

Aru-ku is the verb to walk. You can use this to count steps. Counting steps from one to ten goes like ippo (1 po), niho (2 ho), sanpo (3 po), yonho (4 ho), goho (5 ho), roppo (6 po), nanaho (7 ho), happo (8 po), kyūho (9 ho) and jippo (10 po).

Ayu-mu also means to walk. It implies making some progress step by step.

Taking a walk is sanpo of which the san means scattering.

Draw the upper part first.

1. Draw the vertical stroke from the top.
2. Draw the horizontal stroke from the center of the first vertical stroke.
3. Draw the vertical stroke on the left.
4. Draw the longest horizontal line.
5. Draw the vertical stroke with an upward turn from the center of the previous stroke.
6. Draw the sweeping stroke on the left.
7. Draw the dot on the right.
8. Draw the longest sweeping stroke below the previous stroke to the lower left corner.

About our new blog

Thank you for visiting our blog.
We just opened a new blog today.

We are going to collect Japanese poetic words and present them in Japanese calligraphy.

If you are interested, please visit
http://japanesecalligrapher.wordpress.com/

Belief

by Nao

Shin-jiru, shin

The reading of this character is shin, whether it has a suffix or not. With a suffix, it becomes the verb, shin-jiru, which means to believe.

Compounds including this character are relevant to believing. For example, jishin is self-confidence. Shinnen is faith. Shinrai is reliance. Shinrai sei is reliability. Let me add meishin, which means superstition, to this group. It literally means lost in belief.

Nagano prefecture is called Shinshū and its old name is Shinano. The first character of both Shinshū and Shinano is today’s character.

Draw the left-hand side of the character first. This part is called ninben.

1. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top.
2. Draw the vertical stroke.
3. Draw the dot on the top of the right-hand side.
4. Draw the longest horizontal stroke.
5. Draw the horizontal stroke below it.
6. Draw the horizontal stroke between the previous stroke and the rectangle.
7. Begin to draw the rectangle. Draw the vertical stroke, the left side of the rectangle.
8. Draw the hook. The vertical part is bolder than the horizontal part.
9. Draw the horizontal stroke at the bottom.

To Decide

by Nao

ki-meru, ki-maru, ketsu

To decide is ki-meru. To be decided is ki-maru. Both meru and maru are okurigana.

Ketsu is used for compounds. Let me give you some examples relating with personal decisions. Ketsudan, ketsui and kesshin all mean determination or resolution. The dan of ketsudan means to decide. The i of ketsui means will. Kesshin is composed of ketsu and shin. Shin means the heart.

Kesshi is a kind of attitude you might show when you determine to do something. You use this expression when you dare to do it. Its literal meaning is ready to die.

Jiketsu is self-determination. It often means suicide committed from a sense of one’s responsibility.

Making a decision is not always personal. Hanketsu is a decision of the court. Han has something to do with judging. A majority vote is tasūketsu. Tasū means many.

First, draw the left-hand side of the character.

1. Draw the dot in the upper-left corner.
2. Draw the dot below it.
3. Draw the upward stroke in the lower-left corner. This stroke is heading toward the next stroke.
4. Draw the hook on the horizontal line.
5. Draw the horizontal line from the left to the right.
6. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top to the lower-left.
7. Draw the sweeping stroke from the last two strokes intersect to the lower right. The ending spreads.

To Divide

by Nao

wa-keru, wa-kareru, wa-karu, wa-katsu, bun, bu

The general meaning of this character is to divide.

The suffixes, keru, kareru, karu, and katsu, are okurigana. They have delicate nuances. If you divide something, your action is expressed as wa-keru. If something splits, it is in the state of wa-kareru. (Take note that there is another character with the same reading for a divorce.) Wa-karu means to understand. To separate something from another is described as wa-katsu.

Fractions are bunsū, of which the sū means numbers. A half is ni bun no ichi (2 bun no 1), a third, san bun no ichi (3 bun no 1), and a quarter, yon bun no ichi (4 bun no 1). No is in hiragana.

Equinoxes also divides seasons. The spring equinox is shunbun, and the autumnal equinox is shūbun.

There are some words probably telling us about something separate. Self or oneself is jibun. Nature or temperament is shōbun.

Incidentally, Ōita is a prefecture in Kyusyu.

Addition: In the classical system of measuring length, weight, amount and so on, “bu” is a unit of measurement. ichibu is one percent or about 30 mm (a tenth of one sun). (August 13, 2010)

---

Here is the stroke order.

1. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top to the lower left. Make it narrower gradually.
2. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top to the lower right. Make it broader in the end.
3. Draw the hook. After changing the direction of the brush, draw a curve with an upward turn.
4. Draw the sweeping stroke, which should not stick out from the hook.