Unpretentious

by Nao

moto, so, su

This character implies a natural state or something undecorated. If you like simple and natural things, this is for you. Such things are described as soboku. Boku means plain.

Material is called sozai. Zai means stuff. Sozai also means ingredients and subjects you write about.

Images and illustrations for a website is called sozai, too. You can search free images and illustrations by the term “free sozai” in Japanese. My favorite site is this:

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This website offers free images of seasonal flowers, plants, and events. Other materials are scenery, stars, sky, rainbow, the sea, animals, insects, and fruit. All are available in illustrations, wallpaper, and icons. They are free but please do not link any image directly.

First, draw the upper part of the character.

1. Draw the top horizontal line from the left to the right.
2. Draw the vertical line from the top.
3. Draw the second horizontal stroke.
4. Draw the longest horizontal stroke.
5. Draw the sweeping stroke from the center.
6. Draw the short stroke touching the previous stroke.
7. Draw the stroke that parallels the fifth stroke.
8. Draw the sweeping stroke that is almost horizontal.
9. Draw the dot at the end of the previous stroke.
10. Draw the vertical stroke with an upward turn.
11. Draw the sweeping stroke on the left of the vertical stroke.
12. Draw the dot on the other side.

The fifth and sixth strokes become one stroke when you write it with a pen. Similarly, the seventh and eighth become one.

Dog

by Nao

inu, ken

A dog is inu. A puppy is koinu. The ko of koinu means a child. A pet dog is kaiinu. Kai comes from the verb kau, which means “to have a pet.”

Hachiko is the famous statue you can see near Shibuya station in Tokyo. The dog is famous as chūken or a faithful dog. The story was released as an American movie titled Hachiko: A Dog’s Story this year.

Banken is a watchdog. Ban means to watch.

If you have visited Japan, you might have seen a pair of guardian lions made of stone in front of a shrine. We call them komainu although they are not dogs. The reason they call them inu is not known.

Some breeds or mixes of dogs have this character. We read it either inu or ken. The Akita Inu or the Akita Ken, the Tosa Inu or the Tosa Ken, and the Shiba Inu or the Shiba Ken are examples.

The dot in the upper right corner is the final stroke.

1. Draw the horizontal line.
2. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top to the lower left corner of the character. Make it narrower gradually.
3. Draw the sweeping stroke from where the previous strokes intersect to the lower right corner. Make it broader in the end.
4. Draw the dot above the right edge of the horizontal stroke.

Wealth

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

To Go

by Nao

yu-ku, i-ku, okona-u, kō, gyō, an

“Let’s go” is “ikō” or “ikimashō” in Japanese. Also, you can say, “yukō” or “yukimashō.” The English verb “go” is “iku” or “yuku.”　The suffix “–mashō” makes words polite.

“Iku” and “yuku” are not always compatible. When you express one’s future, you can say, “yuku sue.” But don’t say, “iku sue.”

“Ichi gyō” means one row or one line. “Ni gyō” means two rows or two lines.

Since the suffix –me makes ordinal numbers, “ichi gyō me” means the first row or the first line. “Ni gyō me” means the second row or the second line.

Another meaning of kō and gyō is one’s behavior or action. Jikkō is practice, execution, or implementation. With the same characters, “fu gen jikkō” expresses a voluntary action without being declared to be done beforehand. Gyōsei is administration or governance. The sei of gyōsei means politics.

Iku means not only “to go” but also “to work.” When things work well, you can say, “umaku iku.” The opposite case is “umaku ikanai.”

The way something goes is described with a “-yuki” suffix.

Nariyuki expresses how things change. Kumoyuki means how clouds go. Kokoroyuki means how your heart goes.

Draw the left hand side of the character first.

1. Draw the sweeping stroke in the upper left corner of the character.
2. Draw the sweeping stroke below it.
3. Draw the vertical stroke.
4. Draw the shorter horizontal line.
5. Draw the longer horizontal line.
6. Draw the vertical line with an upward turn.

Nothing

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

Bunch

by Nao

taba, taba-neru, soku, tsuka

This character means a bunch or a number of things tied together. Taba is the noun meaning a bunch and taba-neru is the verb meaning to bind. You can count bunches with taba. like, “hitotaba (one), hutataba (two), santaba or mitaba (three), yo(n)taba (four), gotaba (five).”

As it means “to bind,” there are some related compounds. Both kōsoku and sokubaku mean restraint. Kō means to hold. Baku means to bind and fasten. Yakusoku means promise. Yaku means promise or to tie although I didn’t mention it when I wrote about yaku.

A brief moment is “tsuka no ma.” Tsuka is an ancient unit of length. It’s about the width of 4 fingers. The ma of “tsuka no ma” means time.

1. Draw the horizontal line.
2. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
3. Draw the upper and right side of the rectangle.
4. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.
5. Draw the vertical line.
6. Draw the sweeping stroke from the center to the lower left corner of the character.
7. Draw the sweeping stroke from the center to the lower right making the end broader.

Mother

by Nao

haha, kā-san, bo, mo

When you mention your mother in front of others, call her “haha.” We call Mother “o-kā-san” when we talk to her. “Haha” sounds polite and humble. “O-kā-san” is more common. If you want to call somebody’s mother or to talk to your own mother very politely, call her “o-kā-sama.” Even the common people use “o-kā-sama” to call others’ mother but calling your own mother “o-kā-sama” is only acceptable if you are from the upper class or if you want to beg her for something often with humor. By the way, small children call their mother “mama.” It’s an English loanword and written in katakana.

Mother’s Day is “haha no hi.”

A grandmother is sobo. The so of sobo means ancestry.

Your mother country is bokoku. Your mother tongue is bokokugo. Koku means a country and go means a language.

Unmo is mica. It’s a mineral. I could not find how this was relevant to mother.

The horizontal line is the last stroke.

1. Draw the rotated chevron-shape.
2. Draw the hook with an upward turn. These two strokes enclose the dots.
3. Draw the upper dot.
4. Draw the lower dot.
5. Draw the horizontal line.

Small

by Nao

chii-sai, shō, ko, o

Chii-sai is “small.” Sai is in hiragana. The small size is shō. An elementary school is shōgakkō. An elementary school student is shōgaku sei.  Shōshin means timidity.

If you talk about sizes and want to mean, “large, medium, and small,” say “dai, chū, shō.” However, at the counter of, for example, a fast-food restaurant in Japan, you can order food by saying, “raaji,” “midiamu,” or, “sumōru.” As for clothing, you can say, “esu,” “emu,” or “eru” to mean S, M, or L.

Small things have ko as a prefix. A small bird is kotori. A pebble is koishi. A lane is komichi. Nagging is kogoto. A dwarf is kobito. Tenant farming is kosaku.
* A puppy (koinu) and a kitten (koneko) have another character for “ko.” It means a child.

First, draw the vertical stroke with an upward turn, and then draw the sweeping stroke on the left-hand side. The last stroke is the dot on the right.

About, Abridged, or Frugal

by Nao

yaku, tsuzu-mayaka

When this character means “about,” it comes before numbers. Let me find an example from recent news. The Nagashima Museum in Kagoshima is currently exhibiting a figure of Moomintroll.  The newspaper company, Asahi Shimbun, reports that the height of the figure is about 60 cm, saying, “takasa yaku rokujissenchi (60 cm).” Takasa means height.

While meaning “about,” “rough,” or “approximate,” this character also implies “abridged” or “to shorten.” Yōyaku (summary or abstract) and shukuyaku (abridgement) are related words. The yō of yōyaku means “a main point.” The shuku of shukuyaku means “to shorten.”

I think tsuzu-mayaka is almost obsolete, but it tells us the concise meaning of this character. It means humble and frugal. Setsuyaku (saving) and ken’yaku (thrift) are related words. The setsu of setsuyaku means “to save.” The ken of ken’yaku means “economical.”

1. Begin to draw the left-hand side of the character. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top.
2. Draw the short stroke connecting to the previous stroke.
3. Draw the stroke that parallels the first stroke.
4. Draw the sweeping stroke that is almost horizontal.
5. Draw the dot at the end of the previous stroke.
6. Draw the vertical stroke.
7. Draw the sweeping stroke on the left of the vertical stroke.
8. Draw the dot on the other side.
9. Go to the top. Draw the sweeping stroke.
10. Draw the hook.
11. Draw the dot in the hook.

In the dictionary, this is categorized as a 9-stroke character. When you write this character with a pen, the first stroke continues to the second one, and the third stroke continues to the fourth one.

Friend

by Nao

tomo, yū

Tomodachi, yūjin, and tomo are all friends. Tomo sounds classical. Tomodachi sounds friendly. Dachi comes from tachi which forms plurals when added to human beings. For example, while kodomo is a child, kodomotachi means children. If this rule is applied to tomo, it is natural to guess tomodachi means friends. However, tomodachi exceptionally means both “a friend” and “friends.”

What kind of friends do you have?

You can categorize your friends according to the degree of friendship and the way you communicate.

• A bosom friend is shinyū. Shin means close. “Kokoro no tomo” is also a very close friend. You know each other very well and feel very similarly.
• Friends or a friend you communicate by e-mail are merutomo. Meru comes from the English loanword “mēru.”
• If you enjoy having tea with some people regularly, you can call them “cha nomi tomodachi.” Likewise, people you enjoy drinking with are “nomi tomodachi.”

I know it’s not a good idea to categorize friends, but let me add this. Your mere acquaintance is shiriai.  It means “knowing each other.” Today’s character is not included in this word.

1. Draw the horizontal line.
2. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top to the lower left corner of the character.
3. Draw the hook. The latter part parallels with the second stroke.
4. Draw the sweeping stroke from where you start the previous stroke to the lower right corner of the character. Make it broader at the end.